Akshaj Rohmetra
The dispute over Kashmir dates from 1947. The partition took place due to the clash between the politicians of both the religions, hindus and muslims. This partition of the subcontinent consisting of 650 princely states, left a choice with those states sharing borders with both the nations, to either join India or Pakistan. The state of Jammu and Kashmir, as it adjoins India and Pakistan, also had a choice to join either of the two nations. Not declaring the nation he would sign to be a part of, Maharaja Hari Singh[ the then ruler of the state] faced the consequence of tribesmen from Pakistan, entering the state to capture the state and make it a part of Pakistan. Seeking help from India, he signed with India to make the state a part of India. This resulted in the eruption of the first war over the state which was resolved in the UN. But, since then both countries have clashed various times, from the Kargil War till date, the fight for Kashmir has resulted only in bloodshed and displacing innocents.
Life of people in Kashmir is what the question turns out to be. Between the politics of the two nations and the violence, heard by many, there is life getting affected by the incidents taking place in Kashmir. “Unlike many other parts of the country, Kashmir manages to live in the headlines for all bad reasons.” This reflects the life of the people in Kashmir and what it takes for them to carry on their daily lives even after living in such conditions. A person in an interview said, “Beyond the encounters and threats, the citizens have faced abuse, corruption, social evils and other atrocities that remain fresh in minds but never in conversations around town.” For those who have news apps installed in their mobile phones, can often be seen receiving notifications on either a militant getting killed by the army or attacks by army on the stone pelters in Kashmir. The people living in the valley also face a terrible life in terms of health-care, education, transportation and other domains of life. My grandfather told me the other day, “When army open fires upon the mob lynchers, there is no difference between the stone pelters and the innocents standing nearby.” This statement of his, makes me think of those families who lose their sons/daughters, knowing that they were innocent.
There are certain families in Kashmir which are not affected much by the terrorist activities in the region. Then there are other families present in Kashmir. Families which are unaware that one amongst them is a terrorist, families which are concerned about their own well being and try to focus on their daily lives, then there are families which propagate their own ideology of Jihad for turning others to what they themselves believe in and convert the whole meaning of Islam to such an extent that they get pleasure from killing others. There have been instances where young boys entering their teenage have been seen holding guns. Parents of these terrorists are generally not aware of their acts. In an article given in Hindustan times it was mentioned, “Rasool had not heard from his son who was a constable, until today, when the cop reinvented himself into a terrorist.” The cop was seen posing in a photograph which went viral on social media where his son was seen posing with a group of people holding guns, sitting in the middle was Burhan Wani.
When asked ‘what do you want?’ to the terrorists, some say that they are holding the true meaning of Jihad by practicing terrorist activities and others say that they want India to free Kashmir. Kashmir issue does not come to an end here, the problem extends to Pakistan sending troops in India as terrorists. In an interview, the former prime minister of Pakistan effectively admitted that Pakistan was involved in the attacks of 26/11 “Nawaz Sharif: Pakistan sent terrorists to India to execute 26/11 attacks”. This can also be a remark made by him in order to play a political move but the fact that this affair was brought to light, gives us a view of how ambiguous the role of Pakistan can be, from sending the terrorists to the country to funding the stone pelters in Kashmir. Reports also speak that Pakistan is often backed by China and India has been seen facing problems like China’s veto over India becoming a part of the security council. These problems rage an anger, making the conditions between India and Pakistan, even more worse.
In a place like Kashmir, where people don’t prefer to move out of their houses, separatists turned terrorists use social media for the purpose of indoctrination of people to turn them into terrorists, as they themselves are. These terrorists try to capture the attention of the public in Kashmir to receive support from them. Due to this, many of those people living there develop a sense of inferiority towards the army and the centre. Now the question arises, what can be the remedy for the same? The answer to this question will be difficult to find as one’s ideology of what is right and what is wrong depends on a person’s rational.
One cannot expect the natives of a land to not support his/her son/daughter when he/she connects with the people of the land, emotionally. Like in the case of Burhan Wani, when he was killed, the very next day there was a video released which went viral and touched the heart of many of those in Kashmir. A 40 year old woman from Kashmir said, “Any Kashmiri will cry, the video touches you”. This shows us that, how the use of social media is used by the terrorists to lure the minds of the people of Kashmir and get their support.
My final argument is to reduce the hatred between India and Pakistan they have for each other. Why is there bloodshed in Kashmir? Why can things not be clarified or talked about by both of the nations? Why are civilians killed in Kashmir? Why people opt to become stone pelters? Why does Pakistan fund the stone pelters in Kashmir? Why can’t there be peace? Why is there still a rift even after UN interference for peace between the two countries? All these questions cannot be answered until and unless the people stop seeing the same issue as a problem between two countries. The problem can only be solved if there is a rational view where the people see the same case as a problem of ‘unwanted bloodshed’. There arises a need for the Government of both the countries to reduce the hatred for each other and talk about the issue of Kashmir, peacefully.
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