Waseem Ahmad Mir had left his home in downtown Srinagar in 1999 with the hope of building a career in Delhi. After seven years of hard work, Mir has become a successful physiotherapist, earning a handsome salary. But today he is leaving everything, packing his bags to return home. His only concern is survival.

Although thousands of Kashmiri students and professionals living in various parts of the country constantly allege police “harassment” and a lingering suspicion towards them in the public mind, the mystery death of 23-year-old Irshad Ahmad Lone in Delhi has settled the debate for many, particularly with separatist outfits appealing for their mass return to the Valley. Additional pressure is being put by families back home, scared their sons and daughters might meet a fate similar to Lone’s.

The issue of police harassment of Kashmiri youths working and studying across the country has been personally raised by even Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. He had written to various chief ministers expressing his concern at every Kashmiri being viewed with suspicion.

“Being a Kashmiri is in itself a badnuma daag (blot),’’ Mir says from Karnal, where he works at Paramedical Health Society. “Whenever there is a problem, a violent incident or anything, we (Kashmiris) are the first to be picked up by the police. It has become normal for us. We always are the prime suspects... If you are a Kashmiri, you are not innocent till proven guilty. You are always guilty till proven innocent in the eyes of the police as well as public.”

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