Developments in Kashmir since the complete clampdown for over three weeks will likely compound the psychological agony of the people in the Valley who have been living amid militancy and militarisation for decades.

With a large section of the medical fraternity standing radicalised on political lines, the question now is whether, once the clampdown is lifted, the government will come forward for the large scale interventions required.

Senior psychiatrist and author Dr Anirudh Kala points out, “Medical documentation has in the past pointed to the high incidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among ordinary Kashmiris. The latest developments, where the people are undergoing an out-of-ordinary experience, with no communication and a complete shutdown, will further compound this.”

Kala has rich experience dealing with the mental health problems of Punjabis in the era of militancy and afterwards, where he studied the impact of such situations on the common people as well as former militants.