SRINAGAR, India (AP) -- More than two decades of brutal warfare between largely Muslim separatist insurgents and largely Hindu Indian troops in this Himalayan region have left Kashmiris exhausted, traumatized and broken. The rate of suicide, once unthinkable in this Islamic society, has gone up 26-fold, from .5 per 100,000 before the insurgency to 13 per 100,000 now, according to Dr. Arshad Hussain, a Kashmiri psychiatrist. Drug abuse is epidemic. Depression, stress and mental illness are rampant. For more than 60 years, the stunning Kashmir valley has been a flashpoint for tensions and wars between rivals India and Pakistan, which both control part of it and lay claim to all of it. Despite the fierce fighting, the tight-knit Muslim families of Kashmir formed a durable safety net. That fell apart when a separatist insurgency erupted in 1989. (35 images)
Follow The Frame on Twitter at sacbee_theframe
Kashmiri protesters shout slogans in Pampore, on the outskirts of Srinagar, India on July 21, 2010. AP / Mukhtar Khan
A Kashmiri woman pleads with police officers to release her relative who was detained allegedly while playing cricket in a park during curfew in Srinagar, India on Friday, July 2, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
People walk in the halls of the Psychiatric Department of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Government Hospital in Srinagar, India on Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
A man sits outside the Psychiatric Department of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Government Hospital in Srinagar, India Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
Elderly men sit outside the Psychiatric Department of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Government Hospital in Srinagar, India on Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
The daughter of Mohammad Asim, a civilian killed in a protest, cries as she reaches out from inside an ambulance outside a local hospital in Srinagar, India on July 30, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
Relatives of Iqbal Ahmed Khan, a Kashmiri who died from injuries after police fired weapons during a protest, wail during his funeral procession in Srinagar, India Aug. 4, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
Kashmiris jostle to get a registration ticket at Government Hospital for Psychiatric Diseases in Srinagar, India on Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
Kashmiri protesters hit a burning government vehicle after they set it on fire during a protest at Barthana neighborhood in Srinagar, India on Aug. 4, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
Kashmiris sit outside the Psychiatric Department of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Government Hospital in Srinagar, India on Aug. 12, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
Kashmiri muslim protesters shout pro-freedom slogans as they sit on the top of a vehicle, during an anti-India protest, in Srinagar on the first day of Ramadan on August 12, 2010. The fasting month of Ramadan looks set to be one of curfews, protests and hardship for Muslims in Indian Kashmir, which is experiencing a wave of popular unrest directed against Indian rule. AFP/Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa
Kashmiri protestors shout anti Indian slogans as an unseen Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and chief priest Mirwaiz Umar Farooq leads an anti-India protest march from Kashmir's Jamia Masjid in Srinagar August 13, 2010. Tens of thousands of people participated in an anti-India march led by Farooq, Kashmir's chief cleric and a senior separatist leader. Jamia Masjid, Srinagar's main mosque was thrown open for Friday prayers for the first time after it was shut down for weeks by Indian forces. AFP/Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa
Kashmiri protesters throw stones towards Indian policemen during an anti-Indian protest, in downtown Srinagar, on August 13, 2010. AFP/Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa
A masked Kashmiri protester tries to hit a stone thrown at him by paramilitary soldiers with a block of wood, during a protest in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
Kashmiri protesters run for cover as Indian paramilitary soldiers chase them during a protest in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
Kashmiri protestors shout slogans during a demonstration in Srinagar, India, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
An Indian paramilitary soldier prepares to fire tear smoke shell towards Kashmiri protestors during a clash in Srinagar, India, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
An Indian paramilitary soldier, left, hurls back stones on Kashmiri protestors during a clash in Srinagar, India, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
A Kashmiri Muslim woman walks past a wall painted with graffiti against India during a protest in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
An Indian paramilitary trooper stands guard in front of a graffiti in Srinagar during a curfew in Srinagar on August 9, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa
Indian paramilitary soldiers question a hotel employee during a search operation on the eve of India's Independence day, in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
A Kashmiri protester throws stones at Indian paramilitary soldiers during a protest in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
Kashmiri Muslim women shout slogans during a protest in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
Kashmiri protestors shout slogans during a pro-freedom procession in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
A Kashmiri Muslim mourners shout slogans as the body of Shabir Ahamed Malik, who allegedly died in security force's firing is taken away from a hospital in Srinagar, India, AP / Mukhtar Khan
Kashmiri Muslims carry a wounded man on a stretcher at a local hospital in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. AP / Dar Yasin
Unidentified women try to comfort the daughter of Ghulam Nabi Badyari, 50, during his funeral ceremony in Srinagar, India, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
Kashmiri women shout slogans during the funeral of Farak Bukhari, a 17-year-old Kashmiri boy, in Keeri, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Srinagar, India, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010. AP / Mukhtar Khan
Relatives of Farak Bukhari, a 17-year-old Kashmiri boy, cry during his funeral in Kreeri, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Srinagar, India, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010. AP / Mukhtar Khan
Kashmiri Muslims confront Indian police officers during the funeral procession of Ghulam Nabi Badyari, 50, in Srinagar, India, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
Kashmiri women shout slogans during the funeral procession of Ghulam Nabi Badyari, 50, in Srinagar, India, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2010. AP / Altaf Qadri
Kashmiris watch a protest in Srinagar, India, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. Tens of thousands of angry protesters rushed into the streets in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Friday after government forces killed four people and injured at least 12 others during protests against Indian rule in the disputed region, police said. AP / Mukhtar Khan
Kashmiri protestors burn an effigy of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah during an anti-India protest in Srinagar on August 5, 2010. Security forces in Indian Kashmir fired tear-gas to disperse mourners at a funeral procession for one of the three latest victims of anti-India unrest in the disputed region. AFP/ Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa
A Kashmiri youth argues with an Indian policeman during a funeral procession in Srinagar on August 5, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / STR
A Kashmiri woman joins protesters in throwing stones at police in Srinagar. Young men have led street protests and stone-throwing in Kashmir during 20 years of rebellion, but now many females have joined them on July 30, 2010. AFP/ Getty Images / Tauseef Mustafa
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.