Ghulam Mohiuddin Khan, 24, is a waiter in the ski resort town of Gulmarg. He has travelled across Kashmir in search of work and has lived in Srinagar, Anantnag and Kargil. A one-time supporter of the main separatist alliance, the Hurriyat Conference, he now feels let down by the Kashmiri political leadership. He is uneducated and wants to save up enough money to go to college. Our life in Kashmir is not good at all. I have been working as a waiter since 1987. Things were pretty good then. It was peaceful and we had plenty of work. But since then it has been down hill. It was after the elections of 1987 that the militant movement really took off. There was real enthusiasm among Kashmiris that year - I was pretty young then but people around me wanted to vote and bring to power people who could represent us. I don't have any big dreams. I don't have much hope. I would like to have a quiet life with a steady job, nothing too ambitious. Just enough to make ends meet. But the story of those elections are well known to all of us. The results did not reflect the reality - the vote was badly rigged and with it died our hope that we would get the elected representatives that we really wanted. Since then we have had nothing but violence. The militant movement which has hit us since has hurt us badly. Business is very bad. We have been suffering for the past 14 years. We sit at home, we can't go out. It's a terrible life. There's too much tension around us, especially if you are young. The militants target us, they want to use us as fresh recruits. They offer us incentives including money. But it's too dangerous. The army crackdown is very heavy and if you get caught, your survival is at stake. In recent years, the militants have become more demanding. They ask us for money and force many young men to join them and attack the security forces. But all that happens is that we get caught, tortured by the security forces and in some cases, killed. Caught in the middle In Kashmir there are no human rights. The world over people talk about human rights violations but they seem to overlook it when it comes to us. "All we want is to be left alone to lead our lives in peace" Everyday here people get hurt and some die. We are caught in the middle of two groups slugging it out - the security forces and the militants are fighting a war and we are right in the middle of it all. All we want is peace and to be left alone. Life is hard here - we need to be able to do ordinary everyday things without worrying about our safety. We need to be able to go to the market, shop for food, go to school or college, or to work. We should be allowed to lead normal lives like people all over the world. What I want most of all is to go back to the days before 1987 - before the violence broke out - and we had regular lives. I don't have any big dreams. I don't have much hope. I would like to have a quiet life with a steady job, nothing too ambitious. Just enough to make ends meet. Someday we will have the political leaders we deserve. Some day we will be able to live our lives the way we used to - with dignity. I only hope it happens in my life time.