Nancy Sharma
Pahalgam, a place on earth which is not only a famous tourist spot but is also the starting point of the Amarnath pilgrimage which takes place every year. Situated on the Liddle River, this place is no less than a paradise for filmmakers. The place which is known for its infinite beauty and calm cool mountain air has drowned in the echo of bullets and screams. The place where people once used to roam around freely considering it a tourist spot and where they used to pray to spend their lives peacefully every day, today that place is living in fear of terrorists.
A kind of silence has settled on everyone’s lips, no one has a solution to this problem. Even if a solution is found, will the people who have lost their loved ones come back? No. No problem, no solution, no reason, no sympathy can bring back the lives of those people. But still the public is demanding answers in the hope of justice and will keep demanding it until they get that justice.
Pain of Valley
These wounds may be new but this pain is not new for Kashmir, but repeated wounds deepen the wound. People’s appeal for Jammu Bandh may or may not make a difference to humanity, but the echo of the prayers of the parents, children and all their loved ones must have reached the ears of God. The government must have also felt their pain, which will give them the courage and motivation to take the right decision. This is not only a time of sorrow but also a time of growing frustration in our minds. How many more times will we have to remain silent? How many more families are yet to be torn apart before we get true justice? In every temple, every mosque, every road, and every street corner, we are hearing that Kashmir bleeds again, India bleeds with it.
Where the death of 26 people has shocked the heart, just think how the people who live there must be facing that fear. How they must be living with that fear that who knows what will happen, when will someone get shot, when will they have to face another death. Kashmir will be seen as a death spot instead of a tourist spot, the place called heaven on earth has been turned into a death ground. So much bloodshed to get Kashmir shows that this humanity is coming to an end.
It is said that humanity is the biggest religion, but by keeping the religions made by humans as supreme, one religion has become thirsty for the blood of another religion. The seed of hatred has started growing against each other, who knows what color it will show now. Living on a planet which is called Mother Earth, the children of that mother are playing with each other’s lives, this scene itself is terrifying. Just think about that girl whose new life had started just a few days ago after her marriage. What must she be going through? Will she ever be able to overcome this sorrow? Or will this incident follow her like a bad shadow throughout her life?
A nation’s patience tested
This is a challenge to those who are sitting silently behind the borders and whose intentions are soaked in hatred. The government has already taken the first step to stop this bloodshed.
a) The Indus Water Treaty, which was the foundation of diplomacy for so long, is now surrounded by questions.
b) It was signed in 1960 by Field Marshal Mayub Khan, who was the Prime Minister of Pakistan at that time, and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India at that time. Under this, the water of Chenab river would be distributed equally between India and Pakistan. Now it will be suspended.
c) Attari Wagah border will be closed.
d) Pakistani people will not be given SAARC visa and those who are currently present in India have been asked to leave India within 48 hours.
The steps being taken are correct but it is necessary that some concrete steps be taken so that the enemy’s heart gets scared 100 times before doing this again even in his dreams. Now we will not live in this fear, now it should be the turn of those to face this fear whose courage repeatedly inspires them to do something like this. Now we have to raise our spirits and shatter the spirits of the enemy.
So wake up people of the country, we all have to raise our voices. Awareness is not just personal, this time it is about the country. Rising above every caste, every class, rising above every dispute, we have to show that Indians know how to maintain friendship and enmity well. A person who is deceived in friendship is a great enemy.
As Pahalgam mourns, so does the nation. But within this pain lies a quiet promise- India will not forget. We will carry out grief not as a burden but as a badge of honor. For every life lost there will be a stronger push for justice, for Kashmir that no longer cries. India has long chosen the path of restraint. We have absorbed the pain, we have buried our dead with honor and we have shown the world our patience. But patience too, has a heart breaking point. It was an assault on our national conscience on our fundamental rights to live without fear. It was a direct challenge to our sovereignty and to our values. We will remember the fallen not just with flowers but with a future that they would be proud of.