A surge in attacks has forced many Kashmiris to return home. Others are devising survival strategies, such as WhatsApp groups where they alert each other about places to avoid.

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Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – Ayaz Ahmad stares at his screen, fingers moving rapidly as he types in a group chat on his mobile phone.

Ahmad, 28, goes around houses in Hisar, a city in northern India’s Haryana state, selling shawls and other handicraft items – like thousands of other itinerant traders from Indian-administered Kashmir, who crisscross the country on foot or bicycles.