It’s been 10 years of my life in Kashmir now. I was born in Holland and remained there till 2003. The time I was in Holland I always used to hear about Kashmir from my father; killings, militancy, freedom struggle, big names and of course the beauty of Kashmir. For my summer vacations I used to visit Kashmir. My father finally moved to Kashmir and I came along with him. Those days I was a child and I was unaware about the situation in Kashmir.
The time I was in Kashmir I missed Holland because I always used to think that Holland was my country, I’m born there so that's my country. But I was wrong, I didn’t know that my land, my place, my people, my roots are in Kashmir and so I’m a Kashmiri.
I'm 19 and have almost travelled every country in Europe. Holland is a very small country and not as beautiful as Kashmir but in Holland I’ve seen one thing, which is the love of the people for their country.
In Holland no one ever litters on the streets because they love their country. Today whatever is happening in Kashmir, whether it’s the polluted Dal Lake, garbage, roads or the crisis in Kashmir, I think we Kashmiri’s are to be blamed. We don’t love our Kashmir otherwise the situation would not have gone so bad.
2008 till 2012 we the Kashmiri’s lost more than 200 civilians and I think we are to be blamed for it. Pointing fingers towards anyone is easy but accepting one’s own fault is very hard.
My dear friends and elders this is our Kashmir and we should treat Kashmir as our own home. Almighty God has given us heaven on earth but we the people have made it worst than hell. Why are we silent about the damaged roads, about the Dal Lake, pollution and corruption in our Kashmir? You’re answers please.
One of the major causes of accidents is that we don’t have street lights; it’s very hard for a person to drive a car at night. We don’t have parking slots; a bus driver can stop the bus wherever he wants. People can throw anything on the roads. Have we ever stopped them from doing all this?
The main difference which I’ve seen in Holland and Kashmir is that people don’t lie. Whatever one has in his heart is on his tongue. But in Kashmir we have something in our hearts and something else on our lips. In Kashmir If we speak the truth we surely will become great human beings.
I remember an incident from my childhood days in Holland, I lost my way. I was only 6 that time and it wouldn’t be possible for me to get back home safe if the police there functioned as the police in Kashmir. I still have a vivid recollection of that day when the police took me along and took well care of me. They gave me a teddy bear to play with and didn’t let me shed a tear. It’s unbelievable that when my mother after a few hours came to register a report in the police station, she saw me playing happily like I was never lost and surprisingly I refused to go back home. If a child is lot in Kashmir there are hardly any chances that the child will get to see his family ever again.
 There are numerous things we Kashmiri’s need to inculcate in ourselves before we demand AZADI. We need to realize that being a Kashmiri gives us certain responsibilities which we cannot ignore. We need to keep our city clean just like we maintain our houses. We need to be united and we must consider each and every Kashmiri as our own family member and above all we must love Kashmir for it is what gives us our identity.
All these things need persistent effort otherwise we will never be able to achieve our goals. There is a quote by the great M.K. Gandhi which is for us the Kashmiri’s; “we must become the change we want to see.”
Let’s be the change then.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:00:00 IST