Braid Chopping and the Witches of 1990’s in Kashmir

Braid chopping incidents is a reminiscent of mid 90’s when people claimed to have spotted hags roaming around in different localities of Srinagar and other places. Some of them even attacked locals during early hours of the night. Everybody was scared especially, children and women, who feared kidnap. People stopped venturing out, even in their own compounds, after evening. Scared of the unknown danger people were also puzzled over how can somebody--even possessing supernatural powers--never threaten any personnel from the government forces or get noticed by any of them, as there were bunkers and camps in almost every alley of the Kashmir Valley by then.

Whenever the rumor of ‘Spotting the Dain’ spread in any of the areas, people decided to rush on the rooftops, bang respective tin roofs and raise slogans simultaneously to scare away the ‘Dain.’ Some of the brave hearts would manage to reach the local masjid and direct people to do the same through public address systems. Then there were rumors that some people were attacked even on their rooftops and washrooms. The incidents would mostly happen, when there was no electricity in the area, which was a routine those days.

After many weeks, few people claimed to have caught one such witch in Khanyar area of Srinagar, who turned out to be a non-local man wearing black clothing, black mask, carrying a torch, while he was trying to attack a woman who was going towards bathroom inside her compound late evening. The locals couldn’t ascertain his exact identity. Some claimed that he carried a knife and a weapon as well. He was thrashed and then police took him away. What happened to him nobody knows. Then the rumors of few others being caught in other areas spread and finally these incidents declined and ended on their own. Locals blamed ‘agencies’ in their shop parapet gatherings and public transport travel groupings. I was in primary school those days and don’t remember what newspapers wrote on this issue.

However, I remember the fear and apprehension. Toilet, in our house was located almost 80 steps (of those days) from our kitchen in the compound. The long walk to toilet after evening even with an escort was a dreadful task. It felt like passing through a possessed black forest. And all the scary scenes I had ever heard, seen, thought or dreamt of would refresh during this long walk to relieve myself. I remember having watched ‘Evil Dead’ movie at my cousin’s place almost a year before. Every bit of that movie would flash back during this walk. And being able to relive myself properly, with closed eyes and coming back safe was a conqueror’s experience. And, because of fear, I tricked many of my cousins several times those days to get privilege and security of sleeping next to my grandmother consecutively, a chance, otherwise, all of us would get only once a week, for being many in number. The toilet felt like the chief sorceress’s secret chamber, where you would imagine all sorts of skulls hanging, skeletons talking, blood dripping and you waiting for the monster to arrive and devour you, trembling and pants down. It was a terrible phase. And many others may have had much bitter experience that time.

These days, braid chopping incidents have been reported from Jammu to south Kashmir and have travelled to other districts as well. In Jammu 40 incidents were reported, where district administration banned entry of non locals in one district for two months. Nothing more has happened. Some relatives and their children in south Kashmir narrate similar experiences today. Fear of the ‘secret braid chopper’ is once again being used as a weapon to terrorize a population, that has successfully managed to survive every physical and emotional assault on their existence and being.

However, the question that still haunts all of us even after 25years is, who are these new hags? And why is the government response same as it was more than two decades ago. J&K, where the government surveillance is humongous and network of informers of all the government forces is of cob web nature, why are these petty criminal pranksters-- if they are so--still roaming free? Why people in Kulgam made certain claim about an alleged braid chopper? And if there is a gang involved, why isn’t the government able to find its members and motive, at a time, when it has managed to kill more than 150 militants this year and made possible some surrenders, with astute human and technical intelligence and execution. And why have they resorted to laziest method of policing called ‘announcing a reward’ for anybody who informs about the ‘braid choppers.’ Or the other question could be, with primary focus on anti-militancy operations and the reward it fetches has police department lost the ability to investigate the normal crime—if this is so—and is not ready to do all the hard work it needs to exfoliate the nuts and bolts of such crimes.

And the kind of fear and anger that is brewing in population and government’s inability to catch anybody till now will only increase the chances of random innocents being targeted even for a slight suspicion. People even after 25 years are also reaching to same conclusion in shop parapet discussions, masjid conversations and public transport groupings that ‘Agencies are involved in this.’