Mantasha Bint Rashid
My generation is full of envy whenever our parental generation mentions how they would throng theatres like Broadway and Regal, how they would go in Dungas to Char Chinari and Roap la’nk, how, as kids, they would wait eagerly for the walnuts on Hehrath (Mahashivratri).
It all seems like a fairy tale to us. We grew up in the armed conflict, we ran breathless in chagg, we woke up to ransacked houses in crackdowns and we peeped through crevices to see shinakhati parades. We grew up wiping the tears of our mothers waiting for us to return from school, if it took a little more than usual. We woke up in nights to hug our siblings, all sweat and shiver. We have seen blood and corpses, heard grenades and mines, lived our childhood, adolescence and now youth, in conflict.
When my friends from anywhere in India gasp on seeing the lakes and mountains of Kashmir and exclaim how lucky I was to be born here, I smirk. They can’t understand what we survived. With political nuances occupying front seat in the whole of subcontinent, I keep wondering what about the social and mental health of the conflict torn society and the people who grew up in this conflict?
As I write this, a sonic boom made me and everyone around jump out of our skin. Precisely this is one of the small effects of the loud sounds which makes us connect even fireworks to something obnoxious and leaves us pale.
A study conducted at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science shows that 55 percent of the valley’s population suffers from one or the other mental illness. The consumptions of de-stressing drugs is alarmingly high and medically prescribed drugs are widely abused too. The lone hospital which caters to mental ailments where 800 patients reported annually in 1980’s now caters to 80,000 patients every year!
What disturbs me most as a child of conflict is the stigma we attach to the people who visit this hospital. Already victimised, they are faced with difficulty in getting jobs, in getting married. How do we know that we are not facing any disorder in our thought process or emotional health? That 55 percent could comprise of you and me. And this discrimination is unpardonable.
Now with a relative calm in conflict, we are left with post conflict scars. And as we try to discover these harms and losses, we are faced with a situation where we are not allowed to even carry daily routine. Our schooling is getting affected, Patients don’t reach hospitals. Daily wagers don’t earn their two square meals. A common man whose back is already broken by two decades of conflict is being pushed to the wall with a series of mindless calendars and hartals? We, as people, who are already so helpless should ask those who claim to represent us as to what has thousands of lost lives achieved? As if that wasn’t enough, we are now punishing the living too. We have suffered enough. Let that false calm prevail at least which the world perceives as “peace”. That is any day better than being caged like wild animals.
Let us come to terms with the loss caused in two decades already. Let us devise ways to adjust and accept. Politics can wait. Even Azadi can wait. Please, let us live.
(The opinion of the writer is personal and has nothing to do with the institution she works for.)
March 18, 2013 at 6:23 pm
Everyone is entitled to put forward his opinion. I think she has been brave enough to state her opinion.
March 18, 2013 at 8:53 pm
People who are seeking freedom for themselves should accept the fundamental principle that every other person also has rights to her or his freedom of speaking or writing what he or she thinks is all right. permit space for others before you seek it for yourself. that is the idea of democracy.
March 18, 2013 at 10:31 pm
It is expected from a person who has already accepted a system of hypocrisy, killing, and stupid bureaucracy.
March 18, 2013 at 10:53 pm
I wish peace in its real essence could prevail.. I wish i could tell wife of Afzal Guru to bear d loss peacefully!
March 18, 2013 at 10:57 pm
I wish PEACE cd prevail in its real essence! I wish i cd tel wife of Afzal Guru(an example) to bear d loss PEACEFULLY!
March 21, 2013 at 1:58 pm
The author wants to enjoy life and maybe in the next article she may advocate reopening of cinemas in the valley as her elders have been telling her… Its her personal opinion. She simply wants to have a blast. She is not concerned about Afzals wife Tabassum.
March 19, 2013 at 12:54 am
Dear all and Kashmir Life admin…if everybody is entitled to put forward his/her opinion then how come first comment kept appearing, disappearing, then again appear (with modifications) and then finally disappear all together…why only pro Kashmir Life comments get published?
March 22, 2013 at 9:56 am
At Kashmir Life, we barely moderate to the extent that the comment should not be hurtful to anybody. We promote debate on issues and ensure everybody has the right to say what he/she believes in. Please feel free to react to the writings or the issues that our writers / contributors raise. Our only request is that it should not hurt anybody and should not be abusive. Everybody has a right to even criticise Kashmir Life which we will definitely carry.
March 19, 2013 at 9:59 am
People who are least affected by conflict, i mean direct effect here, boast about laying thousands of lives and continue with the struggle. we living in our comfortable rooms can never understand what it means for a father to lose his son or what it means for a daily wager to lose his one day living. These ideals of democracy and azadi dont apply for a common man.
We all need to understand that these hartals and stone pelting is affecting no one but US. We are helping India achieve their objective – make us dependent on them for every single thing. That’s what they want and we leave no stone unturned to help them in this.
March 21, 2013 at 3:50 pm
Its not only about Azaadi, its about the daily humiliation and discrimination each common kashmiri has to face at the hands of the occupation. Maybe the author is unaware or has changed her mind regarding the ground realities of Kashmir… Or maybe it has something to do with her new bureaucratic way of life that has made her forget the pain of a common kashmiri…
i would suggest author to forget azaadi and enjoy her life ..but she shouldnt comment over something that each and every kashmiri aspires of.
March 21, 2013 at 11:59 pm
There seemed a purpose in the beginning but the mission derailed very fast and with it followed the people’s expression of fatigue due to mindless turbulence.The chaos sustained for so long and vested interests anchored their roots very firm and deep.Some just died only however some flourished only.This created a sense of rejection for the culture of dissent. Kashmir slowly turned into an unmanaged project where the closed door perceptions always differ from the out door perceptions.where every one is scared of the other,where expressions and outbursts even are artificial,where no one knows about even himself/herself.
The chaos should go soon,every one wishes….
Mantasha’s urging is not an immature analysis at all but purely reveals a dominating narrative of a larger chunk of young minds who aspire a lot but feel caged and feel heart torn on witnessing the kashmiri blood turning so cheap day in and day out.They actually don’t reject the resilience mode or criticize the dissent voices however want to adopt some other modes of dissent and protest.they want Kashmir to grow even amidst the conflict for they believe that growth is a weapon to combat and win…
kudos….
March 22, 2013 at 10:53 am
after going through the article ….some points really touched my heart…like being “free”,,”living life”…without fear and having all that loving and peaceful atmosphere around!!!
but all such wishes seem nothing infront of the “pain” experienced by those who have suffered the loss….just because anything wrong did not happen to my family, doesnot mean that the situation is “ALL OK”……..in a state where you cannot even express yourself freely,,where every now and then you are being harrassed like anything,,,do you expect to JUX LIVE LIFE HAPPILY!