GUARDING KASHMIR

India’s Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is one of the largest para-military forces in the world. With the vast majority of the force stationed in India’s Kashmir. At certain points during the conflict there were upwards of 15 CRPF soldiers for every 1 Kashmiri. In recent years Kashmir has started to see better times and is relatively calm compared to the height of the conflict years ago. Yet, the presence of the CRPF is still everywhere, from check-points and guard-posts positioned almost every half kilometer apart in Srinagar, and even posted on the edge of Dal Lake appearing to be guarding the water.

The following photographs attempt to illustrate the redundancy, mood, and shear boredom of the life of the CRPF in Kashmir.

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