Having spent last 8 years in the company of senior citizens, I have understood that our society has not been able to capitalize and exploit the potential of these people. Thrust of Government and NGOs has always been on youth as we consider them potential human resource which indeed is very true, but at the same time we seem to have undermined the role of senior citizens.
We have failed to utilize their services in different aspects of life. With the knowledge and experience sharing of elders our youth can excel in different fields but unfortunately this potential and human resource remains untapped in spite of our advancements in different spheres of life.
Ahata Waqar a ray of hope
After the recent inauguration of Ahata Waqar at ChanaporaSrinagar which is a senior citizens huband day care / recreational center, Ibelieve the energy and potential of our senior citizens could be exploited andutilized positively. As a writer , campaigner and activist , I personally feelthat I along with my fellow activists are constantly getting enlightenedthrough knowledge sharing by the galaxy of senior citizens with whom we havebeen associated for a long time.
To institutionalize this experience and knowledge, AhataWaqar can play a great role wherein healthy discussions, counselling & debates could be held on variety ofsubjects. I am sure one day Ahata Waqar willbe an institution that would guide the society as whole. The place was formally thrown open by ChiefJustice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court Justice Gita Mittal recently in thepremises of Primary Health Center (PHC) Chanapora. The idea was conceptualized by Chief Justice Mittal asshe had already set up a similar center in Delhi few years back calledSwabhiman Parisar which means a place of dignity and self respect or AhataWaqar in urdu.
Knowledge sharing
On a regular basis activists of RTI Movement hold formal and informal discussions with veteran senior citizens. We have been benefitted a lot by senior citizens who help people draft RTI applications, Public Interest Litigations at our office.
We are now a single unit, a cocktail of old and young people. I am indebted to Syed Nasarullah retired Administrative Officer of State Judiciary who after his retirement in 2007 did not chose to stay ideal at his home, but kept organizing senior citizens under the banner of Senior Citizens Civil Society and J&K Peoples Forum.
Mr Nasarullah along with his team of pensioners like Mohammad Ramzan Khan, Mohammad Shafi Rangrez, Abdul Salam Dar, Raja Ameen, B A Allai, M S Dalal of Shopian and many others have been involved in lot of fruitful work. Nasarullah sahib alone has personally drafted and filed more than one dozen PILs in J&K High Court on issues of Social Justice, health, human rights, waste management , environment , pellet victims etc. I am grateful to our young and energetic lawyer Advocate Shafaqat Nazir who pleads these PILs. Stories of Kashmir’s history and politics by Dalal Sahib have always enlightened us.
Conclusion
I always cherished to see the potential of senior citizensbeing tapped. That is the reason I always talk and discuss with my elders andget benefitted constantly. Whenever I get time, I record the discussion I have with my old aged paternal and maternal grandfathers who arealso a treasure of information,both having served in stateadministration long back. There is not asingle day when I am not in the company of these enlightened people and everyday I learn and experience new things. I hope Ahata Waqar will get all theseenlightened people under one roof so that there is dissemination of informationand knowledge sharing….
Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat is Chairman of JK RTI Movement