Riven.Angry.Frustrated.Anguished.Pained.Hurt.Despondent.Hopeless.
All these words sum up the condition of Kashmir and Kashmiris at the moment.During my extensive travel the only word I heard was ,"Siyasat".Politics.I couldn't agree more.
I had stones thrown with murderus intensity by groups of 14-15year old kids.I waded through a curfew in Srinagar when the state capital was locked down by security forces after an encouter the day before,to reach the airport.
Everytime my car passed a group of locals I ducked in expectation of a few more pigeon egg sized stones coming my way.I looked at them suspiciously and they looked at me with sad eyed frustation.
Kashmir is still as beautiful as shown in movies and eulogised in poems.The people just as hospitable and caring.The Dal Lake with its shikharas and houseboats still picture perfect.The Nigeen Lake secluded and serene.
Yet the wounds go deep that I wonder if they will ever heal?The current Government seems to have given up the fight to win over the people's mind.The sound of azaan from mosques was a constant reminder of the power of the mullahs.Whatever is spoken from the pulpit becomes the truth and it gets repeated...remember Goebbels and his..."Repeat a lie a hundred times and it becomes the truth" remark!
I did a straw poll of as many people in the street as I could reach...cab drivers,travel agents,stewards,waiters,shikhara rowers,houseboat owners and I was shocked that not a SINGLE person had a SINGLE positive thing to say about the politicians in the Government or the opposition.
There seems to be a vacuum and the UPA Government prefers to sweep things under the carpet,make pronouncements in parliament and then forget Kashmir.The media so forthright about issues is silent too for reasons best known to them?Ms Dutt and Mr Pranoy Roy have given it the go by.
Until I stepped into the freezing march air outside Srinagar airport,I had no idea of the level of disenchantment.Afzal Guru has definitely become a symbol of how the rest of India doesn't care about Kashmiri sentiment....put the guy into prison for 12 years,hanged him and finally did not even honour to return his dead body to his family.They feel he was punished in Three ways for a single crime.
Sitting in the safety of your home it is easy to pass judgment and condemn an entire people for the act of a few.As I sat in the Houseboat a couple of kilometres away from where 5 CRPF men armed with bamboo canes where killed by AK 47 wielding militants,I watched the news channel and other than the statistics there was nothing else.
Kashmir,caught between the security forces and the militants,its a difficult life for people on the street,without industry,growth and the travel trade falling into a downturn,things can only get worse.
I am struck by the attitude of the rest of India-IGNORE.
The Union Government neither tries to crush Kashmir the way the Chinese have Tibet,neither does it attempt to win the hearts and minds of Kashmiris and assure them that this great country that we call India is made up of diverse and imposing cultures that can live together.
On a day of curfew I really worried whether the dream that our founding fathers had would remain a reality?The maoists battling for rights in Chattisgarh,Jharkhand and Bengal.The Northeast in Assam,Manipur,Meghalaya,Nagaland marginalized.Sikh separatists in Punjab.Marathi 'manus'agitating to keep Maharashtra for marathis?
Never in the History of this country have we had such poor leadership,such paucity of empathy and such unparalleled greed.In the meantime a beautiful paradise is slowly dieing.The Sufi traditions replaced by strict sharia and once where Kashmiri women had gender equality today young kids are wearing headscarfs if not burkhas.The mullahs who from Mughal times waged a battle for power with such enlightened rulers like Akhbar are finally winning.Those who really love this country should at least once visit Kashmir and try to see their point of view.And show them that WE CARE FOR KASHMIRIS.
Gar Firdaus bar rooh-e-zaminast If there is a heaven on earth
haminasto, it is here
haminasto it is here
Haminast. it is Here.
Alas Firdaus is dead and this heaven on earth gone to dust!
