A Mother Wails To Her Militant Son About To Die
Wailing Parents, Son Walking Into Death’s Arms – Kashmir
Everyday Kashmir faces encounters and attacks. Everyday our own are killed by our own. As a cop, as a militant, as a civilian – it is a Kashmir who is killed. The shrouds are made by common Kashmiris. The blood riddled bodies are shouldered by us common Kashmiris. Nobody from Islamabad or Delhi comes to console us when our dear ones die. Why should we blame them? We ourselves have chosen this cycle of death. We ourselves refuse to end it. Everyday, someone is orphaned. Someone’s child is killed. It has been normalized. The wailing mothers, the distressed fathers, the mourning relatives. All have one question on their hearts and minds. When will bloodshed end in Kashmir? You can shout and abuse the state if you want to. If you shout and abuse the militants, that will be the last shouting you will do. Then the shroud shall await you. Will there be any day in Kashmir when people feel free to live and are free from worries? Why are our young children taking up arms and choosing to die? We are scared to ask these questions. Hum is bhatti mein jal rahen hain.
Meane Goubraa! Hataa naa yee maa kar!
On December 26, four militants were killed in twin encounters that took place in Shopian and Bijbehara in South Kashmir. Two were killed in Shopian and two in Bijbehara. At the Shopian encounter, a militant who had been a blossoming Kashmiri youth made a brief call to his parents before ending his life. Sources reveal that the call went like this:
Bei khoul wainne fire, mei ker zev maaf agar!
(I am going to open fire! Pardon me if I had ever hurt you.)
Father: Basit! Try to speak to them! May be you may get a chance to save yourself!
No No No! I am going to open fire. La Ilaha Illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah!
Mother: Meane goubraa! Meane goubraa! Please please don’t do this! I want to see you again my son! I want to take you in my arms! Go and put down your arms. I am waiting goubraa!
No No! I will open fire
Mother: Goubraa! Goubraa! Hataa naa yee maa kar!
(My son! My son! Don’t do this!)
Call disconnected
Pain and Distress
Who can put into words the pain, the distress the parents faced after receiving the news that their militant son had been killed! How many times the nightmare will haunt them – his body mutilated by bullet holes, lying under debris somewhere.The thought may kill them every day. But they shall die alone. Now nobody will visit them to ask about their well being. Whether they need food. Whether they need medicines. Whether they need warm clothing. Whether the roof needs repair. Whether they need wood. All romantic celebration of a young Kashmiri turning to militancy vanishes now. The young Kashmiri died with a gun in his hands. Us ko militant banane ka maqsad poora ho gaya. The wailing parents may be cursing Kashmir. They may be cursing the day they had begotten their loving son. Who shall answer the question in their minds – Is this the day for which raised our beloved son? One day he will call us and say I am going to die, forgive me if I hurt you. Who will heal this biggest hurt, this deepest cut? Who will heal this old man and woman full of pain and anger, bitter towards state and society?
What about some sons of Kashmir who play in blood?
All parents wish that one day their son or daughter will make them proud. The children work hard to achieve big, make their parents feel proud and take care of them in old age. There may be some children who may not achieve much. But at least they do not undertake actions which will pain their parents forever. What about some sons of Kashmir who play in blood, embrace death and leave their parents with scars forever. These youth are emboldened by the radical ideologies pumped into Kashmir by Pakistan by the adversaries of the society and the state. These youths are unaware that they are part of a game. They start their career with stone pelting. Many of them move on to militancy. And then it is end of life. The shelf life of a fresh recruit in militant ranks is about 150 days only. Their parents cannot understand why their son left them.
Role Of Society In Radicalizing Innocents
Can we deny that some parents in Kashmir inject toxicants of ideology in their children? Later if the children turn to militancy, they blame their young ones or others. We all teach our children by our actions. We curse the Indian state. We hold the state forces responsible for everything bad in Kashmir. No one among us dares to request Pakistan not to infiltrate arms and ammunitions into Kashmir. No one held the separatists responsible for the poison they injected into Kashmir. Many parents receive perks and rewards from the state. Even then they curse the state for being brutal, for using power to control the emotions and feelings of people. Children absorb the hate they see in the society. They get emboldened thinking that the state is our enemy, so we must punish it. They make resistance their dream and death their destination.What can be more destructive than a society which prepares the fuel in which its young shall die? What can be more tragic than a society where no one tries to extinguish this fire? We all are stakeholders of our society. We all are equally responsible to stop the bloodshed in Kashmir.
