Each and every human being should celebrate the carnival of life with full vigour whilst facing all the struggles and challenges of life with patience and endurance. Everyday, when we see the rising sun, we feel blessed and thank God for one more day to experience his beautiful creation. But today when materialistic ambitions and global desires have taken center stage, we all get so engrossed in the peripheral aspects of life that we tend to forget the momentousness of life itself. Life is indeed a present but it comes with an associated responsibility of giving utmost respect to nature’s most marvelous creation.
Recently an article by a Delhi University professor in ‘The Wire’ left me flabbergasted when he announced that “the government’s self-congratulatory claim of good governance in Kashmir pertains to simply having ensured that there are no bodies on the ground”. Are we mere bodies that are expendable and can be sacrificed just for adding gravity and numbers to a movement? It is really pitiable that these intellectuals consider our life, more so of a commoner, so trivial and so inconsequential. Today
when the valley is going through one of the most difficult situations, undoubtedly, we are compelled to undergo lot of hardships. Yet we are grateful to God that we are safe amidst such volatile and vulnerable circumstances. And let me make it very clear to everyone that we love our lives and do not accept anyone else’s definition of our life- rather we define it ourselves.
As citizens of a democracy we have a constitutional right to criticise or question the decisions of government. In fact, we are free to register both our assent or dissent in a peaceful way. And it is the duty of the government to provide proper redressal of our grievances. But simultaneously, we should also appreciate that the first and foremost priority of any State is to safeguard the lives of its citizens. Each and every life is precious and worth living and can’t be compromised at any cost. And we all are well aware of the fact that hundreds of lives have been lost in valley in past on account of protests and retaliation.
The leaders and activists who are the front runners of all such protests never take responsibility for any death but shift the whole blame on the forces and administration. Now when the State is answerable and accountable for the loss of lives of its people then of course the State has a right to take preventive and precautionary measures to protect them too. Decisions taken by the government on Article 370, whether right or wrong, legal or illegal, constitutional or unconstitutional, are open to debate at appropriate platforms but presently the major concern is to avoid any loss of life in lieu of the anticipated repercussion.
We are facing total clampdown in valley for about one month now and the biggest bottleneck is blockage of all means of communication. But whether we accept it or not, we all know that if all the communication channels would not have been blocked then the valley would have once again witnessed the unfortunate loss like that during the protests against the death of Burhan Wani. How is government expected to shut down the communication of terrorists with the extremist leaders without controlling means of communication? How is government expected to control the spreading of hate mongering on social media without curtailing the internet services? It is very convenient to raise fingers on the intentions of State but very difficult to appreciate their concerns and apprehensions. After one month of stringent restrictions, there have been five casualties, that too either by stone pelters or by militants, and if we find it difficult to show some respect to security forces for not resorting to any gun fight or for being concerned about the safety of our lives then at least we should restrain ourselves from blemishing the forces with derogatory adjectives based on conjectures and surmises. We may or may not agree with the government’s decision but right now we should not fall prey either to the provocative narratives of foreign media who don’t have slightest idea of ground reality or to the prodding of various forces to ignite violence. Simultaneously we need not pay heed to the cross border farcical rant for Kashmiris rights and wellbeing.
What we need is some patience and perseverance at our end, at least we can try to give an opportunity to State to prove its trust worthiness. Sometimes the best thing we can do is not overthink, not obsess; just breathe and have faith that all will work out for the best. There is always a silver tint even in the clouds of uncertainty, just remember that the best view comes after the hardest climb.