Is it legitimate to give J&K the status of a special state?

(Article written here is purposely for social media and not for personal affair. Find it at http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/04/is-it-legitimate-to-give-jk-the-status-of-a-special-state/)

We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun. And the only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”

There are 27 states in India and also there is Jammu and Kashmir. A state with so many tags attached to it ranging from ‘land of militancy’, controversial state and ofcourse, a special state. The image projected so far by every mode of communication spills the beans Kashmir is the most pampered state of India and by India and invariably the most privileged. Kashmir is the only state in India which enjoys special autonomy under Article 370 of the Constitution of India according to which, no law enacted by the Parliament of India, except for those in the field of defence, communication and foreign policy, will be extendable in Jammu and Kashmir unless it is ratified by the state legislature of Jammu and Kashmir. Subsequently, jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India over Jammu and Kashmir has been extended. Jammu and Kashmir is also the only Indian state that has its own flag and constitution, and Indians from other states cannot purchase land or property in the state.

Sometimes, it seems too obvious to call Kashmir a much pampered state, always in demand by father-son democracies, India and Pakistan respectively, and still hit in the news for almost all mishaps. Or is it just India’s poor governance that never let the agitation settle down in the region? Also the question why Jammu compared to Kashmir is quieter and safer? One reason generic in sense for calling Jammu a better place than Kashmir is that there are lot of Punjabi’s settled there who don’t allow local hooligans to muddle routine with rare rowdiness. Also most of the people in Jammu are employed (self-employed to be precise) and keep themselves busy for any transgression. But then what made Kashmir so disposed to petty larceny? Many of us were taken aback when Kashmiris burnt the Indian flag on 15th Aug in 2008 while hoisting the Pakistani flag a day before in Srinagar. Should that be taken as a clear indication of their edginess to set themselves free from India and merge with Pakistan or is it a camouflaged act bamboozling both the countries thereby establishing as an autonomous state? The BSF, the military and the para-military forces are constantly vigilant in the region, preventing militancy. Each day there is news of martyrdom of some defence person fighting intruders or slewed with stones by some protestors. Do incidents like these in other states make such headlines? Everyday, there is a case of rape or physical harassment in some part of the country but why is Kashmir’s episode always a hit? Are people in other states not as valuable as Kashmiri’s? One of my college mates is from Kashmir and his anti-Indian dialogues can instigate any fanatic chauvinist to eradicate such minds. He shares that the impertinence of military men in the region towards women is very much overdosed and they find it amusing to handpick females and commit horrendous crimes. To some extent it is true, but it is also true that things like these are always presented with exaggeration. And why must always the defence men be blamed when the government itself is equally lazy in arriving at a quick and true decisions for cases like these; the Shopian case is still a smoking example.

Too much relaxation in the prices of routine items and no intervention in the local businesses from any other state leave the state to enjoy the luxury of utilizing the resources thoughtlessly; Kashmir is undoubtedly the ‘entry-restricted’ paradise of India. And as a result, the frequent protests against the Indian government, proneness to militancy, the constant attention from security forces and, yet, the unsatisfied people have always tickled minds to envy the state for all the reasons. What if J&K too is made a normal state just like Pakistan has kept the PoK? The step will only help the existing situation to improve. Hyderabad too has Muslim population but it is hardly upset because of communalism and it is India’s one of the most developed states. Permitting people from other states to start businesses there will generate employment for the locals which as of now is a threatning problem in the region especially in Kashmir. Also the interaction with the rest of India may adjust the thinking of the local people.

The issue of Kashmir for Pakistan will never die out and she will never accept it as a part of India. India has already been doing much to win the hearts of Kashmir people and in the process has lost many of its soldiers. A lot of luxury has been enjoyed and now it’s time to realize that too much pampering always spoils a child. Make Kashmir a normal state and let people learn from people and not by the administration. Sometimes it is required to give a second thought if Punishment is the last and the least effective instrument in the hands of the legislator for the prevention of crimes.

Sometimes, all They Need is Sympathy

(article written for social media and not for personal affair: find it at http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/04/sometimes-all-they-need-is-sympathy/)

Downstairs, one of the servants from my hostel was sitting in a boorish black T-shirt and trousers which appeared more like shorts from one side. I was taking my towel to dry outside my room on the rope. When I just cleaned my face with it, his muckiness caught my thought. I saw him for a second or two while he was hurriedly enjoying his nap and then came back to my room. Yet, I could not but think about his deprived state. ‘Should I go back and offer him some help or let it go?; God is there for people like him’, these thoughts flooded my mind. Eventually, letting my angelic side win, I took out an old T-shirt of mine from the cupboard which I hadn’t worn for many months and offered it to him. His sudden revival from a siesta, the strange look on seeing an unacquainted figure like me and then a gentle yet deep smile to see the seemingly new T-shirt were all unmatchable gestures to make me feel like I was doing God’s own work.

How often do we actually try and take a step forward to show sympathy and do something when we see someone, genuinely in need? (Forget about beggars who don’t work to earn from everyone appealing only to their pity). It’s a common thing to sympathize with the underprivileged or those who are bearing the worst of conditions but is sympathy sufficient to bring normality to someone’s life? While interacting with few of my friends, I realized different views on how, in India, the affordable class works towards the dejected community. Two days back, the co-founder of Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates was in India discussing with Mayawati, the ‘statue’ woman, on how she was interested in providing sustainable support to life-saving innovations that affect social and cultural change to bring down the unacceptably high death rates for children under five-years of age in UP and Bihar. Few said it’s a shame that we as insiders are unaware of such situations and if ARE aware, we overlook it, while an outsider seems more concerned.

A friend who is a budding entrepreneur at VIT University says, “We may take one look at someone dressed lowly and feel bad about it, but don’t care to donate a small part of our income to charity thereby anticipating the money building up the lives of few.” This is true to the current context where we have 53 billionaires but we hardly fall upon stories of some charitable work by these tycoons. One effort that a common man can do is buy consumer products which share some percentage of its cost with poor people through many programmes, considering that many of us don’t have the time to actually go to donation camps. Making donations or extending monetary help to the poor is not a compulsion but a self-righteous act of doing a good deed. Another one of my friends who is a CAT aspirant asks, why shell out cash to those who even if helped will do least or nothing to add to our economy? Well, the validation of this point stands if we consider a situation where the money donated to trusts is not utilised to raise the needy (it is taken as indirect help) or when the direct receiver of cash wastes it on alcohol or any other useless thing. The status quo of no outcome according to the supporting doubt can be dealt with if we donate things like books, clothes, food, free education etc. to them. This will solve the problem of misuse of money to some extent. Most of the poor people in our country are uneducated too. And expecting them to chip in to economy would be asking a mute to shout while pinching to signal if it hurts. When we help them, we expect them to become, at some stage of life, a fisherman on their own rather than always counting on the feeder.

I was involved in social service at a local orphanage where along with my college mates, I gave lessons to children of Class 6 and 7. These colleagues obviously have a different dimension to explain the help they provide beyond sympathy. They don’t call it a service or a contribution, instead an amalgamation of true love, honest help, knowledge and situations where people know how to attain gratification despite lacking all the luxuries of life. One cannot imagine the cheer those children experience when they see us coming and giving them a different experience of knowledge and learning, how the world looks like outside an orphanage and making them feel like they have guardians equally caring and pampering as their parents if they were alive.

You may not know the last five Heisman Trophy winners or the last decade’s worth of World Series winners or the Pulitzer’s prize, but you can definitely name three friends who have helped you in difficult times or have made you feel special and appreciated. Analogously, the people who make a difference to poor peoples life are not the ones with most credentials, most money or most awards; they are simply the ones who care the most with substance and not just feelings.