There are two astonishing or rather curious cases where the people have spoilt their present by blindly following a scandalous path without being aware of the ulterior intentions or understanding the agenda of the one’s they follow. They have lived in fool’s paradise for decades and have not yet understood what consequences, their heinous and impractical dreams are causing them.
The first one is our "not so friendly" neighbour Pakistan, who since its creation has focused all its energy and resources towards one single goal of annexing Kashmir from India. The collusion of their political class, Military and ISI have tried all possible gimmicks in form of conventional war, non-conventional war, weaponizing the masses of Kashmir, creating communal hatred, orchestrating ethnic cleansing and turned the ‘Heaven on Earth’ to a war zone during the past 75 years. Due to Pakistan’s untiring efforts, thousands of Kashmiri citizens have lost their lives to terrorism and lakhs (Kashmiri Hindus) have been forced to leave their homeland. The falseness of their claims and evilness of their agenda is evident from the fact that, they do not value Kashmiri lives, be it Hindu or Muslim. But even after so many failed attempts, they have not realised that they are moving in a wrong direction and concept of having Kashmir as their part just because of religious commonality is flawed at many levels. As it is said ‘If the destination does not arrive, it means one is moving in wrong direction’. This approach has cost their own nation heavily in terms of unstable government, a very fragile democracy, reigning anarchy and no signs of relief for common people.
The second case is of separatists, terrorists & their handlers in Kashmir. They continue to be played at the hands of their akas across the border, dreaming of an impractical theory without realising the cost of such misadventure. Despite the failures and rejection of idea to annex with Pakistan by the common people of Kashmir, the separatists continue to play their pitiful agenda, in exchange of monetary assistance from the Pakistanis. This has only resulted in increased violence, enormous pain, separation and chaos for the Kashmiris. Those who claim to be sympathisers to the common people are themselves the supporters of terrorism and primarily responsible for the fall of Kashmir.
On the other hand, Kashmiri youth has been vulnerable and deceived by both these categories. The current generation which has not seen the better & peaceful times in Kashmir, are easy targets for indoctrination. Having witnessed heavy security forces deployment since the childhood, their gullible minds are easily moulded by the extremists using religion as a tool. They are made to believe in lies and half-truths to the extent that picking weapon & killing innocents seem justifiable to them. It takes them years to realise that they have been fighting for a wrong narrative and the reality is completely different to what is portrayed. By then, it is too late and the youth are too deeply engrossed in the "vicious circle". Kashmir has lost more than one lakh civilians due to terrorism. Apart from the violence, the state has moved backwards in all fields and development indicators. Prior to 90s, Kashmir was one of the most favoured tourist destinations and preferred by Bollywood industry for film shootings. Thirty years later, everything has come to a grinding halt and only poor choices of the radicalised Kashmiris called its bluff.
However, with the changing times the locals have realized the falseness of the promises made by Pakistan. Situation of Kashmiris in PoK is an eye-opener and speaks volume about the mismanagement and negligence at the hands of Pakistani Government. Their country itself is in chaos, anarchy and on the brink of civil war. The youth today does not want guns and violence, but wants to align itself with progress and empowerment. They aim to represent Kashmir at national and global forums in all the fields. They aspire them to be remembered as contributors towards development, growth and world peace. It is an accepted fact that there is no dearth of talent in Kashmir, if focused towards right direction, they are well capable of leaving a positive mark on the world. Stories of heroes like Umran Malik (Cricketer), Parvez Rasool(Cricketer), Sadia Tariq (Wushu), Adil Altaf (Cyclist), Tajamul Islam (Kick-Boxing) amongst countless others are inspiration for the youth. Just like these, every young Kashmiri boy or girl wants to be known for right reasons with their names shining the brightest on the horizon. They believe in love, peace, hard work and opportunities.
Since the extent of damage in the past that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has borne is quite enormous, it will take a perceptible time to heal the wounds and get back on the right path. Apart from the government, civil administration and security forces, the civilians especially youth, will have to work in unison by taking ownership of the change and take steps in the right direction, one step at a time, for Kashmir to achieve the destined greatness.
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