kashmir issue

Kashmir struggle has taken a unique shape since 2008, when Amarnath land row rekindled the popular sentiment of secessionism among people and mass uprising against India started, which was in dormancy since early years of the present decade.
The irony of human suffering and probably the psychological effect of living all their life in strife torn times has made the younger generation come on roads and pelt stones in order to achieve freedom. Baring few miscreants for whom stone pelting is a favourite pastime and a pleasure game, others are out to give a vent to their anger and protest against the brutality being inflicted on the people of Kashmir. I remember the words of a stone pelter whom I heard saying,
"I am a young stone pelter who lived his life in the shades of what they call "Tehreek". I have spent two decades of my life thinking about what I will do when I will grow up but I had never thought ....not even in my wildest possible dreams that I will end up being a masked stone pelter roaming in the streets of my valley and bravely confronting the police forces who always have a bullet ready to pierce my chest. I don't know why I pelt stones. I don't know if I am angry or helpless. I even don't know am I there for a cause that will yield something or I am being befooled but all I know is, I am an innocent kashmiri who wants to mark a protest against the brutal killings that have been taking place day in and day out in this valley which others call "a paradise on earth."
These words echo in my mind whenever I see or hear about these young people who are embracing death because they want me to enjoy freedom. But, Will I ever be able to enjoy freedom with the guilt that my freedom is at the cost of somebody's life and it has left a mother wailing for her dead son.
In this mayhem of blood and gore, our eyes have become used to the nightmares of brutal bloodshed and we have become indifferent towards the death which is a grave concern. Although the young stone pelters have courage but they have been using it at the wrong times and at the wrong places. They get carried away by the emotions and feelings not knowing that our ends i.e. our cause is justified but our means to reach that end seems to be something that is ruining the spirit of our cause in itself. Why is not a common Kashmiri trying to approach the problem rationally? I strongly believe that we all can contribute to our reasonable agenda's and the 63 year old cause if at all we are successful in adding a pinch of rationality and wisdom to what we are doing. Although I have utmost respect for all those who dared to die for the sake of our cause... the cause that resides in the eyes of every kashmiri as an unfulfilled dream but now it seems to take the shape of the ageless scream of mourning that has been echoing within the four walls that surround our valley.
Even when Syed Ali Shah Geelani made a public appeal to the youth of Kashmir for not getting involved in stone pelting, still we find hundreds of stone pelters on the roads busy in the practice of stone pelting which at least cannot be justified by any means. How can they forget that there is no right way of doing a wrong thing? How can they forget that they are risking their lives for something that gave us nothing except the brutal killings and undeclared curfews? Our young generation has been pelting stones even after knowing that the police forces will retaliate by feeding bullets to their body. They still pelt stones knowing that each stone they pelt is an invitation to the angels of death. I don't say that we don't need to mark a protest against all the suppression and brutality that we are exposed to at the hands of the Indian forces but pelting stones is surely not a good idea and at least not a solution to the problems that we have been facing for 63 long years.
More than 100 people have been killed and 1000's of others have been injured during the last 3 years of strikes, stone pelting, declared and undeclared curfews. As it has been rightly said that there is nothing like stability in life, either we move forward or backward and unfortunately our nation is moving backwards. We all are at loss. We are losing precious lives, time and ruining the economic system which is an important pillar for the sustenance of any nation.
Although the Kashmir issue has now become people's movement and leadership has been left meaningless but at the same time we must understand the importance of able leadership without which our energies can never be properly channelized. They say, too many cooks spoil the broth, same holds true for Kashmir because we are caught up in a situation where in we have so many leaders to follow but each one of them is going in a different direction. It seems we are operating within the competing forces which are more or less directionless.
John F. Kennedy once said, "We don't want to be like the leader of French revolution who said: there go my people. I must find out where they are going so I can lead them." From the present situation of crisis in Kashmir, one can easily infer that our leaders are doing the same as what the leaders of French revolution did. We have a severe leadership crisis. We need a leader with a strong vision, who can lead us to the life of dignity and at the same time not forget about the sufferings of those people who have large families to feed but can't earn for them due to these month long strikes and curfews. There is a fairly good chunk of population in Kashmir where in people utilize their daily earnings to feed their large families. Can anyone among us who are living their lives in the palatial houses dare to guess the plight of those helpless families in the present time of crisis? The policy of continued strikes and curfews is only aggravating our miseries and a common Kashmiri like me can't manage to continue it endlessly, for it will only lead to chaos among the masses and will deteriorate the situation in the valley.
Although we have been committing mistake every now and then but at the same time only stone pelters cannot take the credit of ruining our noble cause and the situation in Kashmir. Our worthy leaders – both seperatists and mainstream have failed miserably in resolving the present crisis in the valley. To add to the plight of a common Kashmiri who has a dream of a prosperous and peaceful Kashmir, our government is leaving no stone unturned to suppress them by keeping them locked up in their houses, by deploying more forces, by imposing declared and undeclared curfews when they are expected to understand the heat of the situation and do whatever they can to gain the confidence of people. But the statements coming from the various political functionaries are adding fuel to the fire. The recent statement of Mr Farooq Abdullah, "Kashmir ko goli maro" provoked the young blood of the valley and they took to streets. Such statements are enough to reveal the insensitivity of our political leaders towards the Kashmir issue and their respect for the life of a common Kashmiri. Our so called worthy politicians who are holding the chair to serve the people are playing their petty politics at the cost of the innocent human lives. The governments both at the state and central level have inflicted tyranny, brutally suppressed the people and have been indifferent towards the common man's sufferings which will surely yield them no good in future. It is sheer nonsense on the part of the Indian government to call Kashmir their internal problem when the world at large and even some sections of the Indian media have started to realize that Kashmir is a tripartite issue between India, Pakistan and J&K, where all the parties to the dispute need to sit together and come up with some solution that is acceptable to first the people of the state who are exposed to the brutal bloodshed and then to other parties who just enjoy dictating terms to kashmiris from their cozy offices. The Indian government has never made an attempt to reach to the people of Kashmir but have always approached the problem with a political bent of mind. I wonder what will happen to the central government and how will they react if the people of a state like Delhi will go on a strike for a week. I am sure that it will turn the functioning of the government upside down. Then why is the government showing such an indifferent attitude towards Kashmir when they publicly claim that Kashmir is an integral part of India. The truth lies in the fact that this insensitivity of the Indian government towards Kashmir is making the common Kashmiri doubtful about the safe and the prosperous future of Kashmir with India.
The problem of Kashmir issue is so deep rooted that it will take more than just a political solution to solve it. The representatives of every party and every sect need to come on one common platform and resolve the problem once for all by peaceful means and without putting more innocent lives at stake... As Benjamin Lee Whorf has rightly said,
"Whenever agreement or assent is arrived at in human problems and affairs.... this agreement is reached by linguistic processes or else it is not reached."
Let common sense and sanity prevail upon all sides involved in the Kashmir Dispute so that the miseries of a "Mazloom Aam Kashur" are ended forever.