Syed Mustafa Ahmad
Violence is a threat to peace in any part of the world. Development can never happen when violence is the order of the day. If we talk about Jammu and Kashmir, violence has become a norm here. Every day ,every night ends with a violence of one kind or the other. The most common violence is in the backdrop of the simmering issue of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947. It takes heavy toll of our lives. As a result, we, the inhabitants of Jammu and Kashmir, have lost the real meaning of life. We are forced to live. There are no escapes whatsoever. Suicide is anoption but it will be a big blot on our good heritage. If this is our situation and it is, there will be reasons for this. Let us try to know some causes. The first cause was the hypocritical nature of our so-called leaders. They stabbed us in our backs. They befooled us on the pretext of democracy and greater autonomy. They made our lives hellish. We are gullible people who easily become prey to the charming words and never bother to ponder over the realities of the things. All the principles of the development were trampled upon by those persons who used to call themselves the custodians of those very principles. They deceived us in the broad daylight. Today, we are dying day by day due to the fraud and deceit at the time of Partition of India into India and Pakistan. We are like Hyderabad, Gurdaspur, Junagarh, Myanmar, etc., where in some form or another; the Princely States witnessed or witness the continuous bloodshed. The conspiracies stopped us from joining Pakistan or remain independent. They made their destinies at the cost of our blood; and we are begging for the basic things. The second cause is the lack of education regarding the Kashmir issue. Almost everyone tells his or her own version of history that forces the reality to beat its head against the wall. It is not their fault because the Histories of Jammu and Kashmir in particular and the Subcontinent in general, are so distorted that it becomes impossible to know anything clearly. Moreover, we don’t have the environment where debates, research, critical thinking, etc., are allowed to flourish. Superstitions rule the roost. So, it paves the way for the environment where there are different kinds of rhetoric and the reality is shrouded under the layers of falsehood.
We are responsible a lot for the mess but it doesn’t mean that we will let the things pass as they are passing. We earnestly want the so-called custodians of peace to solve this issue forever. It is a threat for the whole world. It can prove disastrous.
The result is that the majority of people loses touch with the truth and try their best to save themselves from the hectic research and cost of knowing. It helps the cause of a tormentor. He or she has to use very little force in deviating these gullible people from the ways of the truth. The third is our education system. It has become defunct. It doesn’t prepare the students for the critical thinking. The products of the institutions in Jammu and Kashmir are donkeys, with no skill and the ways to adjust themselves in the society. The textbooks are wrong. The material goes against the basic principles of History, Political Science, Urdu, Science, Maths, GK, research, etc. What can one expect in this situation? Deliberately and consciously, the truth is twisted into such a thing that is easy to digest. The students also swim in this river of lies and it becomes very difficult to teach them reality. They hardly believe the real truth when their minds are intoxicated with the falsest information. Its result is that the students lose the touch with the reality and slowly and steadily, they become puppets that are good for nothing. The fourth cause is that the so-called organizations of peace and development. They have failed miserably in doing their jobs. They, from the very beginning, have not been able to provide justice. In fact, they themselves are hand in glove. They take active part in genocide. They make statements and weep artificial tears. If they had been serious enough, they would not have let the issue of Jammu and Kashmir to simmer. The destruction in Jammu and Kashmir should have awakened them from deep slumber. Human Rights Violations often happen here. A lot of people can’t see throughout their lives. Their deaths are better than their lives. But there only are statements that condemn the oppressor. But in reality, it is far away from truth. Their sensitiveness could have done a lot but unfortunately, there is nothing on the ground. They are in fact, themselves subordinate to the tormentors, who play the proxy war and kill humanity. So, it is futile to expect anything from them. The last cause in my opinion is that the world at large needs this issue to simmer so that their nefarious designs are completed. They are not sensitive in solving this issue. They get a lot of benefit from this contentious issue. It acts as a buffer state for many countries. It is full of resources. The water resources of Jammu and Kashmir have the potential of producing 25,000 megawatts of electricity. However, it is the secondary question that India only gets 1,500 megawatts of power. Moreover, it has both geopolitics and geostrategic locations. It used to act as a channel for the Silk Road. The recent CPEC initiative is a good example of this. So, no serious contender wants this issue to get resolved. They have no concern whether we live or not. But it should be kept in mind that we are the deciding party of this land. We will die but can’t let our land to be sold for some petty gains. Ours land is the land of brotherhood. It is the land of Pirs. Spiritualism flows in every corner of this land. We are responsible a lot for the mess but it doesn’t mean that we will let the things pass as they are passing. We earnestly want the so-called custodians of peace to solve this issue forever. It is a threat for the whole world. It can prove disastrous. Moreover, I want my Kashmiri brethren to pause for a moment and deliberate upon this fact that we lose human resources every day. What is the way out? Why can’t we solve this issue? Why can’t we become one in this regard? Hope good sense prevails.
(The author is a freelancer. Views are his own, [email protected])
