'This is an act of remembrance, it is to show that we have not forgotten our loved ones'

When you go to Church, you wear your best.

Best clothes. Best smile. Best flowers in your hands.

The little Church at Sonwar in uptown Srinagar witnessed a service, on Friday, that was drastically different.

Paramilitary forces in khakis and camouflage outnumbered worshippers. Guns and grenades were more in evidence than roses and daisies. And on the faces of the worshippers, tears flowed in streams, etching a story of unalloyed grief.

The special service was for the benefit of Julie Mangan, wife of British tourist Keith Mangan, one of four foreigners kidnapped on July 4, 1995, by militants affiliated to the pro-Pakistan Al Faran group. With her was Jane, wife of American tourist Donald Hutchings, and the sister of German tourist Dirk Hasert -- both of them Mangan's colleagues in captivity.

Perhaps the most touching moment of the short ceremony, carried out beneath the hawk-like vigilance of security troops, came when Julie Mangan walked outside into the churchyard, to tie a bright yellow ribbon to a pine tree.

"This is an act of remembrance, it is to show that we have not forgotten our loved ones," Julie said. "We want them, and the people here, to know that we love them and miss them."

Misfortune knows no religions -- so perhaps it was no surprise that from church, the three grieving ladies went straight to the Jamia Masjid, to join thousands of local Muslims in their ritual Friday prayers.

And while there, the trio passed around pamphlets. Little pieces of paper bearing their desperate pleas for anyone at all, having any information at all, on the fate of their loved ones to come forward.

Such pamphlets have been passed out before. With no visible effect, other than to add to the litter on the sidewalks. But when all else fails, you clutch at straws. Or pass around pamphlets. Or do whatever you have to.

The three ladies appealed from their hearts. Kashmir's chief priest and chairman of the All Parties Huriyat Conference, Moulvi Umar Farooq, appealed from the pulpit.

"If Al Faran has any sympathy for the present struggle in Kashmir then they should release the hostages without delay," Farooq said.

Priest, congregation, grieving relatives -- all dispersed.

The ladies will also meet Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah. They will also meet state security officials, who will brief them about the progress of their investigations into the plight of the four kidnapped terrorists.

And then they will leave, for their respective homes, on Sunday.

Leaving behind a little yellow ribbon on an old pine tree...

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