Tasaduq Maqbool
Aye Mooj Kasheeri (o mother kasheer), what egregious transgressions you have committed? Why are your blossoms not allowed to bloom? Of what sins you are paying this colossal price? Why are you being tortured and tormented? There are a number of such queries buried in the hearts of Kashmir! Kashmir had comparatively better attire in the past. Last few decades have witnessed an unprecedented surge in the number of half-mothers, half-widows and mental retarded ones. We know Kashmir is a bone of contention and one of the most militarized zones of the world. The miseries and woes which currently we encounter seem to have no end, be it the bitterness of occupational troops, acrimony of higher authorities or our novel adversary COVID-19. Writing this article will somehow lighten my heart by jotting down my pent-up emotions and love for kashmiri half-mothers, innocent PSA detainees, the poor families of PSA detainees and the wounded Kashmir. As reports suggest, more than 5,000 people have been detained since the lockdown was imposed. Govt. Claims to have detained 444 people under the draconian PSA since august 5, out of which 389 are still behind the bars. There are countless half-mothers wailing and striving hard to get a single visibleness of their beloved sons. How can you expect these mothers to be in absolute harmony and tranquility after snatching from them their old age security, their eyesight, their everything! How can they find solace in the world after losing their assets – the dear assets? The draconian PSA, of Jammu and Kashmir is an administrative detention law that allows detention of any individual for upto two years without a trial or charge. It literally shreds the glee, the dreams and dexterities of the victim. It also has an inclement effect on victim’s family. Scores of families whose sons have been detained since August last year are not able to meet them because of different brutal reasons.
Until the heartbroken mothers get justice, the world will keep on witnessing COVID-19 like calamities. Don’t bemoan the boredom while you stay in, there are hundreds of ill-fated young guns living with shattered dreams in lockups.
A recent report by prominent human rights group reveals that nearly 37.4% of detainees in PSA related cases have been shifted to jails in various states across India. Is it possible for a widow to call on her son who is behind the bars outside the state? Is it possible for her to bear the cost of travel, fee of attorney and other expenses? I have an emphatic no! She can’t bear it for sure, but she remains with a brutal choice to reluctantly turn into a beggar! Can you believe in a country, masquerading as a democratic one, the respectable and honorable mothers have turned into beggars? The love, the care, the concern and the desire to meet their detained sons have compelled them to collect money (by begging) and meet their sons. Zamrooda, the mother of Srinagar youth Asif Ahmad begs so that she can meet her son detained in Agra. Such is the condition of kashmiri ill-fated mothers, they get punished and ruined for no fault of theirs. Ateeqa begum, who is another victim of this unending oppression, has made several rounds of the courts since her son Faisal aslam Mir was detained on August 6 last year, a day after India revoked Kashmir’s autonomy. Ateeqa says her son was arrested when he left his home in the Maisuma locality of Srinagar to buy medicine. She is a widow and her son has been moved to a jail in Agra city, about 1100 km from Srinagar. She is antsy and worried about her son. Unfortunately, the brutal poverty is curtailing her efforts to meet her son. We know whole world is vexed with jeopardous COVID-19 and everybody is trying level best to contain this menace. This brutal virus has exacerbated the brutal circumstances of the families whose children are behind the bars. Parvaiz Imroz, a kashmiri human rights defender believes that the current scenario may take a toll on the mental health of kashmiri prisoners and govt. should at least shift them back to Kashmir. I agree with him in toto! The families of the detainees are very much concerned about the health of their children who are spending their brutal days in lockups outside Kashmir. The unhygienic condition and the over crowdedness of Indian jails may prove a white elephant for them! Nobody can understand the misery, the pain and sufferings, kashmiri mothers are going through. How can a mother stay peacefully at home when her heart is beating in the incarcerated chest in Agra? Currently these ill-fated mothers don’t want azzadi, they don’t want to be rich, and they don’t demand wealth and fame or any other worldly thing. They just want their sons back in their own dwelling. They just want to spend their remaining moments with their beloved sons. Until the heartbroken mothers get justice, the world will keep on witnessing COVID-19 like calamities. Don’t bemoan the boredom while you stay in, there are hundreds of ill-fated young guns living with shattered dreams in lockups.
( The author is pursuing B.Sc Nursing at Institute of Nursing, south campus, University of Kashmir, [email protected])
