Unforgettable Misery!

On the 10th of every month, a couple of hundred people come together in Partap Park, in the heart of Srinagar city. They are a mix of people from almost every nook and corner of the valley, brought together by a common misery. Behind the beauty of Kashmir’s snow clad mountains and the sparkling lakes, lies immense pain and despair of families who are unaware of the whereabouts of their loved ones. Together, the family members, young and old wait for their sons and father, brothers and husbands to arrive. Collectively, they sit and protest silently against one of the worst atrocities that have taken place at the hand of Indian armed forces.

Kashmir, with as much beauty, has a scarred soul.  As per the estimates of organisations working with these families, there are anywhere between eight thousand to ten thousand disappeared persons in the valley. They are the cases of enforced disappearances, where the so called security forces picked up these guys, irrespective of their connection to armed struggle. And they never returned, leaving their families in the state of despair and melancholy.

Among these thousands of families, there are around 2000 half widows in Kashmir. Half Widows are the women, who husbands have disappeared, and the whereabouts are not unknown, not even the information of them being alive or dead has been provided by the authorities. The plight of these families is indescribable. To imagine such pain is beyond imagination. All through these years of conflict in Kashmir, the suffering of these women has been infinite.

The life of these women is torn between running from pillar to post, to every Indian prison, meeting any official they can and to Partap Park on every 10th of the month to protest silently to get even a slightest clue about their loved ones. And this is not all: their children were also given the name half orphans, without being able to explain anything about their fathers is terrible. And these children caught up in the uncertainty of economical and social support being provided to them.

These women usually depend upon their families or on their in-laws to take care of their economical needs. And in many cases where the families think of them as an economical liability, they have to settle on their own. And to add to this, they in many cases are not given any property rights by their in laws and many a times are rendered homeless.

Even though very recently the Ulema have issued a fatwa saying that the women whose husbands have been missing can marry after waiting for four years, but not many of them actually do. Being caught between the social and economical support and their love and hope that one day their husbands might return, they usually choose otherwise.

The existence of unmarked graves, which were recently found, are fading the hope of life. More than 7000 of them were found and in one of the districts among more than 50 graves which were found, ninety percent were that of locals of a nearby village, who had disappeared in last two decades. This diminishes the hopes half widows and the half orphans, who have been waiting for long for their loved ones to return, so that they can restart their lives like any other normal family around the world and could get some respite from their sufferings.

These families of Kashmir have gone through extreme trauma. And there seems to be no end to their agony. Kashmir as a nation needs to rise to their pain and collectively share their sufferings.

Winter: Here to Stay

All around the world, winter as a season is understood differently depending upon the geographical situation of a state or nation. My idea of winter has been shaped by quarter a century of living in Kashmir valley, geographically positioned in Himalayas, with fertile lands and beautiful lakes is of cold, snow and chilling days.

Summers in Kashmir are pleasant while the winters are harsh. It sets in gradually and then peaks out. And the culmination of winters is the forty day period known as Chillai Kalaan which starts on 21st of December. This phenomenon repeats itself every year. And so did this year. With Kashmir already having had first snowfall of the season, streets have already turned icy. The long fur boots have hit the streets, which were banished to store rooms in summers. And for the next three months, we should accept the way it is now and not think of pleasant summer days.

We know it comes every year, at the same time each year, but that doesn’t stop us from complaining about the cold, and the snow, and the ice. Every year the temperature dips below zero degrees, freezing everything around including water taps, diesel cars and even the Dal Lake, making it an ice skating venue for kids. Snowfall is frequent in this period and has longer life. Everything is covered in a white snow blanket, a perfect photographic opportunity nowadays, when the social networking sites are flourishing with people sharing their lives online. It by all means is wonderful experience to have. I remember as a kid making snow bunkers, big enough for a couple of people to sit in and using icicles as rockets. Making snowman is one of the celebrated events of kids when it snows.

It kind of dumb founds me that people are surprised that it’s cold and snowy in Kashmir. That somehow the city and weather are conspiring against them. Its winter in Kashmir- it’s going to be cold. The chilly winter temperatures shouldn’t stop the fun and activities in Kashmir, winter should be enjoyable as the other seasons. Nothing makes Kashmir as beautiful as the white snow blanket all around. The silence of wintry nights and the chilling cold days makes one believe in the serenity of nature.

As the temperature dips, harissa — the ‘perfect and preferred breakfast’ — draws in crowds from old, urban areas of Kashmir. And the smell of cooking dried vegetables is mesmerising, another delicacy one gets to eat in winters.

None the less, there are problems also. One that the state remains cut of from the rest of the world owing to snowfall which halts and restricts the traffic on the only surface link to the rest of the world. And the non availability of electricity to the people who are in the dire need of the same all through the winters, and plunging the valley into era of darkness while being one of the largest electricity producing state.

There are various steps which need to be taken to improve the winter life in Kashmir. But the fact remains, winters brings us together in cold and shivering misery like nothing else. Ask any Kashmiri how we can stand to live here and deal with winter and we’ll likely say that we live for summer. It’s the very thought of summer in Kashmir that keeps us going all winter long.

In winters, Kashmir is left to destiny with the Darbar moving to the winter capital, Jammu. In order to set the house right, there is an immense need for the state government to reschedule the Darbar months. In the months of summer, Darbar should be in Jammu and in winters should be shifted to Srinagar. That’s when the administration is needed at those places and not the other way around.

Crumbling Social Order

I am not sure how far defining Kashmir as “Peer Waer” is justified, but as long as I can remember I have always heard people saying this with utmost conviction. Every discussion would end on the same point, irrespective of the body of discussion, political, social and economical. People of Kashmir have always taken pride in belonging to the place which has also been known as Land of Saints. And why not, being bestowed with the immense natural beauty and serene environment Kashmir has been devoted to the religious wealth it has acquired through centuries.

The very fabric of the same society has been torn apart by the revelations which have come up in the recent past. While corruption is nothing new in this state but its intrusion into the fundamental blocks on which a society stands, has come as a shock.

It all started with few hundred deaths of infants, in the only pediatric hospital in Srinagar. With the committee’s formed and investigations done nothing concrete ever came up. People who were suspended were later re-instated at the same or higher positions. The blame game continued, till people remembered no more. The public memory in Kashmir, like other places is short term, where a hue and cry rises about an incident and then people forget about it, a complete blackout happens as nothing ever had happened. And, now the deaths have reduced, not because some serious cognizance has been taken about the unfortunate events that took place, but because less people visit the hospital now. Parents think hundred times before making the decision of going to the only paediatric hospital. This was later followed by a fake drug scam. Again something related to the health sector. The medicines containing chalk and clay were being fed to the patients in government hospitals as life saving drugs and other emergency medicines. Many a doctors attribute the deaths in paediatric hospital to this fake drug scam. And, who knows how many more deaths which happened in hospitals or at other places were because of these medicines. Not even considering, how many patients suffered pain because what they thought of as medication was clay and chalk, with no medicinal value at least to improve health.

As if this was not enough, a crude disclosure of self proclaimed dervish came to fore. He was arrested on the charges of rape. Exploiting young girls at his so called institution and making them believe that it is spiritual in nature. Could it get worse? Primarily, if these things happen anywhere, they are condemnable but someone who the society thinks is propagating a religion and its teachings, this is utter disgrace. Not only for the fake dervish, but for the people who trusted him with their sons and daughters. Also, the infamous CET paper leak scam, where allegedly the chairman of BOPEE is involved. In this case even the parents were involved in purchasing the entrance papers for their wards. Meritorious students were denied admission to the Medical College while the undeserving students indulged in corruption made it by means of buying the papers. And, tomorrow when they complete their degrees and practice medicine in hospitals, it probably would be a nightmare for patients.

Lately, Kashmir has so much been intertwined in corruption and its related activities not only economically but socially and spiritually as well, without realising where the society is headed. Ironically, these activities have placed fear and scare among the common man that they no longer trust the institutions and the individuals. And, how would they? There have been so many betrays, at all levels.

It’s high time that people wake up because the political class is already in deep slumber and they for the rest of the times to come would do nothing but form committees and order inquiries. We as a society have to decide if this is where we want to live or commit to memory the mistakes we have made and make sure that the culprits are punished and let our society grow on merit.

Aam Aadmi then, VIP now!

On 26 November, 2012 a political party was launched in Delhi. And on 8th December, 2013 it created history, which would be remembered for a long time to come. A case study of which would be introduced by many business schools; many other political parties would try to copy the same model and many corporate would take out the lessons of leadership and team work from their success. It’s not every day that you see the emergence of political party which achieves such success.

Indeed, there are a lot of lessons to be  learnt not only for political organisations as Gandhi scion admitted in a press conference shortly after the poll results were out, but for all such organisations which have public dealings.

In Kashmir, even though the mood is upbeat about the nascent “Aam Aadmi”, who has created ripples in Delhi’s political circles, expectations are very little. The policy of Aam Aadmi Party is exactly the same as that of other political parties – Kashmir is the Integral part of India.

In Kashmir even the “Aam Aadmi” is a Dictator! Their seems to be no value of Aam Kashmiri Aadmi and even if there is, as was seen when one of the eminent lawyer now part of AAP had said: “I want that the situation be normalised, [the] Army be withdrawn, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be also withdrawn and then try to persuade the people of Kashmir to stay with India. And, if the people want, then there could be a plebiscite, and if the people of the Valley want separation, they be allowed to separate”, it has to be sacrificed at the very onset. And that’s what has happened. As an activist one might be able to speak the truth and stand for justice but the same becomes impossible to say as a politician.

But, then this is not the lesson Kashmir should draw from it. Rather should be concentrating on the factors which led AAP to this kind of success. Then, there is also another story of a cricketing legend who won world cup for his nation. In 1996 he launched his own political party; in 2002 he was the sole MP from his party. But in last couple of years emerged as a serious player on Pakistan’s political scene and missed being a leader of opposition by a whisker in May elections. There is some kind of similarity between both these parties leaving aside the levels at which they fought elections. They gave hope and build trust among the masses. They reached out to the people and talked about the basic problems people faced. They have somehow managed to touch the hearts of people and have been able to connect to the people.

Also, everything that is happening in subcontinent stands witness to the change of mood among the common people. The awakening is there; the masses are realizing the power of their vote and are using the same with utmost caution. It seems to be the end of an era, where the votes were put up for sale, without realising its worth and thus jeopardising the democratic set ups.

There are a lot of lessons to learn for the political class of Kashmir. Even though Kashmir’s political arena is not as easy as it is in other parts but the change needs to take place, however small it may be. The need to realise the power of a common people is immediate and to pave way to their aspirations is indeed, the way to move forward. For both the sides, in Kashmir!