By Mir Junaid
The Principles of Natural Justice Connote that “No person should be convicted for someone else’s crime”. In Human society it boils down to “ No person should suffer because of someone else’s doings”, But we are Humans webbed togather by intricate emotions and a sense of belonging. So we all concede to agreeing to disagree but in a democratic more participative manner. We agree to coming to the table for dinner with the family even if we had heated arguments during lunch.
There is an untold story behind every other thing here. For this is Kashmir, where people struggle to survive with aching burdened hearts all their lives. It’s not about questioning the contemporary system, rather peeping into our own hearts -Where have we reached so far?
Every eye in Kashmir beholds a dream – A dream, which they intend to materialise ,a dream the closed eyes fantasise and the open eyes want to realise . Yet a bitter fact, those eyes lose that very dream with each tear rolling down the eyes, and therefore getting crumbled at the feet of the despondency of the time. There are infinite stories of ‘Happy families’ turning into miserable ones, their dreams being perished with an ache of helplessness.
If there is one thing even feminists cheer about patriarchy, it is the role it has bestowed on a father in the tradition as well as the contemporary society – A father is indeed the hero of practicality. Every father aspires his children to achieve the best in their lives. His children are transports of delight for him. But here is a shattering story of an agonizing death of a father, in the longing pain of his son- Welcome to Kashmir! Yet again!
Like all other fathers, Ishaq Ahmad Naikoo would have been a caring and compassionate one. He too, must have had spun unending dreams for his son, Zeenat. Even the name ‘Zeenat’ stands for ‘Beauty’, They say “a thing of Beauty is a joy Forever “
Ishaq, hailied from Shopian, which is the hotbed of encounters for the ongoing militancy in Kashmir. He had a supportive and a fulfilling family, but who knew his life would have such a tragic end. Who knew that one day, his son Zeenat would leave the family and be one among the boys joining a militant organization rebelling against the state , suiciding by taking up an Ak47 and a few Grenades to fight against zillions of weapons and trained manpower just because the emotional rush couldn’t be channelised any other way. I wouldn’t even mention the religious Angle to it. JIHAD is caring for your parents first. If heaven lies beneath the feet of ones mother according to Islam, then the roads to that journey begin with ones father. He killed his father who couldn’t bear his sons seperation.
What pain it might have caused the entire family, no wonder.
On the fateful morning of 10 July’ 18, Ishaq and his family could not predict the agony the day had in store for the family. The day began with everyday chores until they got the news of their son, Zeenat, being trapped in an encounter with security forces. No doubt such a news would cause any family acute pain, but for Ishaq’s family, there was written much more. Due to the shock and fear of his son being killed, Ishaq died of a cardiac arrest and was declared brought dead at the hospital!
This was heaven- Wasn’t it? Why would someone choose to leave. Now my brains comprehend what they mean when they say “ For Your sins, Christ left”. Nothing is worse than a happy family being dashed to the ground of miseries. It is high time that we people wake up to the call of the time. We need to reconsider our thoughts and perceptions, because we are the ones who frame the society. This incident should be an eye opener and we should be wise enough to open our eyes and see how can we improve ourselves for the betterment of our society. We need to check where do we go wrong instead of playing the blame game.
There are many more Ishaqs, whether from the forces or from ultras, waiting to happen.But we ought to learn that before anything else in this world, there comes ‘Humanity’ and nothing can overpower it.
It took us the Prime Minister of India to remind us of KASHMIRYAT. Now that this term has creeped into our daily discourse, may we dig deep and find the essence and substance of it.
The goal which the militant thought believes to achieve is the security of its own people. But it is deeply disturbing to see that they even fail to secure their families leaving aside the larger hate bred anarchic and unintelligible goal. It needs to be understood that for the shadow of Gun to disappear from this land someone has to make a start. If Kashmiris actually start focussing on the real problem of Kashmir it is an uncalled for presence of guns on this land. Indian establishment is forced to have its army posted in Kashmir due to the presence of militant mentality in Kashmir. For force to be withdrawn the first step is to let go of the guns that we have picked so thay the establishment wont have an excuse of keeping forces in civilian areas. It is high time to realise it or else we are calling upon us an apocalypse of war where the thought of protecting the state would lead us to destroying it by our own hands. There is a huge political vacuum in our valley and it is time for the young to come into politics to address human and citizen issues to get Kashmir solved.
( Views expressed are personal)
