Once the Pandits have left, novel methods are used to alert people of an impending ambush in the marketplace. The militant commander Mushtaq Zargar—he hits international headlines ten years later as one of the three men India is forced to free in exchange for the hostages of the hijacked flight IC-814—sends vegetable vendors to such places. Pushing his cart, the vendor shouts in Kashmiri: Tamatar paav, Bae’jaan aav (Tomatoes, one-fourth of a kilo, big brother says hello). While the soldiers from the mainland of India understand nothing, civilians take the hint and discreetly vacate the area to
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