Srinagar, Aug. 25 -- Step into a government office in Kashmir on a Friday afternoon and you will witness a scene that has become depressingly predictable. Before noon, files are stacked, visitors line up, clerks shuffle papers, and officials occasionally appear on their chairs. But the moment the clock nudges towards Friday prayers, the entire atmosphere collapses into an eerie silence. Chairs turn empty, counters remain unattended, and corridors echo only with the sound of disappointed citizens leaving with half-finished work.

The tragedy is not the prayer - it is the disappearance. The overwhelming majority of officials do not return after prayers. What should be a break of an hour morphs into an unofficial half-day holiday. The citize...