Hope in the Valley

No matter how often he imagines how he would look in the papersall shot up or blown to pieces like so many of his friendsthere are times when Ghulam Mohiuddin Sofi knows he made the right decision to stand for election. One of these sublime moments came last week as his convoy of election workers and supporters neared Waskora, a tiny village in the lush Vale of Kashmir. A cheering, chanting crowd brought him to a halt, while men and women in nearby apple orchards and barley fields threw down their baskets and hoes and ran yelling to join the swelling...