Kashmir - aftermath

Fence sitters of the world unite! Let us stop talking of the Kashmir situation - this has been going on for 63 years, with no solution.

Most people don't carry their patriotism on their sleeve. And most will not actually take up a gun and kill just to put a name on mud and stone. Enough blood has been spilt already, and I am also talking of the security forces. Tragically, the colour is all the same.

I am disappointed with the people of Kashmir. I am disappointed because, they have failed to reconcile and deal sensibly with the unfortunate situation history has placed them in. I am alluding to the Muslims of Srinagar and the valley, who have kept this situation on the boil and simmering all through this 63 years. They kept chanting the mantra of "injustices" and "historical atrocities" and it has become a part of their gene and DNA, multiplying with each child, and reinforced with every orchestrated violence.

I am not disappointed with the Government. I never expected anything good from these puny gentlemen, we have inflicted ourselves with. They could have used this time to improvise the lot of the people and shown some real progress, which could have brought prosperity to the land and the people. Instead, they dealt with them in the only language they know. Draconian brutality with the aid of security forces on one hand and bribing another section of people who make the loudest noise, thus pouring in disproportionate wealth into the lining of pockets of the local aristocrats and crooks, to keep a select few happy, and ignoring progress altogether.

So, let there be a discussion on the realities of the future. Let us assume that a plebiscite is carried out and large sections of the valley opt for “freedom and secession”.

Let there be a debate on what the next steps should be, so that this is implemented within a short period of say, 1 year, with no liabilities on both sides. I am not advocating that this happen, neither am I averse to it happening - but let there be a discussion on that.

Let us also picture the scenery 10/20 years from now, whether the people of Srinagar and Kashmir valley would have actually realised their dream, or how far they would have traveled in their quest for utopia.