Despite belonging to the region which is counted among the worst hit regions of the world in terms of unrest and dispute, the people of Kashmir have set countless examples of humanhood on moral grounds which has a firm relationship with its socio-cultural tradition, thus have exhibited a good image in the form of a showcase of values. The belongingness with the Kashmiri culture and religious beliefs of people have always kept the morale of Kashmiris high to exhibit good human characters. Particularly It has remained inherent attribute of the people of Kashmir to treat the women folk with respect, that is why the outsiders who happen to visit Kashmir as tourists have always felt safe and secure from any sort of abuses in and around here in Kashmir. And many tourists after visiting Kashmir and noticing the way the people treat them have accepted that Kashmir is a safest zone for women turists as compared to other parts of India. Even it has been observed through several surveys that Kashmir had recorded least rather negligible incidents relating to any kind of assault with visitors. According to various time to time survey reports conducted by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Indian tourism, Jammu and Kashmir has hardly witnessed any crime related incident with foreign or domestic tourists including the women as compared to the other states of India where such cases do happen in one way or the other frequently. In this way a reputation has been gained by Jammu and Kashmir in terms of good conduct and good hospitality by its people with outsiders.Respecting the ethics of their ancestors, Kashmiris have had a belief that in this materialistic world, it is prestigious to live a honest, honourable and respectable life even though you are not financially well-off. Nothing will hurt you more than “God forbid” if you need to bow your head before the people with shame. So here most of the people try to lead a life with utmost honestly. However, few weeks back, it shocked every body when it was heard that two back to back heinous crimes of sexual assault happened some where in North Kashmir committed by two adults with the innocent children of our own homeland. Though it was a rare incident and first of its kind that such kind of news was spread in the pages of local dailies, as the pages carring such kind of news were seen in the national news papers which seemed unbelievable to us earlier. But such kind of incidents can dangerously affect our fame for socio-cultural tradition and will prove fatal for upcoming generations as well. So this should stop at any cost, the victims should get justice after proper investigation of the cases and the culprits should be brought to strict punishment according to law so that no one can’t even think of doing such type of inhuman act.
Perhaps it is the impact of improper usage of internet, drug abuse among the youngsters and lack of proper parental care to the children , that the children lose moral values at their young age, hence are subjected to social evils. The manners which were inherited from elders to youngsters through noble Kashmiri culture are now receding under the evils influenced through misusing internet , drug abuse and carelessness of parents. Though, in Kashmir the majority of youths are mostly inclined to religious beliefs and try to attain nobility among them in terms of their better attributes in life according to the teachings of religion. But at the same time it seems that in some cases youngsters are getting derailed from right path who are badly influenced by disadvantages of internet at young age which is a serious matter of concern. It not only impacts the life of those who get addicted to social evils , but at the same time our girl children are unsafe in and around here in Kashmir. In this way the noble image of Kashmiri culture is getting shabby day by day If the trend continues, it will definitely spoil the stainless civilized culture of Kashmiris which was once itself an example of ethics, and the people wanted to imitate our cultural righteousness. Still it is time for parents to inculcate good manners and good qualities among their children and stop them from the attack of social evils for the safety and security of their future and for the safety of our women folk especially girl children. For that parents need to keep their children under the a proper watch and guidance.
( The author is a freelancer. Views are his own [email protected])