After a relative calm of a good number of days, the red of fresh blood once again drenched the soil of Kashmir, exactly in South, Palhalan and Vusun villages of Pattan Tehsil. On the eve of the holy occasion of Shab-e-Qadr when people would expect the atmosphere to remain largely relaxed, the death of four youth at Pattan thunderously unhinged the things in Kashmir, once more.  That the occasion of Eid was just days away, and even if austere and sullen, it was an occasion when people would find a reason to smile in the grim situation, this incident has destroyed it all. It has snatched away from Kashmir even that sliver of reason to feel different on the happy occasion of Eid. From the past almost three months blood is regularly spilling in the length and breadth of Kashmir. More than sixty lives are already lost to the bullets and beatings of armed forces and police; and with this latest  incident at Pattan it now near seventy. Would there be an end to this bloodshed! Will the day dawn on Kashmir when the culpability is fixed and culprits are punished the way they deserve to be! Will the time really come when New Delhi would realize the pain inflicted on Kashmir by its instruments of control securely surrounded by a comprehensive impunity!  Will the international community jump over the apprehensions and interests and help this region come out of a bloody trap! These question already moving around from past three months are tossing against the heads with renewed acceleration. Now with this renewed flow of blood where does Kashmir stand; this anxiety solicits attention. From some time now the direction of anxiety had shifted towards how New Delhi was to respond to the five-points proposed by Hurriyat (G). Will there be a breakthrough after Eid, and will the current phase of public mobilization, with a huge cost of seventy lives, achieve the desired results. Rather than discussing the loss of lives a slightly positive factor had come into the discussion about the possible movement on the engagement between Hurriyat(G) and the Government of India to find a solution to the trenchant problem. On the occasion of Eid the prayer congregations at various important places were supposed to give impetus to the engagement aspect of the current phase. Fact of the matter is that this was the occasion when separatist leadership were to have an interaction, at a large scale, with the people of Kashmir. There were chances, no matter how thin, that if New prepares itself to come clear on Kashmir, and really mean business, separatist leadership could communicate the change to the people of Kashmir and one could hope for a change for better. All this is dashed to ground now. The change can be gauged from the fact that sensing the public anxiety Syed Ali Shah Geelani relaxed his program of protest to allow for some more time to the routine of life on the very day when the blood was mixes with soil at Pattan, but a day after the situation tossed back to the times of Curfew. Eid is just a day or two away, and Kashmir is curfewed. Now tell us who is responsible for this macabre turn in the events! And who has pushed the things to the point where the return stands not even a slender chance. How can a people who are drenched in blood place their expectations for something good when life after life is falling dead! How can Kashmir be coaxed into believing that their lives matter when they are being done to death with this brutality. And how can this State administration hide the shame when even the hospital vehicles are not allowed movement by the men in uniform.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 7 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 7 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 8 Sep 2010 00:00:00 IST