Kashmir’s mesmerising beauty marred by the uncertainties and chaos has left scathes all around this Himaliyan region, otherwise known as a ‘Paradise on earth’. Adeela Hameed takes us through the routes which often haven’t been sauntered since long by anyone amongst ourselves
|| ADEELA HAMEED
A land of plentiful beauty, a land nurtured by caravans of invasions, a land of sustenance, a land where majesty cannot be fictionalized, a land where burrowing streams meet budding blossoms of soil, a land where melancholy is not practiced but where nostalgia exists, a land of freedom and faith, a land where barrenness is lost, where fertility grows and ensures survival of every being be it alive or dead,a land which was Hand painted by God where instead of angels, humans reside. This is the description of a land which has been encrypted by destiny upon me,a land of peace and justice.
As a child this was my fantasy, the strength, the hope of my beautiful land where creatures befitted humankind, where everyone was and seemed to be from the same womb,where dreams actually came true. A poet could not receive a more blessed place than this, a place of shrines and Sufi saints under whose guidance and protection God letthe beauty flourish. Yes! A place which was embarked by hoards of royals, a place serene to its locals,this place is my Kashmir, your Kashmir, our Kashmir and Kashmir of the worlds. People often claim selfishness is a curse to humankind that betrays and dishevels the reason to a happy life. Once bitten by this scorpion, the poison manifests not only in the victim but in whoso ever he touches.
Greed was never good, not good for Midas who lost his only daughter to gold, not good for the English who were defeated in shame by the small liberation forces,not good for anyone who destroyed the two cities by atom bombs, even not good for individuals who blindly kill their families in search of more. An old folk tale narrated goes,that a man once discovered that his tears converted to pearls,so he cried often as the greed inside him gained momentum.He turned so greedy that at the end he stood on the top of a mountain of pearls with the body of his murdered wife in his arms. Such was the intensity of greed inside him that he even killed his wife out of selfishness. As I say this, my heart wrenches and is torn apart because my land my Kashmir is a victim.It is a victim of human selfishness, of human crime and adultery where a person forgets his mother, his sole survival for material happiness and wealth.
Let me ask you a question…How can people be so distraught that for the sake of possession of a crude beauty, they put the same thing at stake?How can people lie and not love? How can people die and nobody cares?These questions remain unanswered once life demands help for this victimized beauty.This place of worship to saints has been traumatized under the evil forces and those forces try to overpower people by the ruthless violence they unleash. I can go on writing pages expressing the grief my land and my people have suffered but feel that words would be done no justice if they undergo such a trial.A pitiful Kashmir demands its children back; the children who were as innocent as Kashmir herself.
Let me ask you a question…How can people be so distraught that for the sake of possession of a crude beauty, they put the same thing at stake? How can people lie and not love? How can people die and nobody care? These questions remain unanswered once life demands help for this victimized beauty.
The imploring sufferings of the mothers who die due to want of their disappeared children,the shrieks of newlywed women who lose their husbands to bullets,the moans of tiny children who just turned orphans,the cries of young energetic youth who have been disabled due to merciless torture,the lost hopes of blossoming young girls who have been raped,the poverty of educational institutions which have been converted to barracks,the ambiguity of an unemployed person to quit his life,the wails and the pangs of pain,the nightmares and the broken dreams,the lost and the forgotten,the deprived and the left out,the prince and the pauper,in all everyone and everything in Kashmir is under threat.
A pitiful Kashmir demands its children back; the children who were as innocent as Kashmir herself.
Economy and development is still 20 years behind the world, life has been curtailed into curfews and the process of conversion of this majestic heaven to a deplorable hell is in progress. Is this what we want of Kashmir?Is this what has been destined of Kashmir to become?Pause and ask yourself this question:
“IS KASHMIR;A PARADISE ON EARTH DOOMED TO BE A PARADISE LOST IN HISTORY?”
(The writer can be contacted at, [email protected])
(Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Kashmir Leader Magazine)
