The police have not been handing over bodies of Pakistani terrorists to locals because thousands attend their funerals and give them heroes' burials.
There were protests in support of terrorists during and after the Pampore attack in Jammu and Kashmir that ended on Monday. But over 100 km away from the encounter site, a village near the Line of Control has taken a unusual stand and defied what several others did in Pampore and adjacent areas.
Bonyar village near the LOC refused to bury the bodies of the three terrorists killed in the encounter. The villages say they will not allow a graveyard for terrorists to come up in the village because it could influence their children.
Late on Monday evening, when police took bodies of three Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists to Bonyar for the funeral, the villagers resisted and forced police to bury the bodies at an undisclosed location away from the village.
"We appeal to the government to find some alternate place for burial of militants. This is a peaceful area. If you bury them here, someone from this village can join militancy," said Bashir Ahmad, a villager from Bonyar.
But, there was complete shut down in Pampore town and nearby areas as people demanded the bodies of the terrorists to perform their last rites. On Monday, while the 48-hour encounter between the Lashkar men and security forces was on, crowds began shouting pro-Azadi slogans.
For last few months, the police have not been handing over bodies of Pakistani terrorists to locals because thousands attend their funerals and give them heroes' burials. Instead, they now give them a silent burial, away from the public gaze.
"Why they are choosing Bonyar for burial of militants? It is close to the border and no one from this village has become a militant. The government is dragging us into this problem," said Nadeem Khwaja. "When these dead bodies arrive here, our children get to know about militancy. They can go to Pakistan and create problems for us," said Bilal Ahmad.
The LOC village is heavily dominated by the army and there is very little or no support for separatism. Bonyar and Pampore present two different pictures of the valley and both are part of the complex reality of Kashmir.