Technological advancements has made our lives easier and fast moving, but has also kept devoid of so many privileges, those were enjoyed by our predecessors; but still there comes a time in all of our lives when we are spellbound by something and totally immersed into their stories, without even thinking of our mobiles which remains the most addictive thing in human history. I experienced the same immersive experience on my visit to Kashmir this spring. The Kashmir Files had gripped the entire nation in its political consequences and motivated by the film I started my adventurous expedition towards Northern part of Kashmir, which was heavily infested with terrorists and suffered the most in the last decade of twentieth century.
I have always been mesmerized by crepuscular rays, some people also refer it to as God rays the way it tears apart all the darkness and make way for the bright times to come, poses a lot of excitement and lambency in the heart of the beholder. But for the metro dwellers like me it is only a distant dream to witness these God rays in full blaze and brilliance, either because we are entirely surrounded with darkness of smoke or we have lost the clear sight of Godly things, but as a reward of my endeavors for this journey to Kashmir, I witnessed such a clean atmosphere and the God rays as the dawn broke.
I reached my destination by evening, where Mr. Bashir was expectant of my arrival standing in front of his grand bungalow located on the most scenic place of the village. I was served with Kashmiri Kahwa and thereafter asked to freshen up, after which we were supposed to go on a stroll through the orchards. During our leisure walk, I meekly started the conversation about the main purpose of my visit. I tried to strike the conversation involving the past episodes in the valley to take a peek into the firsthand experience out of the world of politics and social media. He told me that he and his family had fled the region and his village towards the state of Haryana, his family had wealth and owned a transport business, there was no sign of Indian Army around when the militancy first broke out in the region, as they were primarily deployed along the borders and no one expected violence in the region during those times but a lot of Pakistani terrorists infiltrated into our territory and spread this fire of devastation.
His father had established a business of construction and he himself worked very hard and earned respect and money there. But in the back of his mind, memories of his village haunted by columns of terrorists who were plundering and looting his village in all senses, made him come back to the darkness and be the ray of light of progress in the region. He considers himself to be a fighter, who has also battled a life threatening disease like cancer in a span of 54 years that he has lived. So, he came back and immediately went to the nearest Indian Army establishment which was around 80 kilometers away from his village to seek help. The forces promptly reacted to his request and slowly and gradually the security forces and the local population of the region together eliminated terrorism from its grassroots. But his quest for a better future for his village has not yet diminished; he continuously works for upliftment of the region in terms of schools, healthcare and infrastructural development. He is now the sarpanch of the village and has a proposal to establish ecotourism in the region, so that the employment opportunities are harnessed.
Mr. Bashir has shown us examples of so many things, for me he is the true motivation and has shown the guiding God Rays to defeat the darkness of terrorism in the valley. There are lot of such hidden stories in the valley and being responsible citizen of this country we must not believe everything that media shows us and try to be more analytical and objective in our approach through research on ground.
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