Kashmir - A hell in heaven

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Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast,
Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast.
(If there is a paradise on earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this)
The above verses were written for Kashmir.

The word Kashmir used to bring the picture of a heavenly place, guarded by grand and majestic mountains and jeweled with breathtakingly beautiful lakes. However, the insurgency that broke out in 1990s has turned Kashmir into a hell in heaven. All that comes to mind when Kashmir is mentioned, is sheer mayhem. Kashmir today is covered in clouds of thick smoke of tear gas and is full of people with bodies strewn with pellets. It is surrounded by women crying and thumping their breasts and children chanting, “Naare Takbeer, Allahu Akbar” (Allah is the greatest). The peaceful protests of the Kashmiris are shushed by the use of brute force due to which 100,000 people have lost their lives to date. What did the Kashmiris do to beget this hell? What did they ever do to be born in a place where they are neither free nor captives? Why has the anticipation and prevention of violence by the Indian forces become a part of their routine?

The arch rivalry of India and Pakistan has made the heaven on earth a haven for terror and Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir has reached a cul de sac. What we as Pakistanis or more appropriately as humans need to realize is that the humanitarian aspect of the Kashmir imbroglio needs to take precedence over the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan. Sabre rattling and upping the ante by hinting at the possibility of a nuclear war is not a solution but a problem in itself. It is a problem which could devastate not only the current generation but also the upcoming ones.

What needs to be brought to the limelight is the suffering of the people of Kashmir. Is not it high time that the Damocle’s sword of death seizes to hang on their heads? Do not they deserve to sleep peacefully at night without the threat of loot and plunder? Do not they deserve to see their children happy and healthy? Are they any lesser humans than us?

It is now high time that the people of Kashmir get freedom from being the victim of the antagonism between two arch rivals. Therefore, I urge all the nations around the world to form a cohort to end the human rights violations in Kashmir and grant the people of Kashmir their long due right to freedom.

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