Last year 6th May, whole Kashmir was shaked when Kashmir has lost one more valuable asset in the shape of Assistant proffessor Dr Mohamed Rafi an assistant professor turned fresh rebel, who was active for one and a half day, was killed some 50 kilometres away from Ganderbal, in district Shopian, along with top most Hizb commander Saddam Padder. The Assistant Professor, Dr Mohmmad Rafi Bhat of Chundina village of district Ganderbal, would go down in the memory lane of many Kashmiris as one for whom “humanity” and“unity” always came first than religion. His cover photo on his Facebook account, which now has been deactivated by the authorities so that others will not follow his ideology, says, “Human being first then a Muslim”. This post clearly indicates his first preference was to humanity rather then religion.
Chundina Mourns
My home village located seven kilometres from Ganderbal town shaded with poplar and Chinars, lived quietly even during troubled 1990s. A small graveyard, dedicated to martyrs, which is located in the lawns of local shrine Baba Reshi (ra), has just three marked graves. “In last three decades, only seven boys from this village joined militant ranks,”.
The last one to get buried here was Shabir Ahmad Magray, who died fighting in a forest land outside his village in 1999, along with three foreign militant. Magray, a Pakistan trained militant, who was affiliated with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, was active in the Ganderbal belt for seven years. He lived almost 100 meters from Dr Rafi’s house. After his martyrdom Chundina village remained a godforsaken place, as the nearest police post or an army garrison was seven kilometres away in Ganderbal.
Life History
Nicknamed Sahab Baya, a topper throughout, Rafi was enrolled at local Dastageeri Public School (DPS), at the age of four, and studied there till he finished his Class 8 exams. As myself was also enrolled in same school, i observed that Dr Rafi sahab was most brilliant student of our school and every year he topped whole school, on that basis he was selected every year as our Secretary of school. Being the classmates as well as best friend of my uncle, i recieved a lot of help in my academics, love, guidance from Dr sahab. Whenever i was facing any issue regarding any difficult question, i used to visit Dr Rafi for its solution, as Allah almighty has blessed him with vast knowledge about each and everything.
In Class 9, like other boys in the neighbourhood, he went to New Dreamland School, located in Ganderbal, some 9 kilometres from his home.
After finishing college Rafi took admission in Ganderbal Degree College, for a three-year bachelors’ course in science. But within a year Rafi changed his mind and opted for arts, as he wanted to qualify Kashmir Administrative Services (KAS). He chose sociology, his favourite subject. “He was keen to know the social aspect of the conflict,” Once he finished his bachelor’s degree, he took admission in Kashmir University (KU), for post graduation programme in sociology. Two years later, when Rafi cracked JRF exam in the first attempt, he had his eyes already set on a much higher goal, KAS. A year later, Rafi was selected for an MPhil programme at KU.After almost 18 months of Mphil work, Dr Rafi, as he was called now by his friends and colleagues, got a job in the animal husbandry department. There he worked for one and a half year and left job for further studies.In the meantime, Dr Rafi got admission in Central University Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu. He went to Pondicherry, stayed there for a week but came back. “He wanted to do research that will help Kashmir,” . That is why he came back.
Once back home, he got selected for PhD in sociology from KU. He carefully chose his topic: Globalisation and emerging trends in consumerism, a comparative study of rural and urban Kashmir. “He completed his PhD in 2017,” He successfully defended his Ph D dissertation entitled “Globalization and Emerging Trends in Consumerism: A Comparative Study of Rural and Urban Kashmir” in November 2017. Earlier last year, he published a paper on “Stone Pelting: A New Form of Protest in Kashmir.” In all, he has 29 publications to his credit. He has also written opinion pieces for Kashmir based dailies. Dr. Bhat cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) twice, he has been a recipient of the prestigious Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), and also topped the Jammu and Kashmir State Eligibility Test (JKSET).
Why He Choose Gun Instead Of Pen
Now the question which is revolving in everyone’s mind is,why he choose gun instead of pen,why he left his job, luxious life, family, education, degree etc.whenever this type of question arises, indian media justifies that its only poverty and unemployment which forces the educated youth to pick up arms instead of pen. But that justification is totally wrong, as i am close neighbour of him so i know each and every thing about Dr Rafi sahab. His family is most educated and trust worthy family of our area, also Dr Rafi was assistant professor so this thing clearly indicates there was no such reason of unemployment which forces him to pick up gun. From this point its crystal clear unemployment and poverty has nothing to do with militancy. Government of india should think about it, what forces the highly educated youth to join militancy. As per me the sole reason which forces the educated youth to chose gun instead of pen is oppression, inhumane treatment, brutality by government forces, innocent killings, rape by government forces etc. If Government will stop oppression, brutality and will give right of self determination to people of Kashmir, i assure them nobody will choose the way of militancy and by giving their right of self determination to Kashmir, india will win the hearts of many other countries as well.
My Message to both India & Pakistan
Despite Indian army’s blinding of hundreds of Kashmiri youth and terrorising millions of Kashmiris in the recent weeks, there is only one outcry that is reverberating throughout the Kashmir Valley: Azadi, Azadi (Freedom, Freedom) from the Indian occupation of Kashmir. Instead of heeding to the demands of the people who have ipso facto rejected the Indian rule, the Indian government is resorting to the same old methods it has used since 1947 and expects the people will forget what they have been demanding for the last seven decades. This is a myopic political game. It has not worked in the past. It will not work in the future.
As a secular person in matters of State and a humanist in relation to all Believers and others, I appeal to the political leaders of India and Pakistan to follow the path of peace, stop sabre rattling, and avoid provoking nationalist and religious passions of the people. Nothing good will ever come out of cheap emotionalism. Every political realist knows that the Kashmir Conflict is not so easy. The parties have to take into account many factors in finding a workable, equitable and acceptable solution. This can only be done when the rulers of India and Pakistan take concrete steps to seek a solution to the conflict by letting the people of Jammu and Kashmir decide their own future. This way of dealing with the issue has the potential to make India and Pakistan as close partners in trade, education, joint projects for the welfare of the people of the region instead of using enormous resources on military, military hardware and weapons.
(The author is law student, freelancer views expressed are totally his own. Views are exclusively his own [email protected])
