‘Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies’-Sigmund Freud said. Taking this, it is then another kind of war happening on streets of Kashmir between people and dogs. And it seems to be a virtual dog-fight where no one knows who is going to be a topdog!  However, as of now, it is the tail wagging the dog as dog-bitten people writhe in pain and anguish.
To talk about the response of State government towards this issue is like putting it in the dog-house. Unmoved by the apathy of people, it has shown it is a dog-hearted regime, which has thrown the whole issue to the dogs. It has actually let the dogs out by recommending the weird policies of tackling this menace. The present regime is like the dog that caught the bus, absolutely baffled by the emerging scenario of pricey dog pounds and escalating dog bites. Unable to take a proper action, it is behaving as a blind dog in a meat market. In the process, it has been dogged and proven to be a real dog even as it has been attempting the dog-whistle politics.
But for those associated with making money out of this issue are the lucky dogs for whom Kashmir is a wonderful place of corruption, a doggie-dog world.
The people have been rendered to whipped dogs who can do nothing but play dead. They are simply helpless. They cannot initiate attack dog politics. They cannot stoop to be junkyard dogs to overcome the street dogs. They feel there is a dog’s chance of this menace being eradicated soon. It is not a dogfall for them as they are at a dreadfully receiving end.
People don’t have to fight like cats and dogs, they have to actually fight as humans with dogs. Thrash out the dogs that are all out to lynch them. In a system, which is crooked as dog’s hind leg, there is a need to embark upon campaigning, reviving the history of marches through the streets of London in 1907 when thousands of “anti-doggers” clashed with so-called animal lovers in confrontations that came to be known as the Brown Dog Riots. Since the controversy then had emerged around the vivisection of Brown Dog in medical research and teaching at University College London, ours can be the Street Dog Mutiny to save ourselves from a different enemy—the street dogs who ought to go back to hell.
Of course, people cannot be sitting ducks for the dogs. We cannot tolerate dogs—defiant, unruly, and brutal, taking toll of humans.  After all, human rights can’t be allowed to go to the dogs. We cannot afford listening to shaggy-dog stories of animal lovers and bear the marks of animal violence. Dogs can never be tamed. Come what may. They say you can't teach an old dog new trick. Discourses can change but dogs will remain dogs.
Showing no sign of hang-dog look, the authorities are watching the situation brazenly. They have perhaps made their mind to see the state of affairs deteriorate until the last dog dies.
            If the authorities have failed in charting out some concrete measures, let the people do it and try it on the dogs. The Street Dog Mutiny is the answer. Let’s at least start with giving dog a bad name and hang him. It’s essential and fair because people have to speak before they are silenced. People have to fight before they get faded out. You can’t let sleeping dogs lie. In fact, dogs here are not reclining down in leisure, they are up in arms.
So, Freud stands proved right. At least, by dogs in Kashmir.
(The columnist teaches at Media Education Research Centre, MERC, University of Kashmir)

Lastupdate on : Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
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