The Kashmir and its Dal lake, its mountains and its mild climate was one very touristic area, for foreign tourists as well as Indian tourists, and was dubbed « the paradise on earth ». However, between 2013 and 2016, the number of tourists was divided by 3, and the year 2017 will be catastrophic whereas tourism is an essential resource of the Kashmiri valley.

Three ladies are leaving the Dargah market with their boat. Wooden boats were traditionally used to circulate on the banks of the Dal lake, and on its canals.

In Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, the whole touristic activities are running slow, whereas this sector represents 8% of the economic activities of the region. People used to come to Srinagar to stay on a house-boats, nowadays, most of them are empty.

In one of Srinagar historic areas two hairdressers are taking a rest between two haircuts. In a few days, the eid will take place, and many clients are coming to their hair salon.

Close to the Hari Parbat hill, which overlooks the old town, and from the mosque Ziyarat Makhdoom, people are selling sweets and other sweet bread on their stalls, which are a food speciality from Kashmir.

At the very edge of the Jamia Masjid Mosque, in the old town, ladies are buying goods on the market. On the stalls, manufactured products from China and India. Before, textile and Kashmir used to be produced locally. Nowadays, Chinese factories, with their low-cost Kashmir, compete with the production of traditional Kashmir, and they have become in the last year world leader in Kashmir production.

In the Dargah market, situated on the Dal lake bank, someone is making a sweet fried bread, which is a speciality from Kashmir which can be found next to mosques, whereas another person is smoking on his shisha.

Early morning, bakers are making Kashmiri bread in their traditional hoven. This bread is accompanying dishes, mainly made of meats, which are highly appreciated in Kashmir.

Young Kashmiris are taking pictures of themselves in the alley of the Shalimar Mughal garden. On the bank of the Dal lake, there are plenty of “Mughals gardens”, which were built from the 16th century, when the Kashmir was part of the Mughal empire. These gardens, built in Persian style, with straight lines, and fountains, canals and ponds.

It’s an ideal place to spend an afternoon, in the shadow of the trees when the weather is too hot. Behind, there is the Dal lake, and on the other bank, the city of Srinagar.

A young man is posing for a picture in a perilous position, in a small waterfall. Like in other places in the sub-Indian continent, smartphone pictures and social networks are highly integrated into the daily life.

A worshipper is doing his ablutions on the shore of the Dal lake, before getting into the Masjid Dargah Sharif. According to many Muslims of Kashmir, this mosque contains a relic, the Moi-e-Muqqadas, which is believed to be a hair of Prophet Muhammad.

In the Jamia Masjid Mosque, a deaf and dumb believer is about to do his prayers, whereas an Indian family is contemplating the 14th-century structure. Because of the increase of the conflict, there are less and less international tourists in Kashmir, but the amount of Indian tourists is increasing, mostly because of the romantic image some Bollywood movies had given to this place.

The Jamia Masjid Mosque is situated in the historical heart of the city of Srinagar and his one of the most ancient mosque in town. Its singular architecture is inspired by Buddhist pagoda as well as Persian architecture.

Every afternoon at the Ziyarat Makhdoom Sahib mosque, situated in the old town, Muslim worshippers distribute meat to people in need. Compulsory giving is part of the five pillars of Islam. During Eid, one-third of the slaughtered meat will be given to the people in need.

In the afternoon, a believer is having a rest in the prayer room of the Jamia Masjid Mosque. During religious celebrations, the main prayer room can fit 33,333 believers.

In the peaceful Hazratbal Dargah Sharif mosque, a policeman is keeping the place of worship with a Kalashnikov. It’s in this area that violence against occupation can start straight after the Friday prayer. In the Kashmir valley, 95 per cent of the population is Muslim.

During the partition of British India, India and Pakistan both wanted to obtain the Kashmiri territory, whereas the Kashmiris wanted the independence. After an attempt of annexation by Pakistan, India protected the Kashmir and promised a referendum on the independence, once the Kashmir would be cleared of irregulars, but India buried the idea of organizing a referendum for independence. Since, Kashmiris refuse the Indian occupation and claim for its independence, using sometimes armed resistance.

The right of information is very relative in Kashmir. The independent press is locked (intimidation of journalists, censorship in local media). It’s hard to get informed for Kashmiris (censorship and internet lock-out and social-network when tensions arise).

In the Khanyar neighbourhood, bikers are slalom between hers of sheeps to go through in this tiny streets. Here, many herders have settled here to sell there sheeps before the beginning of Eid.

In the Khanyar neighbourhood, in the old town of Srinagar, Abdul Rasheed, and his brother Noord Mohommad, and Mohammad Siddiq, his employee, came to sell his sheeps. Just before muslim celebration of eid, the demand is very high, as each family will slaughter a muton or goat at home.

Noor Mohammad, who lives in Srinagar is taking care of sheeps. The Edi celebration is the perfect occasion to make a good profit as every family will slaughter a goat or a muton during this muslim celebration.

Mohomad Siddiq, a farmer which comes from mountainous district of Bandipora, is bringing a sheep in order to weight it before selling it to a client.

Mohammad Siddiq and Noor Mohammad are weighting a sheep in order to calculate the selling price to their client.

In the end of the afternoon, in a butchery abandoned by its owner, a pair of sheep testicles is hanging from a hook. In Kashmir, sheep testicles are considered as a very tasty dish, which is reserved to men, which is eaten during important celebrations.

On the first day of Aïd-al-Kabîr, a crowd of worshippers gathers in the Eidgah parc, which is situated in the old town of Srinagar et do the morning prayers. At this occasion, many sheep farmers also gather to sell their livestock, which will be sacrificed during the Muslim celebration. Within a few moments, the praying area shifted into a confrontation place between independentist, often young, who sang independentist slogans, and the police. While police uses teargas, traders and clients keep their business going, showing how usual is the confrontation between police and Kashmiri is.

Whereas young independentist and police are confronting each other, the herd is keeping calm, like if they were used to these permanent tensions.

After the police finally managed to get in the parc, protester, farmers and random by-passers run away to escape teargas and « non-lethal » pellet guns. Pellet guns have already wounded several dozens of people in Kashmir according to a recent report from Amnesty International.

These goats inside the rickshaw are good could be compared to the independent press in Kashmir: locked (intimidation of journalists, censorship in local media). It’s hard to get informed for Kashmiris (censorship and internet lock-out and social-network when tensions arise).

Once the crowd was dispersed, a massive police operation is taking over the surrounding of the Eidgah parc, and were imposing to the inhabitants to stay home. Kashmir is the most militarized area in the world. There are approximatively 800,000 Indian militaries in the area, here to fight against independentism, and to protect the Indian borders from Pakistan and China.

At a few hundreds of meters from the protests between the police and the independentist, young girls, dressed in long dresses, are playing in a park situated down the Hari Parbat mount. Later on, they will celebrate Eid with their families.

The children from the Zahid families are getting ready to celebrate Eid with their family. Girls are dressed like princesses where the boys, well dressed too, are playing with their plastic AK47.

While Tariq Mattoo and Tariq Zahid are inflating the goat to make it easy to remove the skin of the goat, the young Fatima, shocked by what she saw, is turning not to see the dead goat anymore. Zain Saleem is contemplating the operation.

In the Zaid garden, goats are getting empty of their blood, whereas the head of the goat is lying in a bucket. Zhera, dressed like a princess, is observing this strange sight.

After cutting the goat in pieces (1/3 will be for the family, another third for the friends and neighbours, and last third for people in need), Tariq Zahid is slicing the testicles of the goat, which will then be fried with spices. This flavourful dish is reserved only for men and is usually eaten during Eid.

After an intense afternoon, Fatima (in Yellow) and Zerha (in blue) are playing with the toys they received for the Eid.

The economic difficulties are a fertile ground for the expansion of extremist ideas, and the ignorance of the New-Delhi government toward the claims of the Kashmiri population is not making the situation better. Here, many children don’t have the hope of a bright future and some of them are dreaming of doing the Jihad for Kashmir. Since the beginning of the conflict, almost all Kashmiri families have a martyr, and the recent events tend to show that the situation is far from getting better.