IN August 2, the remote and beautiful Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh was celebrating Meenjai mela, an annual festival to celebrate a good harvest. The district administration had helped in organising the fest—local folk culture in all its colour and pageantry was on display. But everyone seemed blissfully unaware of the changing ground realities. After all, recorded crimes in Chamba rarely exceed cattle theft and the rigid terrain makes it very difficult for the people to register the cases. The token police force, armed with .303 rifles, is hopelessly ill-equipped to tackle a militant strike.