On the First day of the very new month when I was preparing to start a bright and a beautiful sunny spring day with multiple things in mind, destiny had something brutal and tragic written already. Suddenly the scenes of joy and happiness which were witnessed as people thronged the various places including ‘Badam Vaer’and ‘Tulip Garden’ to celebrate and enjoy the advent of spring, had vanished in thin air. A pall of gloom and anger began creeping in as soon as the news about killings in south Kashmir spread.
This time the vicious cycle of death was not satiated with one or two victims but the number had raised much high. Nothing new was to be predicted as each one of us knows what would follow next. As usual government clampdown on internet came as no surprise which was followed by equally predictable restrictions imposed in various areas to maintain and Hartal calls by the separatists.
Days of restriction and resentment shall be over soon and the dictates by all the authorities shall be given due regard and life will go on without any regard for the loss of life that we have been witnessing after short intervals. Some strange numbness has occupied us which does not let any memory live for long and we quickly forget and fall in line once and again.
We are too used to a ‘temporary normalcy’ period which resurfaces after every eventuality prepares ground for another tragedy to unfold.
Debates on news channels are aired as ‘primetime’ pegs to earn the TRP’s. Statements are issued to sympathies with the victims families, security agencies are ordered to follow the SOP’s and people are counseled to stay calm and indoors and avoid confrontations. All this said and done- who is there to solve this lingering issue of Kashmir? Are people-Kashmiri, Indian, Pakistanis- so naïve to understand the complexities of the issue? Are the authorities there to issue sermons and commandments instead of working out ways and means of resolving the issue?
I am sure we all know the answer to all the questions and I am also sure that we all know that Kashmir has unfortunately become a political battleground, more like a lab, to test all atrocities and to be used as a slogan for political interests.
It must stop now and processes to resolve this issue and put an end to this vicious cycle of death must begin now!
