Palestine and Kashmir are the only places that are habitual to encounters, killings, blindness, cold-blooded murders, draconian laws, Kangaroo Courts, etc. Other places also witness gloom in some form or other but in the case of Jammu and Kashmir, the situation is the gloomiest. Everyday starts with an encounter and ends with a Kashmir beaten by an Indian cop for a trivial thing. If this does not happen, a Kashmiri will surely come across this news that in some part of the valley, army entered into someone’s home and destroyed their home. Furthermore, if this is not the case then there are cent percent chances that army arrested two under ground workers from some part of the valley and later released because they are innocent. Moreover, one will definitely listen that a girl was treated badly somewhere. This is the order of the day in Jammu and Kashmir and this is the legacy of the horrible past. Since 1947, when the Partition took place, the British and the pseudo-nationalists from both Pakistan and India made this issue for vested-interests. I want to make this point clear that I am a free person to speak my conscience. My conscience says that I am not able to gauge the situation here. I am not in a position to understand that why Kashmir issue was made and why it cannot be solved. How long the Kashmiris do like this? Both India and Pakistan take Jammu and Kashmir as a buffer zone. They roast their potatoes at the cost of Jammu and Kashmir. We are human beings. We have a right to live. But why the UN and the peace-keeping agencies of the world don’t come forward and seek a peaceful solution of this? Which thing stops them from taking a bold step? Till now, we have not been able to know who is the real aggressor. What were the criteria to be followed at the time of Partition? In this manipulation, the saner voices are unheard. They become dejected and the result is that the extremeness is found in many forms.
A youth should be given some money per month in order to continue his life comfortably. It will help a lot in eradicating drug menace from Jammu and Kashmir. Last but not the least, democracy should be allowed to flourish in its original sense. Hope good sense prevails.
It is said that the best form of government is democracy. It gives voice to the voiceless. But the irony is when democracy becomes dictatorship. Recently, Prashant Bhushan was taken to task when he tried to put reality in its actual shape. His truth was unpalatable for many. He was found guilty in contempt of court. However, thanks to the saner minds that have made it possible that democracy is still alive in India. But this doesn’t often happen. In August 2019, Article 370 was revoked in an unconstitutional manner. The whole Jammu and Kashmir was put under the severest curfew. All the communication channels were barred. The petition was filed against this move in the Supreme Court. A year has passed since the abrogation of Article 370 but no actual judgement has come on the surface. In one way or another, the issue is kept in oblivion. This paves the way for anger. Anger can be vented in the form of peaceful demonstrations, writings, seminars, etc. But when these ways are also banned or censored, there remains nothing but frustration. It paves way for extreme paths. And this is the situation that is proliferating in Jammu and Kashmir day by day. The promises of the government to take the youth into account, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, have also fallen flat. We have infrastructure of the long past. Resources are either wasted or unutilized. Corruption, nepotism, red-tape, etc., are the order of the day both in India and in Jammu and Kashmir. In this environment, a youth gets frustrated. He doesn’t think to live in this society. He calls it a humiliation. When a qualified student doesn’t get a class fourth job or his merit is not taken into account, he feels it his duty to fight against this cruelty. So, it is government that is biased and Sparks the flames of radicalization. If the dissent is listened patiently, I think that are cent percent chances that many differences will vanish way but when the safety valve of democracy is thrown away, one can easily deduce the result that will come out. And this result is already omnipresent in the nook and corner of Jammu and Kashmir. In order to put end to this bloodshed, the promises should be fulfilled at the earliest. Dissent should be given vast space. Accused persons should be hanged in a square. There should be provisions for democracy in the real sense. Youths should be listened to. This age is the age of materialism. Money has become the important part of life. An empty pocket means frustration for a youth. A youth should be given some money per month in order to continue his life comfortably. It will help a lot in eradicating drug menace from Jammu and Kashmir. Last but not the least, democracy should be allowed to flourish in its original sense. Hope good sense prevails.
( The author is a freelancer and writes frequently for Kashmir Horizon. Views are his own)[email protected]