The motivation behind this post came from a friend I met on a Social Networking Website. He has recently uploaded few videos about the uprising in Kashmir. Now, for a person like me who doesn't own a television & has no newspaper subscription, I was clueless about the struggle in Kashmir. Inspired by the story narrated in the videos he had shown, I decided to do some research. I soon realized the shear size of the revolution which was taking place in our own country. I even came across the article by Arundathi Roy in Outlook which was the final motivation needed for me to write this article. Was shying away from writing something here for a long time, but this is worth the trouble.The freedom struggle in India is not a story told by the textbooks in India but also the key factor which makes India stand apart from the rest of the nations of the world. When many of the oppressed nations gained its Independence by violence, our strategy was different - Ahimsa. Our path was difficult & tedious, but we achieved our target in 1947, 90Years since the struggle had started. Now its been 19years since the struggle in Kashmir started, do we have to wait for 71years more to realize our mistakes?
In the past 2-3months Kashmir has been making news throughout all the news channels. The Amarnath Controversy which started as a minor land dispute has triggered off a revolution, which the government cannot put it hands around. For the past 19years it had used all methods possible money, violence , disinformation, torture, elaborate networks of collaborators and informers, terror, imprisonment, blackmail and rigged elections to subdue what democrats would call "the will of the people". But just when they announced that Kashmir is finally millitant free, all hell broke loose.
The valley has been the center of controversy ever since any of us could remember. Both India & Pakistan fought over the land & had its share of "shahids" & "bravery awards. But the ones who kept loosing was the people of Kashmir. They are mere tenants of a land which they harvest but is not theirs. The simple things in life which we keep for granted like safety,security, justice is only a dream for them. Whether its the war declared by Pakistan or the blockade on the Srinagar highway, the loosers are always the same. If they raise their voice they get linked with millitants. If they protest they get shot down. If they complain they disappear.
It is understandable for our so-called secular government to stay quite & simply watch at the drama that is unfolding in Kashmir. It tried doing the one thing it is good at, calling the whole revolution an act by some ISI agents inside Kashmir. But its usual strategy didn't pay off this time, when the media played images of stone pelting youth who didn't carry any AK 47 nor a bomb strapped on the waist. On 18nth August 9Lakh Kashmiri's who citizens of India marched towards the UN demanding freedom. This was only one week after the Hurriyat Leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz was shot dead during a peaceful demonstration towards the LOC demanding that since the Jammu road had been blocked, it was only logical that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway be opened for goods and people. This in a nation which upholds peace & ahimsa !!!
We grew up seeing images of the great Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru releasing a pair of caged pigeons & granting them freedom, then why do we cage the people of Kashmir & snatch away their freedom. We demanded self rule from the British & now we deny the same self rule form the people of the valley. It is still unclear whether our secular government is failing to see the evident or trying to keep its eyes shut. Its behavior is quite predictable, predicting that the opposition will make the most of the opportunity to crush the government if it decides a decision in favor of the Kashmiri people. As far as the government is concerned it has reached a level of equilibrium where it is not giving a chance for the opposition to find fault & the not-so-secular opposition party will not complain at the plight of Kashmir. The only one thing that the opposition could complain is for more land area for Amarnath Pilgrimage which was more than ever successful this year.
The big question is now concerning the future. How long will the government expect the future rulers to tackle the problems & keep postponing? How long can one expect to silence the revolution which is trembling through Kashmir? How much longer will the Indian Army arrest innocent protesters & frame them as member of ISI & millitant groups? How much longer do we put them in denial? In the big rush to become one of the worlds biggest super powers lets not forget what our forefathers preached & the path which made us what we are..
In the past 2-3months Kashmir has been making news throughout all the news channels. The Amarnath Controversy which started as a minor land dispute has triggered off a revolution, which the government cannot put it hands around. For the past 19years it had used all methods possible money, violence , disinformation, torture, elaborate networks of collaborators and informers, terror, imprisonment, blackmail and rigged elections to subdue what democrats would call "the will of the people". But just when they announced that Kashmir is finally millitant free, all hell broke loose.
The valley has been the center of controversy ever since any of us could remember. Both India & Pakistan fought over the land & had its share of "shahids" & "bravery awards. But the ones who kept loosing was the people of Kashmir. They are mere tenants of a land which they harvest but is not theirs. The simple things in life which we keep for granted like safety,security, justice is only a dream for them. Whether its the war declared by Pakistan or the blockade on the Srinagar highway, the loosers are always the same. If they raise their voice they get linked with millitants. If they protest they get shot down. If they complain they disappear.
It is understandable for our so-called secular government to stay quite & simply watch at the drama that is unfolding in Kashmir. It tried doing the one thing it is good at, calling the whole revolution an act by some ISI agents inside Kashmir. But its usual strategy didn't pay off this time, when the media played images of stone pelting youth who didn't carry any AK 47 nor a bomb strapped on the waist. On 18nth August 9Lakh Kashmiri's who citizens of India marched towards the UN demanding freedom. This was only one week after the Hurriyat Leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz was shot dead during a peaceful demonstration towards the LOC demanding that since the Jammu road had been blocked, it was only logical that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway be opened for goods and people. This in a nation which upholds peace & ahimsa !!!
We grew up seeing images of the great Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru releasing a pair of caged pigeons & granting them freedom, then why do we cage the people of Kashmir & snatch away their freedom. We demanded self rule from the British & now we deny the same self rule form the people of the valley. It is still unclear whether our secular government is failing to see the evident or trying to keep its eyes shut. Its behavior is quite predictable, predicting that the opposition will make the most of the opportunity to crush the government if it decides a decision in favor of the Kashmiri people. As far as the government is concerned it has reached a level of equilibrium where it is not giving a chance for the opposition to find fault & the not-so-secular opposition party will not complain at the plight of Kashmir. The only one thing that the opposition could complain is for more land area for Amarnath Pilgrimage which was more than ever successful this year.
The big question is now concerning the future. How long will the government expect the future rulers to tackle the problems & keep postponing? How long can one expect to silence the revolution which is trembling through Kashmir? How much longer will the Indian Army arrest innocent protesters & frame them as member of ISI & millitant groups? How much longer do we put them in denial? In the big rush to become one of the worlds biggest super powers lets not forget what our forefathers preached & the path which made us what we are..
1 comment:
I am not agreeeing with you Abhi. Please go through this articleto know about the Jammu and kashmir issue better. You will realize how much Jammuist are suffering for the past 61 years.
India has to do one thing.Let the Kashmiris choose their own Destiny. Let the opinion poll happens. if they want to go with Pakistan let them go with them. Or if they need freedom from India let them have that.So india will be united and the non-indians will be out from the country. And whoever wants to be with pakistan can also join them so that indians can live peacefully.
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