@LadyFinger
Yes. Been there. It is pretty safe actually. I roamed around in downtown srinagar and other areas, all the while people aware of me. And very hospitable (the famous kashmiri hospitality?) and protective too. But once back on work, I could not visit my friends in Kupwara, although the parents said I was most welcome, for apparent reasons again.
Since you plan on a research, you may get a guided tour for apparent reasons. But things are not as bad as they have been over the past six weeks. The economy was looking up, people were earning as the trade boomed. I was on a houseboat with my wife for few days .... and more secure and relaxed than anywhere else.
The pain of the situation is that such incidents merely increase the hardships of the common people. Poverty, like most of subcontinent is rampant and the difference between the haves and have nots is tremendous. A single day of strike costs majority of people the food for the day..
You see, the issue for the common person remains jobs, food, and a better future for the children. And the politicians need to be hanged from the "chaar chinar". In uniform they may be throwing stones on you, but the moment you take off your uniform and are in civil clothes, you are protected as a fellow human and as a Kashmiri. They will know a security forces personnel immediately, the walk and talk always is a give away for the soldier, but even then, you are protected. No militant will touch you either.
The issue is not with human to human relationships, it is to do with the disappointment and downright disgust with the government of the day. For them, uniform symbolises the government. You are merely a representative.
But the recent incidents wherein the families of police personnel have been attacked are an eye opener for me also. Never has that happened.
I suspect more due to wahabism creeping in, which is dangerous for Kashmir as, at least, I know it.
