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| The feeling of being Indian in Kashmir | | | MOUSUMI KALITA SACHDEVA | 6/25/2012 10:44:19 PM |
| The feeling of being Indian no doubt is inherent in every heart of the Indians in all and sundry. I believe our Indian map displays the most beautiful picture of a lovely Indian mother with Jammu and Kashmir on top to her feet in South. Somehow I view the Indian map as a lovely lady with her beautiful long hair on her head, two hands with East and west and her legs secretedunder a beautiful saree in South. And I feel very proud to carry such a beautiful India in my eyes. But have you ever imagined a human figure without the cranium, a gorgeous woman figure without her long hair on her head? The very thought brings a fear in my mind of losing such an alluring sketch visualized by my eyes. Then how can I ever imagine the Indian map without the heaven on this earth-the beautiful Jammu and Kashmir?
We often speak of unity and love and perhaps the very well known term 'atithi devo bhavah' (The Guest is God) is the way people know about incredible India. But do we all want to be a part of India? By 'all' I refer to all the states of India. Are we really glad to term us as Indian? My expectations of receiving a warm welcome and friendly atmosphere from the most beautiful state of our country licked the dust surprisingly in a recent visit to the so called heaven on this earth, Kashmir. The attitude and the feelings revealed by the youth of Srinagar just passed my comprehension as I found the sentiment of being Indian was missing somewhere. When the whole India is fighting to protect our heaven to enjoy its beauty forever and give a safe and peaceful life to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, do we really know whether they themselves want to be the proud citizens of India? When everybody is trying to pull up terrorism by the roots from this state, do the local people themselves are conscious of this threat and ready to bark up the wrong tree? I am not here to bring to account any one person or a particular group but to give account of what I have experienced. In a recent visit to Srinagar, we happened to meet a group of young boys who deliberately stopped our vehicle forcefully and demanded money in the middle of nowhere. They said it was a toll tax but there was no any room, no systems, no official room where generally toll tax are supposed to be paid everywhere in India. It was an empty road without any sign of toll board or gate where we were stopped. The young boys shouted rudely at us and demanded money. When my husband who is an army officer refused to pay money and tried to explain them that he is exempted to pay Toll Tax as per the act in the entire country and showed them his identity card, the Kashmiri Indians ( I am compelled to term them so ) said something which made us feel as outsiders. They said, "Saahab yeh aapka India nahi hain, yeh riyaasat-e-kaashmir hai" (this is not your India, this is our Kashmir riyaasat). We finally failed to argue with this high and mighty group of young blood and were impelled to pay the so called 'riyaasat' tax as we did not want to kick against the prick. But, the incident somehow made me feel like a stranger in my own country and the wonderful sights of Kashmir could not assuage the pain in my heart. This pain was aggravated when I shared a few talks with an army soldier who is basically a resident of Kashmir. This young jawan fears to continue his service in Indian army as his family gets regular threats from the local people of his village. No one in his village willinglyspeaks with his family nor tries to keep any contact as they are scared of being assaulted by the militants. The young soldier has two young sisters and an old mother at home whom he wants to protect from the enormity of the local militants. His old mother is not willing to leave their house and land but continuously urges her son to quit army and be a part of Kashmir. But, does being in Indian army makes anyone aloof from Kashmiris? Is a Kashmiri not an Indian? Then why are the local people not ready to support this family? Why are they not ready to stand and raise their voice against terrorism? Are they not ready to welcome peace and safe Jammu and Kashmir? If not, then the term 'heaven' attributed to Kashmir seems to be quite ironical. Very recently I happened to attend a birthday party where one of my close friends showed me a five hundred rupee note which he received as a return from a shopkeeper. The five hundred rupee note made me bite my lip as I was taken aback to see what was written on it. The note carried a few words, 'go India, go back from J & K'. I just could not accept these words as I always believe Jammu and Kashmir to be an important part of India. Then which India is being mentioned in this note? Who are these mighty people who want Jammu and Kashmir to be separated from this beautiful India ? When the Indian government is making all out effort to provide all necessities to Jammu and Kashmir; when the Indian soldiers are sacrificing their sleep and life to protect this heaven; when every Indian is excited and always yearning to enjoy their holidays on this land in peace, then who are these class of people who are losing the feeling and the sentiments of being an Indian? With such missing sentiments and emotions would we ever be able to procure a serene India? Are there no room for warmth and consciousness for an Indian in this state? I can just make an ardent request not to lay my thoughts and feelings in ashes but to atone for our blunders so that we stand as a united nation. Let us not distort the beautiful image of a lady by trying to carve out the cranium of our Indian map and lose the heaven of our country. |
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