Srinagar, Aug. 26 -- By Mohammad Ilyas Bhat

The old man came to my door one morning, worried and shaken. He had come to ask for something no one should have to ask for: permission to bury a beloved.

He had lived on our street for more than 60 years. His hands trembled as he stood there, and his voice shook even more.

"Beta, please help me get the permission," he said.

He was pleading to bury his own family member.

Thirty-two years earlier, he had paid about Rs.3,000 to the local graveyard committee. At the time, the payment seemed straightforward.

He was contributing to the place where members of his community would eventually be buried, as his father had done and as families around him had done for generations.

The receipt became ...