Srinagar, Aug 30 - Her teachers rate Shazadi as an outstanding student. The girl studying in Class 4 speaks the Kashmiri language fluently. She wants to become a college teacher here when she grows up. But destiny - in the form of government rules - has already ordained that she never will.

For, she is not a permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir and was born to Bengali parents. Never mind that her family has lived in the valley for more than 20 years.

'She must complete her education and move out to West Bengal or any other state to fulfil her dreams,' said her father Qasim, 39, in a matter-of-fact way.

The family has an acute sense of belonging for Kashmir. Shazadi, fondly called Poonam, speaks Kashmiri, Urdu and Bengali.

Qasim has been running a small milk and sweetmeat shop in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district. He has been through the worst period of his life braving the violence in the valley during the 1990s that even forced many locals to migrate out.

His wife, Sarwari, 32, has stood by her husband's side, bearing and bringing up children and also lending a helping hand at her husband's shop.

But her daughter's dream will never be fulfilled here. As per permanent resident rules, no non-state subject can apply for a job in the state government or get selected for a professional course in any of the medical or engineering colleges here.

'Shazadi would never be normal if I told her the bitter truth now, but that is life. When she grows up she will know,' says Qasim.

Gopal Sharma, 61, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who served as director general of the Jammu and Kashmir police for over five years, does not have the comfort and pleasure of Shazadi's childlike ignorance.

An IPS officer of the 1972 batch, Sharma was allotted to the Jammu and Kashmir cadre that year and completed his entire service career here. He rose to the top job. Originally from Jaipur (Rajasthan), he retired last year and went home after a short central deputation.

'Believe me, I am a nobody in Jaipur. I have to jostle in crowds for every daily requirement, which I do not mind, but finding suddenly that I am a social non-entity pains at times,' Sharma told IANS at a marriage reception here that he had come to attend.