Opinion | Kashmiri utopia ; are we headed in the right direction?

Suhail Ahmad

The cab driver impatiently tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, anxious that he might miss his next pick up. Young Bilal was busy playing a game on his dad’s mobile phone. His dad Farookh was sitting patiently on the front seat of the cab.

“ Flight ma miss karav aes? “(Hope we will not miss the flight..?) Farookh’s wife Zubaida nudged him and asked.

“No dear, we have adequate time and the traffic is moving; albeit slowly.”” Farookh replied tenderly.

“Why is the traffic slow dad?” Bilal suddenly got interested.

“Son, the police gets information of suspected vehicles of criminals causing them to check every vehicle and so they place check points on relevant roads.” Farookh explained dotingly.

The cab reached the check point. The policeman on duty turned the beam of the torch inside the cab.

“Sir, where are you headed to?” He asked.

“We have to catch a flight …” Farookh took out his ticket print-outs and smilingly presented them.

The policeman saw the tickets and waved his hand to the driver as a signal for passing through.

The family reached the airport well in time. Leaving hotel early was a wise decision because the airport was very crowded. The family got the check in done and moved towards the security check. Farookh carefully placed his belt, wallet, phone etc in the tray and pushed it into the X Ray machine. He then walked through the gate for physical check after waiting for a few minutes.

“Sir, you will have to remove your shoes…..they are very long……we need to check….” The security personnel instructed.

“Oh….no problem….I understand….” He said gently and smiled. He then went back and removed his shoes. “They are indeed long” … he thought and smiled again.

After they reached the departure gate, Bilal asked as to why Farookh had to remove the shoes.

“Son, long shoes can be misused to hide a weapon or something that is not authorized on the flight. It is done for the safety of passengers….…and we must cooperate….” He explained patiently.

The family landed at Srinagar airport. Farookh’s brother Faisal was there for the pickup. After the pleasantries, the car moved towards the highway. The car had to slow down due to the congestion created by a security barrier.

“Oh….when will we be free of these barriers and check points…….what a humiliation…” Farook blurted. “Look at the way they are checking every vehicle……I am travelling with my family for God’s sake!! In sab cheezon se azaadi chahiye” Farookh’s irritation continued and every time the car slowed down for any reason, even due to a traffic jam; he commented angrily.

Young Bilal was confused. He had seen his dad being so cool in Delhi and cooperating with the police. He had also seen his dad going back in the line to remove his shoes smilingly. Why then was he behaving in this angry manner in Srinagar? Bilal decided to stay quiet lest his father’s anger got diverted towards him and got busy with the phone.

This is true for many of us. Outside Kashmir, we cooperate with all security arrangements, rules and laws but in Kashmir, we view every action taken for ‘our’ security as an infringement of our Azaadi. Do we really believe that Azaadi means absence of laws and security arrangements? We have been lulled into thinking that there will be a time when Kashmir will be a perfect place. When there will be no police, no security forces, no check posts and no rules…..when electricity and water will be free…. when there will be no restriction on cutting down trees… when government will provide hefty ‘winter allowance’ to everyone….. when rations, vegetables and fruits will be free. Such ludicrous claims have been made in the past. Even if we do not believe in these claims, many of us believe that there will be a time when things will be ideal.

Our naivety was very well exploited by the ISI to nurture a false dream of azaadi, at the end of which the proverbial sun of utopia will shine and everyone will live happily thereafter. And thus, we use terrorism and the resultant deployment of security forces as an excuse of not being able to do our bit as citizens and society. We expect the government to do everything and when it comes to our own contribution, we say “ aes te karav kinh baed karm yeli Kashir gasi Azad! ” ( We will also do something outstanding when Kashmir becomes free!)

The politicians, separatists, intelligentsia and social media warriors condemn violence selectively. They remain quite when terrorists kill innocents. And we too as a society do not raise our voice against Pakistan sponsored terrorism….or condemn violence….or mourn the death of innocents killed by the bullets of terrorists or the grenades lobbed by them….but we get angry every time we are checked on the roads. Are we headed in the right direction?