Every Pakistani is connected to Kashmiris by heart. They can feel the pain and the misery they have been going through for a long time.
And two years back, when India stripped Kashmir forcefully, the misery has worsened. Every year there’s a Kashmir Day and every year we celebrate it with a public holiday. The holiday is to express grief with your Kashmiri brothers and sisters. But contrary to the grief, we wake up late, sip our tea, attend a jalsa, voice slogans, party, and then went to bed feeling tired.
Is it what we are supposed to do to express solidarity with Kashmir?
While we were in lockdown in 2020, there’s a region that has suffered the longest lockdown and that too without Internet, food, and freedom to breathe.
Ever since the Indian government scrapped the constitutional provisions of autonomy in Article 370 and 35A, Kashmiris are survived to death. Indians are opening Azad Jammu and Kashmir to more Indian residents to strengthen their community while the Kashmiris living there are treated worse than animals.
What’s this Kashmir issue?
When Pakistan and India both got separated in 1947, Kashmir chose to remain independent of both nations. The Hindu Kashmiri rulers at that time acceded the territory to India. It gave air to the conflicts between Pakistan and India and since then Kashmir has remained disputed.
Till today, Kashmir is a disputed territory. Education, career, jobs are considered far-flung issues. The people living there are deprived of their basic rights.
Here are some words to describe their pain:
What does it feel like when you see your children starving but can’t step out because of security threats?
What does it feel like when people of your age are becoming successful career professionals and you’re in your home struggling to breathe?
What does it feel like when you see people dying in curfew?
What does it feel like when you see people starving just because they belong to Kashmir?
What does it feel like to live without freedom?
Worse even, what does it feel like when you don’t know what freedom looks like?
That’s the situation of Kashmir. They have beautiful landscapes, scenic beauties but unfortunately, they don’t have the freedom to laugh, live, and enjoy.
They can’t go to schools or even their nearest spot to breathe under fresh air. India isn’t only destroying a region. It’s destroying the future, the bright dreams, and the basic rights of humanity.
It’s true that Kashmir is suffering the worst of human crisis. But unfortunately, the leaders who can do their part have turned a deaf ear to this rising issue.
Either India or Pakistan, let Kashmiris have their freedom. Let them know what freedom looks like. And if Pakistan wants Kashmir from India, it’s high time to ban this public holiday and rather make people work so we can become strong economically.
Without enough resources and increasing loans on Pakistan, it’s impossible to fight for Kashmir.
If we really want to free Kashmir, we need to work hard to make our country stable first from all corners otherwise only slogans, protest, and public holidays would never work.
I prefer books and diaries more than phones and Facebook. Soulfully connected to Pakistan. And I passionately believe that I can change the world through blogging.
