Mass arrests, torture and abduction have latched onto the subcontinent ever since the partition.
Sufferance is a badge all our forefathers wore, and so do we. We live in a part of the earth where violent crimes have formulated a culture of survival in our society. It is as though a routine is being followed, and we are used to all that harms us. The reporting of a child or a woman being abducted does not even make the front page of the news paper most days. Most days, we are fed with what is not important. Other days, we stumble on a column about a small girl that was abducted, raped and then murdered. The same could be said about religious minorities, that are tortured for believing in a god that is not ours, or believing in something slightly different than how we do it.
Identity politics has expanded so violently in our country that any attempt to shrink it suffocates anyone who tries.
We are segregated, in Liberals and Conservatives, in religious and just conveniently religious, and between political parties. In this time and age, we are still on the brink of falling apart and yet we survive one day at a time. There is a part of this soil that is still bleeding, and that is still suppressed. Where people are kept under controlled condition and major civil discourse has been ensued. But you can’t change the world if there’s a fire in your own house.
And now let’s talk about Kashmir…
So now, let’s talk about the place where an actual curfew is imposed, that is perhaps not masked with democratic agendas.
Although the difference is that what happens in Pakistan periodically, happens in Kashmir regularly. Tomorrow will not just mark 30 years since Kashmir Day was first proposed, but it also marks 182 days since the Indian clampdown has been executed.
Are we really in solidarity with Kashmir or are we pretending?
Who are we mourning the loss of, those that suffered before or the ones that are suffering now. Somewhere in the loud chants of Pakistan Zindabad and Bharat Mata ki Jai, Kashmir lost it’s voice and identity. Kashmir lost joy of independence and freedom. Mass murders, torture, and abductions are at a much higher intensity in Kashmir, sufferance is the only thing they have, literally. Come morning, their house will smell like whoever the night took, screaming into the distance. In the future, 5th February will not mourn Kashmir, it will mourn us, and our ignorance. It will mourn the silence of those they hope to be saved by. Today, Kashmir is begging for mercy from whoever deemed it fit to share their land. Too much has been taken from them, and it is still not ending. What mourning would fill their bellies. What sacrifice is enough for their freedom.