[Reader-list] 3rd Posting: A cinema lover’s tale

[Shahnawaz Khan]

3rd Posting: A cinema lover's tale



Mohmad Hussain, 28, a resident of Srinagar, loves cinema. In his childhood
he has been a movie buff. He used to save pocket money to go to movies,
mostly without the knowledge of his parents. And when the cinema halls were
closed because of a militant diktat in 1990, Hussain cried. Tears filled his
eyes and he couldn't stop himself. He was a child then, and got the news of
cinema closure, while he was at school.

Recalling events of the day Hussian says, "We saw a mob being chased by the
police outside our school. The mob was raising slogans and had gone towards
the Firdous cinema in Hawal, where from it was now being chased by the
police."



"As we were wondering what the problem was, some of the teachers at the
school were talking of cinema closure. They said the mob had gone to close
the Firdous cinema, and that all cinemas in Kashmir will be closed," he
relates.

"And I wept," Hussain says. He kept on crying for the rest of the day. The
Firdous cinema was closest to his house, and his favorite. He loved Firdous
so much that some years later, when he was picked up by security forces and
brought to this hall, he was happy.

In 1993 while Hussain was waiting for his grandfather, outside an
acquaintance's house, a patrolling CRPF party, picked him up. Hussain was a
bit frightened at first, but in the vehicle the troopers were talking to
each other about taking him to Firdous cinema, and Hussian was relieved. The
mere mention of the Firdous made Hussain feel at home, although it had been
converted into a notorious interrogation centre by then, like some other
cinema halls occupied by the paramilitary troopers in Kashmir. The cinema
halls in Kashmir have had real torture scenes as a routine in the nineties
with paramilitary troopers picking up youth for questioning and subjecting
them to intense torture. Hussain was lucky however.



"When I was taken inside the hall, I was really happy. I couldn't believe I
was here, inside again. I looked intensely at all the walls, with nostalgia.
I was looking at the changes that had occurred, and things that reminded me
of my days here," Hussain recalls.

Meanwhile Hussian's family had approached for help, and he was released
without any harm.

Passing by the cinema halls in his childhood was very exciting. He would
fancy about the world inside, think about the movies running, and probably
plan of going inside. However after the nineties, things changes. Passing by
these halls, now "infuse terror". Like Kashmir the halls are in a horrible
state, occupied mostly by the troopers.



Hussain however was always hopeful that the cinemas would reopen in Kashmir.
He has been longing for his favorite hall Firdous to reopen.

"I always hoped and longed for it's reopening" he says.

In 1997 the Broadway, a cinema hall located in the high security zone of
Sonwar – in the vicinity of 15 Corps headquarters- was reopened with a lot
of euphoria. Hussain was happy with the reopening, and hoped that it will
lead to the reopening of Firdous too. Despite his excitement Hussian did no
go to watch a movie at the Broadway. He thought it would be silly, with so
much of risk. With militants opposing the opening of cinema halls, these
were soft targets. He however went to have a look. So he boarded a bus to go
to Broadway, have a look at it from outside, watch the hoardings and return.
He waited for his favorite hall to reopen. So far it hasn't. The hall is
still occupied by the paramilitary troopers, the BSF replacing the CRPF, and
later the CRPF taking over back from the BSF.

One day while he was returning from his work he saw the cinema chairs lying
outside the Firodus. On enquring he was told that the hall was undergoing
renovation. He was excited, expecting the hall to reopen soon, but his wait
hasn't ended.

Recalling his childhood days with nostalgia, Hussain says one sunny day he
entered the hall in the afternoon, but when he came out it was snowing and
the streets were already full of snow.
















-- 
Shahnawaz Khan
+91-9419006204 (cell)
+91-194-2412130 (R)


Visit www.kashmirnewz.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20070524/c66c5ce1/attachment.html