THE deserted roads, crowded hospitals, incongruous politicians, nondescript government, nonstop news channels, perfunctory activists, irrational rabble-rousers, screaming pulpits and an imprisoned population that looks askance for respite and relaxations from both the sides . . . This is the grisly picture of a place known as Kashmir in this 21st century, that clamors for salvation through strikes, bandhs and stones.
At stake the very survival of inhabitants, the spiraling number of dead and disabled, the multiplying economic losses to trade and industry, the dismemberment of delivery systems in vital sectors of public health, sanitation, education and PDS. A virtual collapse of administration and an overarching sense of insecurity among the general population are growing alarmingly. The helpless, hapless and despondent population that also comprises babies, kids, and senior citizens, chronically ill and diseased yearn for a sabbatical. The programs and protest calendars may offer a bare subsistence but not the scheme for survival. Poignant and paradoxical, the resistance is rendering subtle blows to those whom it claims to lead for salvation. Perhaps, it is then a matter of time only, when we will have the proclamation that death of all of us whether on road, at home or braving ammunition with stones is the only way out. The total destruction, that is necessary for reconstruction and salvation from oppression. The same mantra that would fire up extreme emotions in the hey days of militancy in early nineties, the results of which are now history. Again, a historical truth, that the seeds of demise of any popular uprising take root at its very pinnacle if organizational mechanics of disciplining the momentum and allowing respite are not in place. The burning of public institutions, vandalisation of public property and amenities and the very mode of protestation belie any such mechanics.  Protests and stone pelting having become indistinguishable. A closer glance of ochlocratic protests reveals that each of them either ends after deaths and grievous injuries of people or destruction of their property. There are no victors but more and more dead but nobody has time to ponder or no one dares to ask. If only increasing the number of dead could retrieve us from the oppression then more than one lakh martyrs of past decade ought to have delivered us. Are we a naïve population that is succumbing so easily or is it that we have collectively lost all rationale? Yes, we should rely on Almighty and not the worldly means, will be the argument. But our society has been morally and socially at the lowest ebb lately, what if, we claim to be the most religious people of the universe, we cannot hide our societal wrongs and widespread moral deviations. Even after that, if we assume that Almighty’s special succor is waiting for us to shower us with blessings, then we should take time off for collective introspection.
We have split enough hairs debating on 2008 unrest and its aftermath, but we cannot fathom the current and its fallout. Is it that we as people have grown to be lotus -eaters? We perceive the massive oppression of past century as any other political conflict that can be corrected by some months or a year of shutdowns and blood-draining protestations.  True, all great things come at a price but is the loss of a yet another generation affordable? We have evolved leaders who have shifted emphasis of the next generation towards short-term impulsive political ramblings from a long-term, goal-oriented struggle that would encompass the whole society by reform of the individual. We have to show consistence, perseverance and a massive effort for individual character building, set our society in order, guide our children about the history of our great religion, the exemplary conduct of the holy Prophet (SAW). There is a dire need to present the unbiased history of our national resistance in true perspective. We cannot put our children  on the front only to wait for their martyrdom. Short cuts won’t serve and have not in recent past. Impulsive political gymnastics of summers is serving the nefarious purpose of the oppressor, the sooner we realize the better. The personal baggage of aborted and failed political experiments or qualms of undoing the past events cannot justify the ongoing. The ladder of one-upmanship and bloated ego of ubiquitous political correctness needs to be bid goodbye by all quarters for it is leading a whole population in to gradual self-devastation.
Let the posterity judge persons and events and let us stop making attempts to correct history by committing one mass blunder after another.  A million warps and multitudes of repression over the years have not extinguished our collective political consciousness to seek our universal right. As inheritors of sacrifices of more than one lakh martyrs and tremendous tragedies we ought to have developed at least some hindsight of the deadly adversary we are facing.  We provoke the oppressor to take the battle to our kitchens and mosques and rejoice over this newest brand of rabble rousing as politics. The politics and politicians that cannot come together even for the sake of public consumption. A half a dozen individuals announcing the same program by separate press handouts is enough to show the level and health of our collective political wisdom and discipline.
Lastly, we have to have awareness of the global scenario, the dynamics of international politics that are governed by robust economies apart from military capability, the strategic position of J&K in relation to its neighbours and the overarching politico-diplomatic offensive unleashed post 9/11 that is gaining currency globally and serving as a handy instrument against Muslims all over. Posting comments on social networks is worth but it cannot alter boundaries nor change ground realities. All of us need to do some soul-searching, think with our heads and not hearts. An economically sound J&K with its religion-oriented, tolerant, educated, skilled, intelligent, techno-savvy and politically aware next-gen has to be raised to face the challenges of pandemic- imperialism, oppression and damnation of subjugation. The scourge has to be extricated keeping the body intact, and not by self-annihilation, unabated shutdowns and mindless war cry. The academia and intelligentsia have to break the criminal silence or are they waiting to write an elegy of yet another political bathos.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:00:00 IST