KASHMIR OF MY DREAMS
My first visit to the Kashmir Valley in the year July 2001 as an enthusiast intern journalist left a long lasting impression on my mind. The state was burning, there was no development, the condition of roads was pathetic, medical and health facilities were abysmally poor. In short, the civil administration was conspicuously absent. The overall condition of the State was poor because of the unwarranted interference from Pakistan in terms of supply of terrorists and a separatist Political narrative. The physical health of the state was bad, worst still was the subdued mental state of the Awaam as if peaceful living, good education for children, basic medical amenities and economic development were not meant for them. Alas! this was not the Kashmir that the great poet Amir Khusrow described in his famous poem as a ‘Paradise’. It was as if the God had blessed the Kashmir Valley and cursed its people at the same time.
The place had been in a state of unilateral ceasefire against the terrorists from November 2000 to May 2001 announced by the then J & K Government led by Mr Farooq Abdullah. This unilateral ceasefire was called NICO or the Non-Initiation of Combat Operations. However, peaceful coexistence was against the nefarious designs of Pakistan and there were approximately 781 attacks on security forces during the period, resulting in killing of 258 security personnel, in addition to 535 civilians in a span of 185 days of unilateral ceasefire. The state was burning with the attacks on Srinagar airport and Badami Bagh cantonment in Srinagar also taking place during the period. With me on a journey to establish myself as a good investigative intern journalist, the closeness to ground realities was of utmost importance. One could feel the ‘fog of fear’ everywhere with a helplessness in the eyes of locals as well as government officials. For everything that was bad, the administration had the same answer- Terrorism. In spite of large amount of funds being released to the state which were more than any other state of India, the Kashmir Valley was on a standstill in terms of development.
When the rest of India was enjoying the fruits of economic development and IT boom, the valley was still fighting for its basic needs. With large number of suicide attacks in the preceding year, the security forces were left with no alternative but to scan every personal, be it a young boy, aged individual or women, with same lens and scrutiny. So, my first experience of Kashmir Valley was that of sympathy and not of appreciation of its national beauty.
With 20 years of experience in the field of journalism and after seeing a good amount of the ‘real’ world, my second visit to the Valley was in February 2020, this time as a tourist with my wife and two kids. When I first proposed the idea of family vacation to Kashmir, it took me great effort to pacify my wife, who had been the victim of constant feeding of “No Good News” from Kashmir Valley in her growing years. My colleagues were also of the same opinion and suggested that this place is for Journalism and not family vacation due to its underlying problems and recent abrogation of Article 370. With little or no expectations, I along with my family started my journey from Srinagar Airport to Gulmarg. Due to a hidden fear even in my heart which I had not expressed to others, I had planned not to be adventurous, and had aimed to spend the five-day vacation in and around Gulmarg only.
The road journey was less than two hours from the Airport to a cottage-style resort in Gulmarg. The journey was a pleasant start, wherein we were picked by a Innova right from the airport departures under the resort arrangements. The best part of the journey from Srinagar airport to Gulmarg was the Driver! Yes, a talkative migrant from UP but a Kashmiri by his conduct. He needed no invitation to start the conversations with topics ranging from politics, terrorism to local cuisine. I could feel the excitement and happiness in his voice, when he negated my wife’s fears. He elucidated that he had been in Kashmir for the last 12 years and things are now changing for the better. The old ‘days’ and ‘ways’ are paving way for a new life with opportunities for everyone, be it improved education opportunities for his children, employment avenues, development works by government or be the optimistic outlook of locals. We were halted at a Security Forces Naka for checking which was a new thing for the children -Uniformed personal with AK 47 dangling from their necks, Machine guns and what not. The Security Forces were polite and professional in conduct and even our driver who was a regular on this road had made some friends by now. All along the drive you could see development work in progress with construction/ maintenance of roads, schools, bridges with lots of hustle bustle of people everywhere, as if someone has erased the memory of their dreadful past.
Our next stop was at a tea stall near a place called Kunzer for refreshments. My journalist personality was now trying to overpower my vacationist self. I started to enquire about the changes which were the reason for these pleasant developments in the Valley. As brought out by the Tea staller as well as the other bystanders, it was mainly the change in attitude and ray of hope for better times ahead. The Valley was welcoming peace and tranquility after a longtime with both locals and administration giving full support to this dream. The government had initiated a large number of development projects as well as initiative for betterment of Health and Hygiene facilities, employment avenues and education. The development projects were also generating local employment avenues leading to overall upliftment of living standards. The culture of curfews and Mobile connectivity snapping was less frequent with smart phones in almost everyone’s hand. You could feel that the support from Awaam for terrorists was only by the separatist leaders and not by the rural people on ground.
Youth were endearing to pursue higher education with aspirations ranging from Medicals, Engineering, civil services exams etc and not only to earn money but to change the outlook towards Kashmir of outsiders like me and my wife. On the topic of abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, the general feeling was that it should have been done many years ago to bring the Kashmiri people on equal status with other states of India. What they wanted were jobs, value for their land and maintaining their cultural identity and not Article 370 and 35A. Women were more happy on the removal of Article 35 A , as it gave them better opportunities for jobs and marriages. My driver even brought about his plans to buy a small apple orchard and settle permanently with his family in Kashmir, once the Domicile laws are amended for those staying and working in Kashmir for more than 12-15 years. I spoke to Rim few days back and he was delighted as he was hopeful of becoming a domicile of J&K how.
I could feel as if I was putting an allegation of turmoil in state which was being countered by the locals, when I brought about the anti-terrorist operations by security forces and its collateral damages on locals sometimes. I was conveyed by the locals that the professionalism in conduct of anti-terrorist operations by security forces has increased manifold wherein only the suspected houses are cordoned off and not the entire village. Even the villagers don’t want to give shelter to these outsiders who are a threat to their motherland but are forced due to the fear of life sometimes. Few even brought about the changes in attitude of complete village after recruitment of youth from their villages in Army or the Police which was now more frequent and in large numbers.
They wanted more recruitment opportunities to be created. Some of the people at the Tea stall suggested to me to visit the local Vocational Training Centre (VTC) being run by a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion en route to Gulmarg to buy some reasonable stuff. I made a point to take a halt at the VTC mentioned to have a firsthand experience. To my utter surprise, the same was being run by local women who were in local attire but not shy of explaining to me the changes it had brought about in their lives. This second income to their families was leading to a better house, nourished food, better education for their children and overall a dream of better future. But for my kids the most exciting part was the photos with the Army personal near VTC and for my wife was the plethora of options for shawls and scarfs to buy.
With a great start for my vacation, I could feel reservations in my wife’s mind dissipating. The positivity was everywhere. In my opinion the wheel of change is now in motion. If not me, atleast I have now a hope that my kids will be able to see the paradise which Amir Khusrow must have described ages ago. To the youths of Kashmir, I must quote few lines in hindi “Aao Mil Kar Ek Doosre Ko Sahi Rasta Dikhayein, Jisse Hum Mehnat Se Kashmir Ko Fhir Se Jannat Banae”.
