Don’t be surprised if you learn that even today there areplaces in Kashmir where the very minimal amenities of life are missing. As we,the sort of privileged, in cities and towns, protest about disruption inelectricity, or may be an occasional snag in the supply of water, or an erraticphone connectivity, there are places that are living in the pre modern age. Itis not a fiction. It is not an unfounded tirade of a political oppositionagainst the government of the day.
It is true and it is what the people Iiving in such avillage know by living through all this. The report carried in this newspaperabout a remote village must serve as an eye opener for the administration aswell as the more privileged sections of the population. The report says that thereis a village that knows of no electricity, and has no access to mobiletelephony. Not just this, the village is sans water supply. Now just imaginethe life in this village, and compare it with the lofty promises made by theparties that are in the electoral fray.
There is a complete mismatch, and this goes on to show how,in certain respects, all the parties that have ruled the state till now havemiserably failed. The big projects, and the big promises aside, the villagerslike these are waiting for simple and basic amenities so that they can live alife worth its name. Imagine the hardships these people must be facing eachday.
This village, Chandaji, just 15 kilo-meters Bandipora, is aliving example of the failures that have accumulated over these decades. Inthis age of connectivity and fast transportation people here must walk 6kilometers to reach the nearest road head. That means these people live 6kilometeres away from the actual human world. For all the political partiesthat are making huge promises these day, this village is looking like a silentdismissal. Someone can take a trip down to this place and listen to the peopleliving in this godforsaken place.