Srinagar- Grief and anger was palpable in the Shia dominated areas of Kashmir and Ladakh Monday, three days after the assassination of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in the Lebanese capital Beirut last Friday.
For the third consecutive day businesses in many areas remained shut in protest with people out in the streets holding anti Israeli demonstrations. Nasrallah was a revered figure in the region and his lifesize photos adorn Shia homes and major thoroughfares in both Kashmir and Ladakh.”
Protesters marched on Srinagar-Gulmarg road and held a massive rally at Magam Chowk with mourners chanting anti-Israel and anti-US slogans. Some people had painted Israeli flags on the road so that protestors could walk over them in contempt. Reports of similar unabated protests are pouring in from across Kashmir.
The protests however remained peaceful with a large posse of police personnel maintaining vigil to ensure that the demonstrations did not turn violent, the officials said.
Mosques too are buzzing with special evening prayers for those killed in Israeli action. In addition to street protests and special prayers, a new form of mourning and protest has emerged across the Shia community in Kashmir. Many families have cancelled or significantly scaled down planned wedding celebrations, opting instead for more modest events to honor Nasrullah’s martyrdom. October is notably a peak wedding season in Kashmir, characterized by its extravagant celebrations.
Reports suggest hundreds of planned celebrations have been drastically scaled down and in many cases invitation cards cancelled.
One family from Pandrethan, Srinagar, which had originally planned a large wedding celebration of their daughter and son, confirmed that they have scaled down the event. Speaking anonymously, a family member said, “We have reduced the event to just the Nikah Khwani, with only a modest gathering of close relatives. This is our way of honoring Syed Hassan Nasrullah, who was martyred defending the oppressed people. Even if we had many guests, there is no joy in celebrating in such a somber atmosphere,” he said.
Another family in Srinagar’s Lal Bazar area which had planned everything for a two day gala marriage ceremony on 30th September and 1st October cancelled the celebrations while expressing similar feelings.
“ Nikah is an obligation which we are obliged to perform, so we will carry on with a simple nikah ceremony, however there won’t be any music and songs which are part of such occasions. We will carry out our religious obligation with utmost simplicity because of the tragedy, a family member of Ganai family from central Kashmir’s Budgam district said.
Irfan Ali, one of the invitees to the wedding, said he received a call from the family informing him of the cancellation due to the events in Lebanon. He expressed admiration for the family’s decision, stating, “I respect and appreciate their choice. It’s a great gesture of solidarity, not just with the martyr but also with the heroic Lebanese people. Scaling down celebrations in this way is a unique form of protest against the barbarism we are witnessing,” Irfan said.
“Recently during protests we had people returning from a wedding, for me it was disturbing” he added.
Similar reports of scaled-down celebrations and canceled wedding feasts have been received from Shia-majority localities across Kashmir.
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