‘I pray this calm lasts’: fear lingers in Kashmir amid uneasy peace

Residents of India-administered Kashmir worry root cause of conflict remains and return of violence is inevitable

A week after fleeing artillery fire from across the border, Rina Begum returned to find her home in Kashmir devastated. The walls were cracked, the roof crumbling, windows blown inward, and glass shards scattered across the floor, mingling with the ashes of her daughter’s books.

The 45-year-old gazed out through a fractured window frame at the looming mountains. “Hell has been raining down from there,” she said.