Kashmiri Youth are in the Wilderness

wilayattimes (Jammu and Kashmir)

Youth is a stage of life that falls between the childhood and the adulthood. This stage of life is a hub of creativity, energy, agility , etc. However, it also is the stage of emotional instability. For a nation to achieve the greatest things of a civilization, it is youth that can play a vibrant role in this endeavor.

By: Syed Mustafa Ahmad

Youth is a stage of life that falls between the childhood and the adulthood. This stage of life is a hub of creativity, energy, agility , etc. However, it also is the stage of emotional instability. For a nation to achieve the greatest things of a civilization, it is youth that can play a vibrant role in this endeavor. India is proud of Demographic Dividend. It means that India has 62.5 % of its population in the age group of 15-59 years. It shows that we are living in an age where the potentials of youth can be channelized into constructive ways. Nevertheless, it is looking a distant dream , given the present situation in India. At the present moment, the whole world is engulfed by the COVID-19. The avenues for the youth are narrowing with each passing day. Socially, economically, politically, morally, etc ., the youth of today find themselves isolated more than before. Same is the situation here. The youth of Kashmir also are full of characteristic but whom to show. They are in a hell. Their past as well as the present is gloomy. The first talk is of social life.

Socially, When we talk of the youth of Kashmir in the present situation in an in-depth manner, the picture is already blurred. If we peep into the near past, the seven month long shutdown is an example that can easily make the picture clear; what our youth are going through. We were isolated. We became strangers in our own houses not homes. We couldn’t come out of that very trauma and the next phase of isolation is waiting , with the mouth wide open. Thanks to the government for giving us the snail’s speed of internet that keeps us busy for the time being. This new phase of isolation is something horrible. The COVID 19 has made us to feel the most brutal type of strangeness. We can’t meet each other. We can’t talk to each other. We can’t go into someone’s house. We can’t have social gatherings. Friend circles are gone in the real world and the virtual world of the friend circles are formed. Social empathy is losing its grip. Mourning , being a social sympathy, has become a stigma with the arrival of the COVID 19.In this case, youth feel choked than others. These are the testing times of a society to come out with flying colours. These times test the efficiency of a society but here, it is not a thought at all. I myself being a youth, is busy in counting the cases of corona virus. I feel blind here. My constructive powers are wasted in something futile things like others. A youth goes through the darkest stages of life, to see a light at the end of the tunnel. But in this part of the land, the tunnel has no end and the possibility of a light is an utopian concept. Our lives are meaningless. We live for the sake of living. I like others have a habit of time passing. Not knowing how to utilize this precious time in making a change that we cherish in our bruised hearts. My eyes well up with tears when I meet my friends . They say that in this big world of human beings, we are alone. What is the reason behind this? Everyone is lost in itself. It is a long list of grievances that till today, has not seen an end. It is adding up day by day. It is better to leave it here and touch the other dimension of our problems.

Politically, we are at the receiving end. Since 1947, we have been listening the same story of referendum. We are taught that the youth of any society prove beneficial in providing the great leaders. However, when these youth come in the form of leaders , they only find filth.

Corruption has defaced the pillars of democracy. We are taught that corruption is the most dreadful evil. In practical life, nothing works without it , particularly in the political sphere . An approach of a political leader means that your job is done. No need to worry. Merit loses its value. Dreams fall like a pack of cards. The hearts of the hard working students get the marks , never to erase. A youth becomes frustrated when politics is all about befooling the gullible people. The slogans of equality, liberty, fraternity, etc., are silenced with the brute force. Human rights violations go on. No one is taken into account.

In this time, a youth feels isolated from this dimension too. Theory and practical are opposite in nature. Criminals are seated on the top rungs of the government. The courts have become the Kangaroo Courts. It takes many years for a dispute of a minute nature, to take years for the judgement. The culprits are roaming free. The innocent are taken into custodies in order to please their gurus of politics. Many lives are wasted in these cells. What to write and how? When it comes to the truth, everything in this part of the land is false , particularly in politics. Elections are rigged in a broad daylight. Deserving candidates are given the back seats. Illiterate and mindless leaders lead us. Their planning is always out of context. They plan according to the pre-planned format, which is full of loopholes. They set the society on the road of destruction. They befool the gullible people by bittersweet slogans and the promises. The clouds of gloom engulf a youth from every side. He is not able to understand what to do. He hopes for the miracles to happen but according to the rule, the miracles don’t happen often. So, it leads to the world where there are political crisis. People don’t know why they are killed. The killer and the killed are on the same plate in the politics according to my account. At the moment, I hate the futile slogans of equality, liberty and fraternity. These look nice in books. They are never to implement. We are to be guided by the divine forces. We live without leaders after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. We are marred by our leaders. We vote and get bullets. We love constitution but are called terrorists. What to do now? The question remains.