THE NEW KASHMIR – AN INSIGHT BY A COMMON KASHMIRI

Kashmir! Are you going to Kashmir”, asked my mom when I told her my plans to visit the Valley of Kashmir with my school mates in the summers of 1999 and then there was pin drop silence for a minute followed by strict disagreement quoting many reasons

I couldn’t visit Kashmir but that conversation had surely put caution in my 17 years old young mind, to not even think of visiting Kashmir. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t only my mom, but all my fellow mates got the same responses from their parents.

Two decades later, history repeated itself when I was again standing in front of my mom to inform her that I have been tasked by my employer to visit the Valley for some work. Mom, now grown a bit old, expressing same concern said “Kashmir! Are you going to Kashmir”? The wrinkles and sweat visible on her face and forehead speaking out the fear in her mind. I held her hand and said,” Mom it’s not the same Kashmir”.

I started my journey to the Valley to find out the reality in my own statement vis a vis the fear in my mom’s mind. The first view of Kashmir, as seen from the airplane reminded me of the famous saying by Mughal Emperor Jehangir in the 17th century. .

Gar firdaus bar-rue zamin ast, hami asto, hamin asto, hamin ast.”

(“If there is a heaven on earth, it’s here, it’s here, it’s here.”)

On landing, the first reaction was to call up mom and tell her that it’s much more beautiful than has been expressed by most of the people on social media.

On stepping out of the airport, there I saw a placard with my name, being carried by a middle aged man, somewhat in his early 40’s.

Assalām ‘alaikum”, greeted the cab driver, Asif.

The politeness in the voice touched my soul and I replied back “Hello”.

Asif, the cab driver, hailing from Baramulla, owned a Tata Sumo and was hired by the travel agency to take me to the hotel where they had planned my stay for next few days. He had maintained his cab in high state of cleanliness with beige colour leather upholstery. I was astonished to even observe a tricolor flag placed on the dashboard of the cab, which I hadn’t even thought of in my wildest of dreams.

The moment I sat in the cab, Asif switched on the blower and asked if we can start. I humbly nodded yes.

We started towards Gulmarg crossing the busy traffic on the roads of Srinagar. Unlike what I had presumed, I saw almost all make of cars plying on the well maintained roads.

Asif, breaking nearly twenty minutes of silence, asked me, “Aap comfortable toh hain naa?”

I replied yes and took the opportunity to overcome my fear of talking to him and asked him about his name, native place and few other generic questions. Finally, I took a leap to ask him,” Kashmir mein log aane se kyun darte hain”.

Asif gave a smile and replied,” Kashmir aana sabka Khwabh hota hai. Bus beech mein haalat kharab ho gaye the.”

I could feel the numbness in his tone when he further spoke about the situation in Kashmir, as summarised in my words.

“For over seven decades, Jammu and Kashmir has been wrecked by the maligned intent of Pakistan and furthermore by terrorism instigated and supported by them. Pakistan started training, supporting and supplying arms to mujahideens in the valley to spread unrest and radicalisation of Kashmiri youth.

He continued explaining that Kashmir is not only known as one of the best tourist destinations owing to its natural beauty but is also known for its apples produce, which is around 75 percent of the country’s total production and contributes approx. Rs 8,000 crore to the economy of the valley.

Kashmir is an oasis of talent and the budding youngsters just need guidance and opportunity to channelize their potential in the right direction. In past one decade, the people of Kashmir have proved themselves in every field whether it’s cricket, studies, innovation, art & craft, etc.

The new generation has been able to understand that the progress of valley lies only in peace and the right implementation of government policies. In the last two years, Valley has transformed and is all set to grow at the pace of the rest of India.”

Asif kept looking in front, focussing on the road but also kept narrating the pain of local common people, who are not interested in violence or dirty politics. They want their kids to study, perform in every field and make India proud.

As soon as I reached the hotel, I called up my mom to narrate the incident and assure her that ‘Kashmir Badal Raha Hai’ and is not the same.

Leave a Reply