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Kashmir Concerns
It’s not as if the college-going crowd in the rest of India are insensitive to what’s happening in the Valley, but most of them do not ‘how or where to begin’, write
Nisha Karunakaran and Shonel Sen
A battle lost, a battle won —
The difference is small, my son
VIOLENCE in Kashmir does not seem to affect too many people any more. Too much on the issue seems to have been said already. So much so that when we invited opinions on the subject, a friend said, “Naaa ... too hackneyed.” His reaction also had to do with the fact that violence in Kashmir wouldn’t probably feature in a question paper he would have to answer or a group discussion leading to a possible job. This young man was so focused that he had begun to see everything in the light of what’s going to be “useful” in terms of building a career.
Almost everybody we spoke to agreed that the youth of India living outside the territory of Jammu and Kashmir is simply not interested in what has been happening in the state for over a decade now. But there are still people who form part of a minuscule minority.
Sonal Kapur, who studies in the third year at Presidency College, is passionate about the Kashmir cause. She feels lack of constitutional amendment regarding property-related issues is the crux of the problem. Non-Kashmiris are not allowed to buy property within the territory which, according to her, keeps potential investment and involvement from the rest of India at bay.
Jayeeta Ray, student of fashion technology, Hyderabad believes that one of the major problems faced by Kashmiris is lack of infrastructure. Kashmir is treated as a “major problem”, talked about in global forums, but there are huge snags in administration and security which the new chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad needs to look into. Basic infrastructure needs to be provided in the fields of education, transportation and information technology. Unemployment remains a nagging concern vis-a-vis the youth of the state. Unless such basic issues are addressed, says Jayeeta, she does not see a solution.
Shibashish Chatterjee, who teaches international relations at Jadavpur University, suggests that “the youth of Kashmir must come forward and clearly state their opinion on the existing platforms to clarify their stand. Using the available resources, the youth must enter the political arena as they have better contacts and communication with the common people of the state.”
Juhi Vashisht, who lived in Udhampur, near Jammu, for the first 16 years of life, believes that the young people today are not an unemotional lot, it’s just that they don’t see how they could do constructive work to help. Like many others she believes that Kashmir is just another issue for politicians on either side of the border to bicker about and make an election issue of.
Unless drastic measures are adopted to check cross-border terrorism (especially those belonging to the jihadi cult), says Juhi, and the Kashmiri Pandits rehabilitated, it would be difficult to have the young people of the state lead a normal life. Mobilisation of youth of Kashmir through employment and education is the need of the hour, she adds.
The youth of India, says Swati Banerjee, a student of biotechnology in Bangalore, are not insensitive to the Kashmir issue, it’s just that “most of us don’t know how or where to begin”. The rest of India rises in sympathy only in times of terrible disasters, such as the recent earthquake, to offer aid in the form of money, medicine or clothing. But otherwise they tend to remain unaware and consequently indifferent to the problems faced by Kashmiris.
Between being a Kashmiri, a Muslim/Hindu and an Indian, which of the identities does a Kashmiri most identify with? The image of Kashmir as an integral part of India is still not part of the Indian consciousness, at least not all of it. When will the rest of India wake up?
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