Jammu:These Kashmiris are no terrorists but rather common human beings who not only respect their guests but also worshipped them, like rest of the country.People there are polite, compassionate and honest in their affairs. As they say there is always a hope!
By Manjot Singh Kohli
Seen the roads turning, seen the dawn breaking, seen the mountains trimming and seen the opinions changing. When the wander scare turned into wanderlust! And I never wanted to come back from the paradise! It’s an unease to even think about how hypocritically a scenario is put in the sight which has nothing to do with the reality most of the time! Or in other words the black shade of the moon is so much blared about and condemned that the glow and charm of the same is always ignored like it never existed!
Meeting people of every opinion for sure broadened my perspective of what they call hell streets and what I call as heaven lanes. There was a time when Kashmir was the last place I wanted to travel in the world. The image was such of savagery and immorality. Not that everything thing is flowery, but for sure it’s less thorny as it is portrayed. I had always believed it to be an exotic place that would reveal me to horrors of humanity. My views about Kashmir only changed after my recent travel experience. Meeting a few people was all it took to make me see the actual picture of this blessed place.As I reached there I realized that I had carried a cocoon view of Kashmir for years. Kashmir, as I can say now, is not remotely like what it is portrayed. The reputation of a Heavenly abode of peace and love is falsified to such an extent that It creates an air of prejudice over Kashmir. Few of the ‘adventurous’ travelers that visit India are drawn towards Kashmir by its scenic beauty, while rest of them are left behind, clutched by the thought of horrors they Will have to face in Kashmir. The fault is not mine or of those “unadventurous” travelers but instead the fault lies in mere portrayal of Kashmir. “Art” which is considered as a reflection of society fails to reflect Kashmir as it is. Instead of showing the ‘reality’ or ‘the positive aspects’ of Kashmir as well, these artists tend to focus only on the negative aspects of Kashmir.
According to what the very wise peace lover Farooq Renzu Shah, Chairman Kashmir Society says, every religion teaches love, harmony, peace, unity, but at the same time, regardless of what religion we are talking about there is an essence of hatred and war (When needed. But a war is a war) which is preached by calling it different names. Some call it “Dharam Yudh” and some call it “Jihad”. No matter what name it is called by, we see blood! But the most disappointing part is that this minor hate teaching attracts the majority and hence is given a reason to be the centre of attention when it is preached! In his opinion the only way of getting through this rusty phase is humanity and love for humans!
Tahir Syeed Media Analyst in CM office who welcomed me with a coffee meeting said that prolonged protests are self destruction. He even said that totally are ignored the kind of provisions India has continuously been providing to Kashmiris regardless of what aspect we talk about and one big shade is education. But then we cannot ignore that fact that we need to understand the choice of accepting comfort!
As an activist my veins say that there are other trodden issues that must be caught in the valley that are totally being ignored and need immediate attention.
In this aspect another peace lover in the strain. Sajid Yousuf Shah a Law student in Kashmir University says it is a little doubtful to figure out if what India is providing us with would be affordable for any other nation who is favored by some. According to him violence has never been a solution to anything and it disheartens him to see his own brothers having blood thirst for their own folks. Being a Muslim he added on explaining to me a few teachings of Quran and Holy Prophet (Pbuh) says that killing a person is killing the whole humanity. He also told me that the Holy Prophet (Pbuh) has always taught to pickup even a mare pebble which might end up giving a bruise to someone walking on the road, then where does these rebellious terms of stone pelting has come from?Clearly , a few in number but much in effect, politicians are trying to enjoy the prolonged luxury of the confliction phase of Kashmir who would never pick up arms but would always murder the conscience of the young and innocents making them a shoulder to fire from. When these young minds should totally devote themselves toward the serving of the society by gaining all the academicals benefit and outshining at them, they are busy in painting Kashmir with blood!
These Kashmiris are no terrorists but rather common human beings who not only respect their guests but also worshipped them, like rest of the country. People there are polite, compassionate and honest in their affairs.
I wonder where this favor of bloodshed is coming from when even the Shikara wala bhaiya invited me for Eid party very modestly to his house in Dal! The much talked of word ‘Kashmiriyat’ is nothing more than common people of Kashmir showing love towards their land and an unforgettable warm hospitality. Portrayed as Militants, these people following Kashmiriyat are nothing more than common human beings seeking for rights on their lands, which are constantly stuck in between the conflicts of India and Pakistan. These Kashmiris are no terrorists but rather common human beings who not only respect their guests but also worshipped them, like rest of the country. People there are polite, compassionate and honest in their affairs. As they say there is always a hope! A hope to see a Kashmir about what no one talks about killing the other humans or throwing bombs at places, rather they talk of love, happiness and dedication towards their land but yes you can see death of conscience there. People have lost their reasons and ability to find ways and choose the right direction! They are blindly proud of their land, who wouldn’t be if they owned heaven!! A hope to actually have a logical reason behind every move these brains make! A hope to see the sense of conscience coming back! A hope to soon see Kashmir turning out to be Subhan Allah Kashir!
Author hails from Jammu region of J&K is a Social worker and Human rights activist.
