Certain subjects demand repetition. We commemorate the anniversaries of our lost souls and pay tributes to them every year. This may sound an endless exercise but (for the colossal meaning it carries for us) – is historically significant. One such incident is Prof. Abdul Ahad Wani's killing that shocked the entire valley nineteen years earlier. And one such repetition is this. We did it last year, we are doing the same this year too.
 Prof. Wani was shot dead in the  broad day light at University campus. A cold weather appeared even colder with this bone-chilling incident. Those were the days when killings were rampant and the comments would follow after every such incident. Soon after his death, statements floated. Who killed him and why? Then we had a difference of opinion about the nature of killing. We had a morbid tendency of classifying humans as `their people' and `our people'. We were deeply into the noxious habit of drawing a line between `good guys' and `bad guys' based on one's allegiance to  an ideology. We had our own ways of dividing people as `pro' and `anti'. We have been through a terrible phase of history when killings were done in the name of community loyalties, political backgrounds, ideological leanings and sectarian slants. That was the time when people were clubbed as `godless' and `god-fearing' and their right to live was proportional to their level of proximity to a particular party. Those who fought to see Kashmir as an Islamic Republic wouldn't stand the presence of those who strove for an independent state and the reverse was equally true. Pro-Pakistan and Pro-independence groups were baying for each other's blood. How many lives were consumed by this fire of hatred is a tragic chapter of Kashmir history. Having lost much, we have at last learnt a lesson which we should have learn't much earlier. The lesson that life matters, ideologies hold no value when compared to the sanctity of human blood. Humans count, all else follows.
Nineteen years after, it's a good sign that we gather to condemn something we all hold deplorable. Let's protect our own political beliefs, but the concern for human life must be our unshakable article of faith. Whichever party or sect or community we belong to, if we all know the value of human blood, we deserve to live together and live at peace.
Then Prof. Wani belonged to `them only'. Today he belongs to `us all'. And therein lies all the difference.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Dec 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Dec 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:00:00 IST