Srinagar:
It is 6 am and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan, Pawan Kumar, is guarding a bunker on the banks of river Jhelum near Lal Chowk. His day has begun.
After two hours of guard duty it is time for Pawan and his colleagues to have breakfast. What's for breakfast? "Purata, Sabzi and fruit," he says.
For the next four hours without letting his guard down, Pawan Kumar has to be inside the bunker. Since the past one month this has been his routine duty and he has to spent at least 2 more months restricted to the four walls of the bunker without any source of entertainment.
"We have to eat food, wash our clothes etc, clean the bunker and do everything when we are not on guard duty. It's not rest it is reserve duty," says Pawan.
After breakfast, Pawan had just taken a nap when section commander sounds an alert as he notices a suspicious object near the bunker. Dog squad and frisking is carried out. After two hours the jawans ensure everything is alright and at 12 noon before having lunch Pawan Kumar is back on guard duty.
After every four hours he has to guard the bunker for two hours round the clock.
Pawan has been in the CRPF for the last one decade out of which seven years have passed like this.
Married in 2004, Pawan has two children back home in Haryana. His brother is also in the CRPF.
CRPF Commandant, Prabakar Tripati says, "They are on duty for 24 hours and the actual duty hours are more than 12 hours. We are in belt force and we are here with a purpose. We are posted in such an environment for long and are now tuned to such conditions. But over all if we see its taxing."
At 1 am when the entire city is asleep, Pawan Kumar is on guard duty.
This is not the story of Pawan only but of 50,000 CRPF men posted in Kashmir Valley
Perhaps this is why a large number of jawans are suffering from stress disorders.