By: Yasir Ahmad
“If there is a heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here”, Mughal Emperor Jehangir said it all when he visited Kashmir valley in the 17th century. Sir Walter Lawrence, the author of ‘The Valley of Kashmir,’ has written lucidly about the beauty of Kashmir. He penned “The valley is an emerald set in pearls; a land of lakes, clear streams, green turf, magnificent trees and mighty mountains where the air is cool, and the water sweet, where men are strong, and women vie with the soil in fruitfulness”.
The word ‘paradise’ and ‘trouble’ are two contrary conditions and where there is trouble there is no paradise and while if there is a paradise, there is no trouble and vice versa. But in the blood drenched valley, trouble lies and runs through every street, every road, every home and every nook and corner. Since the inception of insurgency in early 1990’s, the paradise is being slowly but surely turned into hell under a well designed conspiracy. People have been accusing Govt. it’s forces and agencies of mass killings and in turn it is accusing separatists and militants of evoking people against it. Whatever the facts may be, this Mini war has claimed more than one lakh human lives of both Indian forces and common Kashmir masses.
The world has advanced much in all spheres of life. Science and technology have developed by leaps and bounds. Communication and Transportation system too have seen tremendous improvements but here in our valley science is limited to Drones, Armored Vehicles, latest weaponry and bullet proof vests. Communication is gagged by frequently muffling internet services while transportation means defying civilians to move on their own roads and halt vehicular movement for hours.
Youth are the builders of any nation. It is said that if you want to check the future of a Nation, examine its youth and if you want to destroy a Nation without war, make adultery and nudity common in young generations. Here youth are being deliberately pushed and inclined into the menace of drugs, they are being made addicts and to do immoral and illegal activities. From past couple of weeks, police and govt. are claiming of arresting Drug peddlers that indeed is an appreciative step but the question is that from where do these drugs come? Govt is accusing the other side of the border of supplying drugs into Valley but the fact is criticized by many. People wonder if Militants can’t cross the border, how come these drug suppliers can? The process is thus clearly supported by some internal forces which ought to be checked and probed thoroughly.
Last, but not least, is the role of current political dispensation which has been giving open threats to special status of valley and has adopted an ‘iron fist policy’. The stand taken by the current government at the centre is extremely dangerous as it shows no willingness for political initiatives and is rather relying on the military might to put an end to the ‘political’ problems here in Kashmir.
