Opinion: In Kashmir and Palestine, the stone is mightier than the gun

I saw a strange picture the other day. 

The picture (above) was I thought at first of a man on his knees. In his hands, pointed upwards, he held a catapult. 

The "weapon" was pulled back, ready to launch a projectile at someone or something. 

Then, when I looked more closely, I saw crutches in the background. 

I imagine then that the man was without a leg, or legs. The caption that went with the picture was frustratingly "incomplete" — it said something like "Palestinians clash with Israeli defence forces on the Gaza border" there was nothing about the man himself, or why there might have been crutches lying behind him. 

Some 16 Palestinians were killed in the clashes. 

I do not know what happened to the man in the picture. 

But I think I know why he might have been launching stones at soldiers who have colonised his land. And I thought back then to another picture that we often use here at wionews.com to try and explain the situation in Kashmir. 

Here it is: 

(Kashmiri schoolboys pelt stones at Indian security forces.)

Here's another: 

(Kashmiri schoolgirls do the same.)

I was in Kashmir after the killing of the young Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. 

The valley had erupted in fury and as the Indian security forces clamped down on the protests that ensued, the bodies began to pile up. By the time that summer of gore ended, the death toll had touched a 100. 

Early one morning we left for south Kashmir, the hotbed of the protests. 

Also read: In and a difficult out of South Kashmir

We were in time directed to the village of Hillerbhai Kokernag in Anantnag where, we were told, a man had been shot dead by the CRPF the previous day. 

When we got there, an announcement was made over the loudspeaker atop the village mosque. It said the media were here and that the villagers should come out and speak to us. 

The gathering suddenly morphed into a protest. 

A young boy was lifted onto the crowd’s shoulders. He would chant a line ("India, India") and the crowd would shout another back in unison ("Go back, go back"). 

The chanting went on for a long time. 

When it finally began to lull, the women joined in, and it picked up again. 

"How does a crowd chant for so long? What keeps it going?" I had written then. 

The answer is simple. 

Like the Palestinian man with the crutches, or the Kashmiri schoolchildren in the other pictures, the villagers of Hillerbhai Kokernag believe soldiers have colonised their land. And from what I saw, I imagine they will stop at nothing to throw them out. 

Story most Kashmiri men tell: 'I was beaten by security forces'

We have already been warned of that. 

India's security forces recently killed 13 Kashmiri militants in one day. The killings were dubbed the Indian Army's "greatest success" in over a decade. 

But a day or two later, a commentator gently reminded us that we might be barking up the wrong tree. And that what we are forgetting is that along with the 13 militants, three civilians were also killed, and that another was reportedly used as a human shield by the security forces. 

And, that 50 civilians were injured in clashes that broke out between the security forces and locals after the encounters. The civilians, the commentator said, were showing "solidarity" with the militants. 

That he said was the bigger battle. The one against the "people". That everyone in Kashmir knows the militants are no match for the Indian military. 

But how do you beat a boy or a crippled man with a stone, even if you're armed with a gun? 

And when an entire people pick up stones against you, that battle is unwinnable. 

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)