``It makes no difference to us,'' said Syed Bashir, a higher secondary teacher. ``The Kashmir issue is so complicated that it will continue to be the reason for such crisis as both the countries have absolutely contradictory stands on the issue''.

A shopkeeper in Hari Singh High Street, Ali Mohammad, voiced similar views. ``It hardly matters whether Sharif or any army general is heading Pakistan. Both India and Pakistan seem to have set their policy regarding Kashmir, and this does not change with a change in Governments,'' says Mohammad. However, he was glued to his radio set on the latest from Islamabad.

The indifference, it appears, has to do with the militants' ban on Cable television. ``It is more a question of ignorance than indifference to the goings-on across the border. People were not able to watch BBC, CNN or even Starand Zee TV because of the ban on cable television, so people don't know the intensity of the crisis and its implications here,'' says Nazir Ahmad Shah, a retired State Government officer.

Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a Kashmiri scholar and former professor of International Law, believes it is not indifference. ``Kashmiris are unaware about what has happened in Pakistan and what it will lead to,'' he says.

He added that the events in Pakistan have once again proved Kashmir is a decisive factor in deciding the future of even the strongest of Pakistan's rulers. ``With the coup against Nawaz Sharif, history has repeated itself in Pakistan,'' he says. ``The Tashkent Agreement led to the ouster of Ayub Khan while the Shimla Agreement was the reason for what happened to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the Lahore Declaration and Kargil has led to this coup''.

The Pakistan crisis has festered disappointment in the separatist camp. A senior All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader called it an `unfortunate development'. ``Itsignals bad luck of Kashmiris. There was hope that the international community, especially the US, would take more interest in looking for a resolution to the Kashmir problem. In fact, a US envoy is on his way to the two countries,'' he said, on condition of anonymity. ``Nawaz Sharif was on a strong wicket especially after he listened to the international community to withdraw from Kargil''.

Former APHC chairman, Moulvi Umar Farooq called it a `strange development'. ``We hope that whichever set up comes up in Islamabad, it will extend full support to our cause and the movement,'' he says. He adds the Hurriyat did not appreciate the Pakistan Government's backtracking from Kargil. ``We showed our resentment at the time,'' he says.

Political analysts and editor of an Urdu weekly published from Srinagar, Tahir Mohideen, says those conscious of the developments across the border are disappointed.