What have we learnt from fear-stricken hair cutting incidents, so far. Well the answer is, nothing at all because the problem has been dealt with the traditional approaches and assumptions, whether at government level or societal front. That is to say people have resorted to violence, given to news mongering while as the authorities stick to its guns with suspension of class work in educational institutes and imposition of restrictions, shutting down internet and believing it will all work out; however it never does. There is no single formula to ensure a resolution of this crisis, but the onus is on people to take a lead. We as a society are very much capable of doing two things about this problem, concurrently, one is to face the problem with a reformed approach and the second is to take it as an opportunity to point out our failings. The first thing to do about the problem would be calling forth mass mobilsation thereof taking collective efforts to face it. By responding to the problem with an unorganised approach, we are becoming victims of victims. We know it that many people were beaten up mercilessly who were mistaken as braid choppers and those incidents were also recorded on camera, which make us think that we need to take steps to protect us from each other rather than protecting our community from braid choppers.
The protests that are being proposed to decry the incidents of braid cutting should invite a response and not trouble, as we are very well aware of the fact that the manifestation of our dissent remains dominated by the perpetual victimhood rather than results. A memorable saying embodying this important fact is ‘Never go to war with yourself.’It is our vulnerabilities that has made the whole thing of braid cutting a successful venture for the perpetrators.
We cannot trivialise the seriousness of the problem just because braid cutting incidents took place in other states also; rather recurring of braid cutting incidents is giving the police an opportunity to ascertain why such acts were done in the first place which has set off great unrest among the people in Kashmir.
Every crisis that a particular nation goes through introduces to its people, the weaknesses and strengths they possess. And for that matter our nation is being introduced to this growing realization of how vulnerable are we as a nation. We may not be ready to face this reality because it is a basic psychology that everyone likes to hear good things about themselves and our conformity to this approach will yield us lot more trouble; rather, we must conform to this worst of time and surely it will bring the best in us.
So far people have not been able to find a common ground, they have just churned out opinions with regard to the problem. People have also manifested an unethical approach with regard to incidents of braid cutting, the privacy of victims has not been respected at all and those incriminated by the people of performing this act were forced to say humiliating things. We should do what is right not what is popular. What police defines as nonconformity of people towards investigation of the Braid-Cutting incidents is actually the trust deficit in people towards government which entrenches on police-public relations. Ironically, not a single advisory has been issued by the government in the interest of safety of the women. Although, the police has announced a hefty bounty for catching the perpetrators, til now the offer has made no headway.
We cannot trivialise the seriousness of the problem just because braid cutting incidents took place in other states also; rather recurring of braid cutting incidents is giving the police an opportunity to ascertain why such acts were done in the first place which has set off great unrest among the people in Kashmir. In the spirit of the safety of our community, it is important to know what is driving the unscrupulous persons to do this grievous act. The matter is not just about losing a braid which is something physical, the damage is psychological and emotional also.
(The author is a student of International Relations, Peace and Conflict Studies at IUST Awantipora. The views are his personal)
