Pandemic Covid19, has set up a chaos of highest order globally, with Asia being the epicentre. India, (though being at the tail of the list of worst-hit countries presently), is prone to a wholesale slaughter. (as predicted by the medicos)
Kashmir valley has freshly detected scores of Covid19 positive cases. Kashmir has been fighting battles since ages. Political wars, natural calamities, societal crisis; we have seen it all. Life has never been at peace. But there are positives to it. We tend to have survival tactics that are unmatchable. Situations have up-skilled us in every sector of life. But the new challenge is way more demanding. The wreckage summed up by the pandemic is altogether appalling. Witnessing finest of health systems, on the globe, falling on their knees is a gruesome sight.
Consequently, it would be very ill of us to rely on a regime that considers “tali and thaali” as a mode of combat against this deadly pandemic and telecasting “Mahabarata” as a canon against it. Nevertheless, valley has always shown dissent against the policies of the regime. However, even when the regime talks senses, valley has to wait long for its turn to receive anything. Land is the favourite, not the people.
So, the immediate need is to internalize the fight. Starting from a scratch, the fight has to be owned. This battle is a bit more demanding and we have to be all in. Situation is critical; we have to deal with it as one. We have to immediately shun our differences and give space to a collective resistance movement against this pandemic. For once, we have to join hands with the collaborators of the regime. People must lend their relentless support every way possible. Self-styled mantras are totally unpromising. If not dealt with sensitivity, this can prove to be a self-massacre. People have to essentially follow the protocols of WHO and the guidelines of the medicos. This is not too lot to ask, for a state that has spent much of its age under forced lock-downs. But the resilience should not be blended with an egoistic attitude towards the situation. The sensitivity of the situation is to be understood as early as possible. The repercussion of our carelessness can prove to be an annihilation. We have to refrain from name calling. Some of the people here are cursing our own people for bringing the virus in the valley. Tableeghi Jamat has been widely targeted. Virus is not a racist, it hunts everyone equally. Where the likes of Boris Jhonson were vulnerable to the virus, there is no point in name calling a commoner who gets caught in this dreaded plague. They in-fact deserve our utmost sympathy. These narratives of hatred have to be silenced at any cost. There is a dire need of introspection at individual levels and the adaptations acquired till now, have to be fruitfully invested. We don’t have anyone other than ourselves. We are on our own, like we were, always. The fight is going to be arduously tough and that’s where our forte lies.
Hearts Out : In the light of the recent “Domicile law” it was pre-known that the regime would do it sooner or later but using the pandemic as a weapon to mute the dissent was totally unexpected. They saved theirselves from another “forced lock-down”. This dicey business has set up the new standards for their Inhumanity. The filthy politics comes out clear when the two rulings are compared side by side ; NRC for India and the Domicile Law for J&K. When the world was busy dealing with the pandemic India was busy carving the path for demographic flooding in J&K. Although India is extensively vulnerable to the pandemic and the immediate need is to focus on coming out less harmed, Indian Regime has proven to their subjects that they are not their too.
As for Kashmir, It is equally important to understand the fact that we have to join hands with the mainstream to fight this pandemic but we have to keep our hearts out and have to stop stanning them. Not to be duped by the ardency of the mayors n all, our stance shall remain blunt. This manifest sympathy that they appear to be showering is an abyss. A temporarily piece. Moreover, it’s their job, like the others, they are doing their jobs and getting paid. Nothing more and nothing less. Its pertinent to recall that their core job is to subjugate us and it shall remain so, with or without corona. Unlike a bolt from the blue, it was pre-known that they won’t hide their true face during these menacing junctures too. With utmost respect to our expectations, they relentlessly showered what they were good at, brutality.
Sharik Rasool is a student from Kashmir.
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