Unusual Warmth and Political Buzz at Bahisht-e-Zahra Park in Srinagar

The bahisht-e-zahra park, about 17 km from Srinagar, had been experiencing a strange warmth and political bustle since Tuesday morning. The cool breeze, the dull sun, and the silence that stretched far and wide on the yellow leaves of the Chinar began to break at exactly eight in the morning. When the first pounding of the steps began at the park's iron-heavy main gate, hardly anyone could have foreseen that as the afternoon wore on, the ground would witness the turning of a major chapter in Kashmir's politics.