But hardliners remain frozen in time. I visit Syed Ali Shah Geelani at his Srinagar home the day Omar is sworn in as chief minister in Jammu. In summer 2008, the 80-year-old had been transformed into a hero of the freedom movement. On January 5, 2009, there are no crowds to hail him. He first says he cannot talk as his throat is bad and then launches forth about "the election being decided in Delhi, not Kashmir". What of Pakistan's apparent decision to tone down the rhetoric and covert activities in Kashmir? "Pakistan is under US pressure." There is more: "I see no point in talking to Omar Abdullah or anyone else as long as Indian occupation remains. If Indians believe democracy has won, why not have a plebiscite in Kashmir as per the UN resolution? I consider the struggle to be my religious duty."
The Islamic constituency in Kashmir can often confuse the visitor. On the one hand, there has always been a somewhat small and potent constituency for Islam, and hence Pakistan. Yet what Kashmiris would want in their ideal world is a choice. Dr Shad Salim Akhtar is the Valley's top cancer specialist, a man who returned to his roots after a successful career in the West. He is a paradox of sorts, a sophisticate who advocates the Islamic ideal but says that "I suspect if there were a plebiscite here today, many would not choose Pakistan, given the mess that country is in. And India may get a surprise. But we shall never know, will we?" He sees these elections as being cleverly managed by India. "Earlier, they would sock a Kashmiri in the chin and steal the vote. Now India is playing chess, so no one can actually complain of being forced or say the ballot was stolen."
Certainly, India has won this round of the game. But there are always long shadows in the Valley. Asiya Andrabi leads the Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Faith), a hardline Islamic movement for women. Her husband is in jail serving a life sentence for murder and she was released last week after four months in Srinagar central jail. She is bitter and angry with the state of affairs across the globe. I ask if she wants democracy? "We only believe in Islamic law, not democracy. We want independence from India for Islam. There is only one pure way, the Islamic way. Pakistan is the only state created in the name of Islam but it is under pressure from the US and all the anti-Islam agencies of the world." Silenced by her rhetoric for a while, I recover to ask mildly why militants have given up the gun and presumably "Islam". She is quiet and then answers after some thought: "I don't know what they will do but I suspect some will rethink their strategy if they want to remain relevant to the Kashmir struggle."
In a conflict zone, there are seen and unseen forces. There are individuals with vested interests in creating mayhem; there is the state's covert operation to take away their incentives. There are global interests, moves and countermoves and there are indeed people who believe they are waging a holy war. Then there is the majority who just want to get on with their lives. These are the Kashmiris who put away their cynicism for a day and, yet again, took a leap of faith in casting their vote. Yet as Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, law professor and columnist, warns: "This election has certainly created an illusion of normalcy. But illusions fade very quickly here. Tomorrow, for instance, if Afzal Guru is hanged, people will again spill out in huge anti-India protests. " Or the Valley could again start bleeding if relations between India and Pakistan spiral downwards and the covert war resumes.
And if it were to happen again, even a young man of Omar's abilities will find himself consumed in the conflict.
