Déjà vu

Stonepelters of Indore

The pictures appeared familiar. Rioting mob pelting stones, damaging property and burning vehicles; the police going for the counterattack with lathi charge, teargas shells and finally the bullets… Only the location differed.I smiled as a photographer colleague placed a bunch of photographs on my table. He had done an excellent job, capturing the captured the day’s mayhem from every possible angle. The incident had resulted in the district administration enforcing curfew in the area.“The images have refreshed my memories of Jammu and Kashmir,” I tell him explaining the reason why I smiled.Tension had been brewing in the Chandan Nagar area of Indore since Saturday last after two children fought over game of cricket and members from both the communities lost the sanity and took upon themselves to settle the kids’ dispute. The cops dispersed them but on following Tuesday, when some mischief mongers threw carcass of cow in the area, stone flew in all the direction.I remembered the time, almost a decade back, when I was in Jammu and terrorism was at its peak in the state.  I had reported similar events for a local daily. The only difference --- the violence there was gruesome.