Shankey Shah
With magnificent and lofty Himalayas as its crowning glory, Kashmir is resplendent with its mesmerizing scenic vistas; pristine lakes dotted with houseboats and are rightly known as Paradise on earth, and however it has also been through turbulence and violence over the last four decades. In the early 90’s, a sudden wave of violence and communal hatred started engulfing Kashmir in its wicked folds that would change the lives of the people for worse and destroy not only countless lives but also poison their beautiful hearts and minds and the spirit of Kashmiriyat that has been propagated in this paradise over generations. It was also the time when the unsuspecting gullible youth in Kashmir were being misled to picking up arms by anti-social elements and a few self-serving people brokers at the behest of the overseas masterminds. Many local youth were brainwashed to pick up either the arms or stones, thus wasting their bright future.
Democracy gives power and freedom to the individual to progress and prosper, this has to be leveraged by the individual personality
It has been four decades now, with many people losing lives, families & homes. The supposed purpose is long lost and has been replaced by short lived dis-illusion of glamour on social media and the want for a popular public ‘’funeral-janaza’’ or the ‘’kick’’ of the last phone call. What one does not realise or in most situations is too late to realise, is that life is much beyond these highly publicized snippets. It is not just the uneducated and unemployed that fall into this trap but also the literate youth who slip into this pit. In the past year alone, 203 militants were killed in Jammu and Kashmir, among them 166 were local. The casualty rate of civilians is also high, in last two years 90 civilians were killed and 277 injured in various acts of terrorist violence. The civilian casualties resulted in number of widows and orphans who lost their sole breadwinner of the family. People are now fed up of this bloodbath and want to lead a peaceful and prosperous life.
In this unending saga of violence, it is the Kashmiri people (awaam) that has suffered the most. Due to the political volatility and uncertainty, business houses and corporate firms are reluctant to set up their businesses here, which has resulted in economic and social stagnation in the valley. Kashmir with its beautiful landscape could have emerged as the top tourist hub in the world, however due to the prevailing situation over the past few years, tourism industry has badly suffered. Youth who could have been part of emerging India story were brainwashed and as a result became stone pelters and terrorists resulting in their arrest or elimination by security forces. The glamour of a terrorist is short lived and with even shorter life spans from few days to a few months. But the trauma the families go through is life long and no amount of time or care can heal it. The society forgets and the family has to fend for itself to make both ends meet. While outwardly society supports terrorists because of fear of retribution but no family would ever want their son to pick up arms as they know the end is not good.
The Kashmiris who pick up arms are lured by false promises and lies, who soon realise their misfortune but then are forced to continue owing to various threats. Picking up arms achieves no purpose at all but only ruins the individuals and his family’s life. By picking up arms or stone, is a Kashmiri youth playing into the hands of our neighbour who wants to settle his scores with India? The Azaadi Rhetoric is a fallout of Zia era in Pakistan which began that cycle of Radicalization of Pakistan Society. What started as a so called movement for Azaadi for which there were only a few takers in J&K has now become a proxy for religious tensions & fundamentalism unleashed by our neighbours. Religious fundamentalism is an alien concept to the Kashmiri society which has its roots in Sufism with Kashmiriyat as its way of life.
Now there is a ray of hope after a year of bloodshed. The local youth who were radicalised to pick up guns are now surrendering. There has been minimal reports of stone pelting in the entire valley in the past two years. Recently concluded DDC elections were violence free. Number of infrastructural projects have been allocated to the region which will bring up the employment rate. With less violence, tourists will also flock the valley, small businesses will flourish and will bring smiles on the face of the people. Democracy gives power and freedom to the individual to progress and prosper, this has to be leveraged by the individual personality
Democracy gives power and freedom to the individual to progress and prosper, this has to be leveraged by the individual personally. Kashmiris must understand that at the behest of a few corrupt families they have been walking on the wrong path and inflicting untold damage on their coming generations. Finally instead of aping a new form of fundamentalist religion being thrust down their throat by those who wish to keep them subservient, they should restore their enlightened and integrative Sufi credentials and resurrect Kashmiriyat. By that way Kashmir will experience the real sense of “Azaadi” freedom.
