Sheikh Saqlain

A group of children, most of whom have had their childhoods taken forcibly from them, squeal with delight as they slalom down a ski slope in Gulmarg, close to one of the world’s most heavily militarized frontiers.

Children in Kashmir, who have grown up amidst an armed conflict and have witnessed abductions, gun battles, bomb explosions, stone pelting and tear-gas shelling, rarely indulge in a normal life’s pleasures.

The violence has killed tens of thousands of people across Kashmir since 1989, including hundreds of children.

“Tips together, heels apart,” shouts a ski instructor to children standing in a downhill line on a slope, a few miles away from guns firing across a ceasefire line dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Many children in Kashmir suffer from a host of psychiatric disorders, but the opportunity to ski allows them to escape from their bitter realities. On the slope, the militancy, armed forces, crackdowns, killings and explosions feel worlds away.

Despite armed exchanges between the security forces and militants as well as occasional explosions, Gulmarg, an achingly beautiful ski resort surrounded by snow-covered peaks and pine forests, is abuzz with novices and professionals alike.

It is a fact that a cup of coffee in Switzerland costs as much as a day of skiing in Gulmarg. The beauty and thrill of its slopes and its affordability make Gulmarg a highly attractive destination for foreign skiers.

Hundreds of children attend skiing courses in Gulmarg through the long winters in Kashmir. “The idea is to catch them young so they mature into good skiers and can participate nationally and internationally,” said Shabir Ahmad, a Kashmiri skiing champion.

Behind Shabir a number of Western tourists were strapping avalanche transceivers to their chests before boarding the Gondola, ready to ski in the mountains.

Days when the snow has not turned red from spilt blood have been hard to come by in the last three decades. Even so, Gulmarg has remained, by and large, peaceful.

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https://www.ourlostparadise.com/children-of-conflict-find-respite-on-kashmirs-mountains/