On a quintessentially frosty midwinter morning, a lone conifer stands tall, cursed with eternal greenery, looking onto the icy virgin snow by the glacial river while basking in the glory of the icy peaks behind it. This is Kashmir. Paradise on Earth. When the winter clears, the land will coruscate with its verdant scenery all around, completed by the frolicking of animals, birds, and children. Or rather, if winter clears. For the wintry dark hands of indifference, deceit, manipulation, hatred, and jealousy control Kashmir now. Where there used to be nature and villages, forming the milk of human kindness, there are now ugly machinated military camps and their soldiers, forming the dung of inhumanity. Where there once was heaven, there now is hell.
Kashmir is a land that has been long embroiled in the Indian subcontinent’s gratuitous power struggles. These struggles and their subsequent pyrrhic and temporary victories have extracted a heavy toll from Kashmir. Who can we possibly blame for having converted Kashmir into a wasteland? Pakistan, China, and India, backed by their numerous allies. Despite the countless airstrikes, human rights violations, and wars, the United Nations has taken no sufficient action or even notice. Unfortunately, such a respected organization whose principal function is to maintain international peace, security, and harmony does not pay heed to the cries of help from Kashmir.
In the absence of support, Kashmir itself rises in defiance, with their separatists, saviours, and sangbaaz – the young innocent students hardened by every government’s great war against them pelting stones in painful silence. How many more rebellions will each government crush, villages will each government rape and suspects will each government torture? Kashmir may be bleeding, but it is far from dead. One day, it will break free of the shackles our governments chain it with. One day, Kashmir will be paradise on Earth.
Beyond the icy virgins of mountain peaks,
Where alpine conifers grow evergreen,
Where lakes undisturbed mirror reality,
Where lilac lotuses hide in-between
The magnificent brown stag running unseen:
Paradise on Earth, that is Kashmir.
Beyond the barbed wires of village borders,
Where stone huts are built and rebuilt,
Where streets tell of pain, hardship, and suffering,
Where ugly army buildings repress without guilt
The native villagers eking an existence, who wilt:
Paradise on Earth, that is Kashmir?
Beyond the dark gates of army camps,
Where armouries hold bloodied bayonets and guns,
Where barracks host tales of violations and encounters,
Where pinned maps plot the murder of many mothers’ sons
The sin of theirs being the ‘terrorists’ the army shuns:
Paradise on Earth, that is Kashmir–
Beyond the tanks and cannons on the sidewalks,
Where crowds hoist radical slogans in ardent hope,
Where stones are thrown with the passion of frustration,
Where rebellions begin with the grenade and end with the rope
The hanging of those who try to fight enemies out of their scope:
Paradise on Earth, that is Kashmir…
Beyond the propaganda and lies of governments,
Where voices rise in dissent only to fall, silent,
Where people fight with every ounce of strength for their freedom,
Where battalions mercilessly rape and slaughter, violent
The fearless ones hell-bent on achieving the heaven I lent:
Paradise on Earth, that is Kashmir!
Damnnn this is rlly good....I think not only Kashmiris but even Afghans can relate to it on a spiritual level since both are pristine landscapes ruined by war....
ReplyDelete