Archive · 12 Oct 2026
Kashmir’s Everyday Life Returns, But Can Peace Follow?
Kashmir is a beautiful place where people have lived through conflict and loss.
A boy who visited recently mostly remembered the mountains and clear water.
His mother also noticed that the place felt haunted by a recent attack.
The article says daily life has changed since the streets felt more tightly controlled in 2004.
Trains, cafés, cinema, and tourists are signs of more everyday activity.
A new train connects Jammu and Srinagar in less than five hours.
But many people still disagree about Kashmir’s political future, and security forces remain present.
The writer says small everyday moments can help people live alongside difficult history.
Whether those changes will bring lasting peace remains uncertain.
A teenager visiting Pahalgam was captivated by its scenery, while his mother felt the place carried an eerie weight after the April 2025 massacre.
The article contrasts Kashmir’s heavily securitized streets in 2004 with growing signs of ordinary life today.
A new Jammu-Srinagar Vande Bharat service has cut the journey to less than five hours, and the railway includes 36 tunnels and 943 bridges.
Tourism fell sharply after the Pahalgam attack but is recovering; Srinagar now has more than 200 cafés and a multiplex opened in 2022.
Political and security concerns persist, including debate over Article 370 and statehood, the Lieutenant Governor’s authority, AFSPA, and reported social and electoral problems.
- Who
- Kashmir residents, visitors, and people reflecting on the region’s changing daily life.
- What
- An account of returning everyday activity in Kashmir alongside continuing political and security tensions.
- When
- The article looks back to 2004 and describes developments through 2025, including the April 2025 Pahalgam attack and a train service inaugurated in May.
- Where
- Kashmir, including Srinagar and Pahalgam, in Jammu and Kashmir, India.
- Why
- The article considers whether ordinary routines and small joys can coexist with, and potentially ease, the region’s unresolved conflict.
Signs of Everyday Normalcy
Unresolved Tensions
How to read the return of daily life
Signs of Everyday Normalcy
More train travel, cafés, cinema, and recovering tourism suggest that ordinary routines and small joys are gaining ground.
Unresolved Tensions
A Valley dermatologist quoted in the article cautions that appearances can be misleading and that politics remains pervasive.
Connectivity and change
Signs of Everyday Normalcy
The Jammu-Srinagar rail link fulfills a long-held dream and makes travel faster and more reliable.
Unresolved Tensions
The article recalls a Kashmiri teacher who saw the railway as a threat to the Valley’s cultural purity.
Political and security conditions
Signs of Everyday Normalcy
The article says security is less intrusive than before and everyday life has shifted.
Unresolved Tensions
It notes that AFSPA remains in force, security is still omnipresent, and debates over statehood and Article 370 continue.
- Pahalgam attack
- The article refers to a massacre in April 2025; it says tourism fell after the attack and was climbing again.
- Rail service
- The Vande Bharat from Jammu to Srinagar was inaugurated in May and makes the trip in less than five hours.
- Railway infrastructure
- The project includes 36 tunnels and 943 bridges.
- Tourism in 2024
- The article reports nearly 98 lakh tourist arrivals in the Kashmir division and 2.36 crore across Jammu and Kashmir.
- Srinagar cafés
- The city has more than 200 cafés, compared with a handful less than a decade earlier.
- Cinema
- A multiplex opened in Srinagar in 2022, ending an absence of more than two decades.
- Continuing issues
- The article cites debates over statehood and Article 370, the Lieutenant Governor’s authority, AFSPA, land fraud reports, delimitation disputes, electoral rolls, and drug problems.