No Child's Play: A View

Although I have written about Kashmir before, “The Kashmir Conflict: A View (16/07/2017; iamindranilblogspot)”, I feel, that I don’t have any right to write about Kashmir. Sitting almost 2500 km away, in the safety and security of my home, where I don’t have to worry about getting blinded by pellet guns, stone pelters, or militant attacks, nor about losing my home, my family, my life, like some 26 years ago when a certain number of Kashmiris evacuated the valley, sacrificing everything just because they were Hindus, ergo kafirs.

I should not be talking about Kashmir, for if I do, I would be linked to a certain religion, a certain ideology, and ultimately to a certain political party and on that basis my nationality will be judged and ultimately my patriotism will be put to test. I want to be fair when I want to talk about Kashmir, which if happened even once in its history of 70 years, I believe this fire would not have raged into what it has today.

Let me tell you a story about a child then; beautiful, belonging to a rich, cultural and traditional family.Unfortunately at a point of time in his life, he had to deal with a messy divorce between his parents. When one parent got his custody, the child was send to a school where the teachers were not at all strict, specifically to him. As the child had been through a lot, he was treated quite differently in respect to other students. As a result, the child got pampered to the limit. He did not follow any rules, no harsh punishments for him even if he did something serious. He did whatever he wanted; befriend whoever he wanted and there was absolutely nothing to bind him. If in case, he really did something heinous, he always played the divorce card and voila! He was forgiven. Year after year it went on, until one day the parent realised the situation and send him to a severely strict boarding school. As expected, this new school turned out to be quite different from his former school and for him, not in a good way. The school didn’t tolerate his nuisances. Unlike before, the child is now punished hard like everybody else, for wrongdoings.  He was not allowed to see his friends who his present teachers thought aren’t the right kind of company. The friends always used to put wrong ideas in the child’s mind especially against his parent. Shocked and frustrated by this sudden transformation of his situation, the child rebels against the school. He creates havoc in hostel, breaking every breakable thing, tearing and burning his school books; he tries everything he could to resist the control that has been enforced upon him. The boy was eventually thrashed and punished but it really didn’t help the cause. Absolute inaction by his previous teachers had moulded that child into an uncontrollable brat, the shell, so hardened by now that his present teachers, no matter how hard they try, are unable to break. Yes, he wasn’t a normal child, yes he had a difficult childhood, but does it mean that he will get a free pass to anything and everything as some kind of a solatium, forever? For him to be normal, he's required to be treated normally, like everybody else around him.

The story of this rebellious, feisty child doesn’t end here. Unfortunately, many other members of the family are supporting the actions of the child and don’t mind his friends as well. On the contrary, they are blaming the school for punishing the child for his behaviour. Whatever it is, the situation with this child is getting worse day after day, and now he is affecting the lives of many, many others surrounding him.

This story is my representation of thoughts in a common man’s voice. I didn't use any data because numerical records are never accurate, and everyone has their own version, their own source, and I believe, numbers can never be used to understand situations where human emotions are involved.  This story is my story and it’s my opinion. It’s not driven by any religious ideology or political agenda. The only thing that this story is driven by is my understanding of a very sensitive situation, which is going on for more than 70 years with no definitive solution.

 You know what? I have the right to talk about Kashmir, and so does every educated person of India. So, let’s talk about it, freely, from heart to heart, from mind to mind, keeping our egos, political, social and religious differences aside without any discrimination, any divergence. As in economics we say, “keeping everything constant”.