Dear Mr. Prime Minister
Twenty years of a cataclysmic nation and no rest, no rest of the bullets, shattering the wombs of the mothers, who carried their babies for nine long months, to grow them into a human with a soul of an angel, these mothers’ young angels have died, died of the despair of their being, and yet remains there status unknown, are they the martyrs, militants or the angels of their mothers? The mystery remains, for there are too many opinions being imposed over the same.
I, so well remember the quote by the Mahatma Gandhi, (father of the Indian nation) “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.”
I do think of it, I need to think of it always, because it’s only the thought that remains everything else is shattered.
It would not be fare on my part not to mention to the Great Prime Minister of the Great Nation of India, of who I am, I am a Proud Indian, Proud Citizen of India, and I am a Kashmiri Muslim. I have always believed in the strength of my nation, I have been proud to be associated with my nation, I have felt pride in being identified as an Indian, and yet, I am a meagre Kashmiri.
in mid-90, when I was little, barely 6-7 years old, I would love to run under the shadow of the mighty chinar’s of Naseem Bagh with my child hood friends, of course of the same age, playing hide and seek, and guess what? Under every Chinar while looking for each other, we sought a Militant, rifles, grenades, and fear.
Almost all of us, the kids, were forced to learn about the armoury by these militants, and the commander would tell us what their jihad was, I stupidly would run home excited, telling my parents what I had learnt, that was the day, I was never allowed to go out of home to play hide and seek, ever again, there ended my play hood.
I was growing under the guidance of Literate, well to do, parents, they would always tell me the difference about being a patriot and being a Terrorist. Am I using a wrong word here? Did I say terrorist? What else should we have called them, they terrorised our lives, and they tormented our society, our being and our souls.
Mr. Prime Minister, I am not contradicting my statements, I intent to pose a serious allegation on India for allowing, the great Land of Sufis and Saints, to become a land of blood and bullets.
India did well, by hook or by crook, throwing out the terrorism was the necessity Kashmir to rebuild it into the same cultural hub of peace and serenity of the past, but then what went wrong, did India not do enough???
Where did India lack, why then in 2016 after twenty five years of the beginning of terrorism, is Kashmir in turmoil?
When I was growing, literacy was the top most priority, but how? Schools were closed, Hartals every day, Curfews imposed, and shut downs, which lead to, No schools, No exams, No literacy, Ultimately No education….
It was a forceful decision my parents had to take, to send there only child, away to study, today after twenty years, I must acknowledge, I did well, and I love it to be out, I don’t want to go back to Kashmir, not at least to live there, never can I live in turmoil, and uncertainty, and most importantly, without work, there is no work for me, there is no work for none.
I am certain about the fact, that, if I have no work, I may do in Kashmir, what others are doing, it’s a scientific fact, that, the excess energy has to come out of each human being, in Kashmir throwing stones is like exercising, release of energy.
Give them work and they would not fight, and as far as I know, India very much is aware of this fact, and many Indian’s favour the idea of building employment in Kashmir to keep the youth busy, but did you do that, should the Kashmiri’s not be remaining busy, be gainfully employed, sweat over the eight hour job, come home tie, earn a satisfied income and remain self-dependent which would give them the feeling of FREEDOM?
Mr. Prime Minister, rather than providing work to the Kashmiri’s what they have got from India is, Power Shedding, do you realise how much depression can lack of electricity bring, especially to the youth, who could have stayed busy watching TV, reading books, playing video games etc. when there was no work? Where is it going? The electricity? Is Kashmir not producing enough electricity on its own to feed more than five other states? Then why are we in dark?
You did not provide us employment; you did not give us light, at least, how about Quality Education?
How many IIT’s are in Kashmir, IIM’s, and IIMC’s? ok, how about the top most colleges? Private colleges? How about some good private Universities? No, None, I understand, but do you understand that, Quality Education can transform a child? Every student is not Shah Faisal, every one cannot compete IAS or KAS, give them other opportunities, give them the sense of competition and see how busy they remain, and how far they remain from the unwanted scene of brutality and anguish.
India is a great country, it has produced great men, great discoveries, great inventions, and great warriors, and there is no virus, no infection, and no disease that India has not fought and won over, then why is Kashmir wounded?
Mr. Prime Minister, do you not know the fact that, one infected part would infect the whole body and ultimately lead to death? Here we are talking of the Head of the body, Kashmir is the head of India, is it not? Can you deny that fact? If you cut the head from your body, you die, if you let it wounded, you die, why not cure it? Once and for all times, and live happily thereafter.
According to my beloved India, the disease that is rotting Kashmir is Pakistan, through Separatists, Pakistan is an external source, our fight with it is distant, it is time consuming and its counter is strong, keeping all the points in view, let us not argue over closing the Kashmir chapter with Pakistan, rather lets work upon eradicating the internal malady which under the nose of the Great nation India is rotting the head of it, Separatists.
How do Separatists persuade Kashmiri’s into terrorism/ militancy or Stone Pelting? Communication at a mass level should be the answer to that, to my understanding.
Now let’s look at according to my perspective, India is strong enough to take away the daily essential communication tools from each Kashmiri for months together, it includes the Cable TV, Telephone lines, Cell Phones, and Internet, there was a complete communication shutdown, for each Kashmiri for quite a long time, not that I am complaining, but for over 15 days, I could not get in touch with my parents, I did not know how they were doing, but I believe, to keep as much calm as necessary in Kashmir, this was an important move, now, if we understand the essentiality of communication, why not stop any kind of communication between Separatists and Kashmiri’s all together?
How difficult is it for India, to block the telephone lines of Separatists, and cell phones and Internet and any Publication through any channel of communication???
If we cannot put them behind the bars for any personal political motives, can we not at least put them under house arrest?
If we can kill to prevent terror, then why can’t we stop communication of Separatists to rule out terror? Which one would be easier?
Why can it not be India, communicating with the Kashmiri masses and making them understand that, “If the body cannot survive without the head, the Head would not survive without the body either”, make them understand the economics of it, make them understand the conscience of it, tell them how important they are for India, tell them how you want to keep them safe, tell them how other nations would eat them the minute they are alone, tell them how they will be taken care of if they accept India as their own,
My request to you Mr. Prime Minister, Sir, do not fight these Kashmiris’ for they are week, do not fight them for they are scared, do not fight them for they are only children, do not fight them as they are the product of the wombs of their mothers, who grew them to become the humans with the soul of the angles.
Sheema Farooqi
