a killer never is a winner
TRANSCRIPT
A KILLER NEVER IS A WINNER
An old man sensed pain in his chest. His son, a doctor, immediately gave him a pain killer and within ten to fifteen minutes the old man was relaxing, as cheerful as ever. Comforting for about four to five hours the old man became restless again. One more pain killer and the old man was cool and calm for another five to six hours. For the third time pain for the old man became unbearable and he started crying. The doctor again thought of injecting some pain killer but the old man repulsed and asked his son better to cure the disease than to rely on pain killers…. This is a good advice for India as in Kashmir it has been trying pain killers like crack downing the youth, sending more troops, RAF, AFSPA, PSA, curfew etc. for last six decades. Today’s protests on the Srinagar streets in which until writing this column more than 50 persons mostly teens have perished are telling some different story certainly with different moral both for India and Pakistan. When tempest raises, all lofty trees bow and which do not bow they breakdown. The important factor India has to consider earnestly is that in Kashmir the protestors are mainly those youngsters who are brought up in sheer turbulence of last two decades. They are accustomed to gun shots and explosives which the Indian forces are supposing to curb them with. Their parents were humiliated, tortured and killed in front of them during last twenty years. Their mothers and sisters were brazenly molested and even rapped while they watched helplessly. There is a tornado of anger and hatred for India in their hearts. For India the time has slipped now because for last 60 years they never treated people of Jammu and Kashmir as a part of their nation.
Kashmiris have been protesting against Indian rule right from the beginning. Decades have passed by and the mode of protest in Kashmir also underwent changes and it got the most dangerous form in early 90’s when the whole valley was engulfed by bullets and bombs which cost lives of more than one lac people. Ironically, India always masked the facts to mislead the world community and their own people as well. It is basically the matter of arrogance and ego that sometimes they call it the problem of unemployment and sometimes political unrest and at times economic packages come to their minds.
Talking of the on-going protests in Kashmir the pen refuses to ignore the fact that the current situation in Kashmir might be the curtain raiser of some new historical event. As India is frustrated how to tackle the situation by giving it some good looking mode, the hostile Kashmiri youth are fearlessly marching ahead. They are taking the bull by the horns and are least bothered for their precious lives. Indian media and other civil and government organisations are hurling their suggestions to the Indian government and the most shared suggestion is to crack down the protestors and those who instigate them with sheer might. In clear words “kill them, kill them and kill them.” Come on Indian policy makers every Kashmiri child is born with a burial garment on his tender shoulders. How many of them would or can you kill. They speak loud and clear that they learnt to die before they thought of living. So when there is such an unmanageable situation where the opponent does not like to kill but loves to get killed, the best thing to do is to listen to him patiently and make a sensible compromise because the killer never is a winner. The gigantic question is what the ultimate solution to the Kashmir problem is or can be? If every problem has a solution, what goes wrong with the Kashmir problem? Basically none of the parties involved in the Kashmir dispute so far have seriously addressed this vital issue. For Pakistan Kashmir is their jugular vein (Shah Rag), for India it is their integral part (Atoot Ang), for opposition parties both in India and Pakistan and even in Jammu and Kashmiris it is used as an instrument to pull down the ruling party,
for most of the separatists it is a compulsion before which they technically buckle down. Everybody thinks of his survival at cost of innocent Kashmiris’ lives. Pakistan thinks of annexing Kashmir and India thinks of abolishing article 370 to strengthen further its grip over the state of Jammu and Kashmir, both of course two distant dreams.
Most of the Indian journalists, writers, columnists and politicians openly condemn the killings in Kashmir. They bluntly talk of human rights violations at the hands of Indian troops but none of them dares to suggest India that the only solution to the problem is to quit Kashmir as shortly as possible. They relentlessly talk of economic packages, employment avenues, political undertakings and the like. They either fear to tell the truth or they also accept it as true that Kashmir is Atoot Ang of India. If today’s opposition parties of Pakistan and India happen to rule tomorrow, they too will adhere to the policy of their predecessors meaning there by that both India and Pakistan have a pre-determined national policies regarding Kashmir issue. Here in Kashmir the separatists despite going through twenty years long period of turmoil have failed to reach a point of agreement. Everyone has his own office, own agenda and own style of struggle and ironically every Hurriyat spearhead considers himself the real representative of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. There is one exception of Mr Geelani who is a man of charisma and has a huge fan following. There can be no denial of the fact that he is and can be the only leader who can drag the people behind him, however, he too has a lot of homework to do. The minute all the parties involved in this most burning dispute in the world tend to be serious and sincere towards its amicable solution, not only Jammu and Kashmir but both India and Pakistan would have a bright future and that in turn would ensure lasting peace in south Asia.
ISAAR KASHMIRI