Football, uniting Kashmiris overseas

Below is an article submitted by me for certain social media channels for spreading awareness about the KFL league taking place in Dubai.

UAE over the past few years has become an overseas destination of choice for Kashmiris pursuing their livelihoods outside the subcontinent and Kashmiri expat community in Dubai has seen an exponential growth in the past decade owing to the numerous success stories of Kashmiri entrepreneurs and business executives in Middle East.

The usual work life in UAE can be quite exhausting with long working hours, congested commute routes and harsh climate. Last year a bunch of Kashmiris decided to get together every weekend and spend at least one hour sweating it out over a friendly match of football. They started with a cheerful group of six and met every Friday after sunset to burn few calories and play the game that they all loved. As the word spread, so did the numbers and new players kept joining in every week; some old and some young but all with a similar passion for the sport.

The number of players kept swelling and organizing matches became increasingly difficult till it caught the attention of some successful businesses in Dubai, namely, DRE Homes, Stone House Real Estate, Location Real Estate, and Ottomans International Technologies who decided to invest in an idea of a well organized football league for Kashmiris living in UAE which was finally realized on April  22, 2016 when the first season of Kashmir Football League kicked off with more than 50 players and four equally balanced teams: Wular Warriors, Jhelum Rangers,  Aharbal Dragons and Gulmarg Leopards.

The league has created a pleasant atmosphere of unity and brotherhood amongst the Kashmiri community across UAE with young and old playing together with passion and competing fiercely for their teams’ victory.  The league has gained tremendous popularity across social media and other channels of communication for the expats in UAE, many participants say that this league is the best two hours of their weekend and they eagerly wait for the weekend not because it is a holiday but because they get to put on their Football studs and be the hero on the pitch while their families endearingly cheer them on from the stands.

There is a unique mix of players across different teams with diverse backgrounds and various age groups. The veterans in their mid 40’s show tremendous leadership by commanding the young & energetic 20 years old boys into various formations and strategies. The athleticism and sportsmanship on display has received massive appreciation from the community and it has become one more reason to feel a sense of pride in collectively being referred to as Kashmiris. Football in Kashmir has definitely come a long way since Tyndale Biscoe introduced the first leather football in early years of 20^th century to the current generation which has taken it overseas. The league is blessed with some serious talent too; there are current college team players from different colleges of Dubai, ex-national level players who have played in India and multiple university level players with varying level of accomplishments in football.

The games are played at high tempo and the skills on display are exquisite, however, the most remarkable moments are witnessed after the games as the teams get together and sit across a single table for a post match meal. These are some serious men with serious jobs, sitting besides each other, some rejoicing their goals and celebrating their victories while others contemplating their missed chances and regretting their loss. In the midst of all the enthusiasm and loud discussions of a typical Kashmiri gathering discussing about the beautiful game in their own beautiful language, they forget about their grown up lives and for once they are a bunch of cheerful lads sharing a well earned meal with each other and more importantly sharing an unbreakable bond of being connected back to their roots.

The league is in the middle of its’ first season and with backing of sponsors such as DRE Homes, Stonehouse Real Estate, Location Real Estate and Ottoman International Technologies it is set to become one of the largest overseas sporting event for Kashmiris living in lands far away from home.

For further updates, please follow the Kashmir Football League on their official Facebook page:

https://m.facebook.com/kasheerfcuae/

END OF DAYS, IT’S JUST THE BEGINNING!

A weekday is a weekday, and a weekend is a weekend. Monday comes after Sunday and Friday after Thursday. Sunday is not every day and weekend is not every weekday, night is meant for sleeping and day for working. Sunrise is when a day begins and sunset when it ends. Breakfast is in morning and dinner every evening. 

Dear Lord, what has the world come to…These must be the end of days!

Looking at himself in the mirror, wearing a well ironed grey shirt and a black trouser with a black tie in his hand, he wonders. He wonders how long it has been since he tied a tie, since he polished a shoe, since he ironed a shirt, since he double checked his wallet, since he kept alarms on his clocks. It has been so long since he had a daily routine, a schedule…a purpose to his life other than enjoying every single day as if it were his last.

He used to live in an illusion of freedom and a perfect universe of unending happiness and joy. The freedom to do whatever he wishes whenever he wishes without any limits or restrictions. Any out of the world idea was reasonable and anything unreal was possible. A limitless world that submitted as he desired. A world without laws and restrictions, where he might have even challenged the laws of Physics itself. He lived in a carefree world of hypothetical realities where he could be the God himself creating his own rules as he went through each semester of college.

Staring deep into the mirror, he still has the tie in his hand. He hasn’t tied a tie since he left school some years ago, his cell phone starts ringing and he is late for his job interview. He looks up once more in the mirror and it hits him, a sudden realization that the time has come. The time to leave his nest and come crashing down to the real world of harsh realities. His happy carefree face frowns for the first time as he looks up one last time to see a fading smile.

Face in the mirror, is he a boy or a man?

By the time he processes his thoughts and gets time to bid goodbye to the life he lived in college, it’s already too late for his first job interview at a major company. His life is now no longer his, it’s controlled by expectations. Expectations of his parents to earn his livelihood, expectations of his colleagues to work extra time to prove his worth, expectations of his teachers at college to achieve success, expectations of his own ambitions to reach for the top. He is no longer a master of his universe, now the universe controls him and dictates what he can or cannot do. The responsibilities keep piling on his young shoulders as he keeps crashing down into the real world and sees his nest disappearing from his eyes far into the clouds.

Unsure of how he will fulfill all the expectations that life demands from him, he wishes to could go back to his safe and happy place where all that was expected from him was to smile and laugh and enjoy all the happiness that life had to offer. By the time he is done crying over what he has left behind, he is already too late to board the next bus. He is no longer sure of himself or what he wants from his life and doubts how he will manage to fill that empty belly of his.

He boasts of his past glories to his juniors at college and yet he is the most insignificant and unaccomplished man at office. He does not know what life has in store for him or what turn his life will take. Not yet prepared to go out there and work for his livelihood, he tries to find solace in hope of someone coming through for him, maybe once again as always a call from his mother to hide him in her arms from the hardships of life. Yet, he knows such hopes are not real and it is time to go out and face the world by himself.

It is all moving too fast, he wishes he could rewind the time and go back to the days when he used to fancy about working somewhere with a white collar shirt and well ironed trouser. Now, all that he fancies is his old denim jeans and animated t-shirts. He loathes every part of his new life which has taken a toll on his carefree youthful spirit and instilled in him a mature and careful adult with responsibilities and weight of expectations on his shoulders. Life is winning this battle against his spirit, he never thought he would be bowing down to rules of life and yet he sees himself becoming a part of this crowd as each day passes.

He has become what he feared the most, another face in the crowd. The challenge is to distinguish himself and live up to expectations, life has just begun yet when he thought it had ended looking back at his nest disappearing into clouds far far away…

…

…

…

He opens his eyes realizing he overslept on his first day at college. Thinking about the strange dream, he decides to skip the morning lectures and tell his friends how precious these four years will be.

From Gaza to Switzerland

Every year I wait for the best time of the year that is when the sun is baking the deserts of Middle East and concrete Jungles of Dubai, expats like me are busy booking their tickets and buying gifts for their loved ones preparing to go back to their home countries for a much awaited summer vacation. While students in my college are busy planning their trips to Europe and America, I count down the days till I reach home because for a fact I know the lure of ancient and romantic cities of Europe and the scenic Swiss Alps are not much of an attraction when u have been brought up in the valley of Kashmir.

The promise of a peaceful summer vacations at my home is what keeps me going through all the ups and downs and challenges of our otherwise easy college life. The promise of a perfect summer in the midst of snow capped Himalayas, the gushing waters of Aharbal, the glaciers of Sonamarg, the lush meadows of Gulmarg, the dense forests of Pahalgam, the sunset on Boulevard, and the infinitely many other equally beautiful places still to be explored.

Unfortunately for last three seasons, all the plans just remained a piece of writing on a white sheet of paper. Three consecutive summers of unrest and turmoil, it was as if Kashmir was on the verge of a breaking point either an unlikely revolution or a terrible civil war. And I didn’t know which side to be on, whether to think of the uprising as an ‘instigated’ violence by some vested interests against the system or whether to think of it as a genuine call for freedom against a foreign rule which has killed more than 100,000 innocent lives of our own. I didn’t know how to react, whether to be angry at my people for ruining otherwise a perfect tourist season and with it the livelihood of many locals or to stand tall shoulder to shoulder with my people and participate in this fight against injustice and oppression. In the end, inherited selfish human nature won over me and I preferred to stay inside the safety of my home cursing the people for ruining my hard earned summer vacations and did nothing while hundreds more sacrificed their lives for a just cause which may seem impossible and futile to a keen observer.

This year like the previous years we waited for the summer with same impatience and excitement although a fear of one more ruined vacation seemed to take hold of my sub conscience every now and then but I always pushed away the thoughts by planning trips hoping for perfect holidays at home. And then the time came for all of us to pack our bags and leave for our homes. As usual most of my friends flew to various parts of Europe while I boarded the same Air India flight which would take me to my beloved home, Kashmir.

To my surprise I was one of the only 4 or 5 Kashmiris waiting in the queue to board the flight whom I could recognize easily due to very peculiar characteristic traits and sharp facial features inherited in our race! Rest were from different parts of not just India but whole world as it seemed. It was clear from the excitement on their faces that they were tourists on a trip of their lifetime. I could recognize hearing German, French, Russian and even Persian being spoken by people sitting behind me and I myself sat with a bunch of Indian tourists. I didn’t know what to expect when my flight landed at Srinagar International Airport because if it was anything close to last three years than it would be a long journey home. I remember travelling from airport to home last year under immense protection as if a VIP travelling in the war zones of Gaza, Palestine.

But to add to my surprise there were no hartals or curfews, no calls, no demonstrations, no protests, no burning of tires or shouting of slogans, not even any pelting of stones. Every single native seemed to be occupied with some work of their own and the youth busy with their colleges and schools while a crowd of tourists happily passed by them. The smiling faces of foreigners clearly explained the excitement and pleasure they felt in just being here as if a chance of a lifetime. Maybe they had waited so long to see this land in all its glory for it had been famously described as being the heaven on earth. I could easily imagine them exclaiming in their minds…’’Heaven!’’

Elders of my family often used to tell me about the glory days of Kashmir before the violence broke out. How alongside the crystal clear waters of Dal and Nigeen, Boulevard would be crowded with the foreign crowds. When all you could see were people equally as fair as local Kashmiris but with various shades of hair color. They used to tell me of the days when everywhere your head turned you would recognize Bollywood stars posing for their shots and yet it was treated as just being a very ordinary event. They used to tell me of the days when people with blonde and red hair used to come from the various parts of the world just for a breathtaking sunset on Dal Lake, or for the exciting skiing on the slopes of Gulmarg, or for the challenging treks of Mahadev, Haramukh and Kolohoi, or for a taste of Wazwan and Kehwa,or to buy themselves the treasured handicraft furniture and rugs or simply just to stay here and enjoy the hospitable and warm nature of a typically cultured Kashmiri family as if this was the closest thing to heaven in this world.

All I could see today was something which reminded me of the same days of the old that my elders used to tell me of. Tourists from all parts of the world had lined up boulevard, the hotels were fully booked, shikaras loaded with tourists floated on the sparkling waters of Dal, Houseboats were getting some of their dedicated foreign tourists back after a break of two generations. And in the midst of all this I happened to meet a group of French, Swiss and Austrian tourists who after a brief conversation stated that even though their country is very beautiful and the Alps are glorious but it is nowhere near to what they had seen in the past 2 weeks in Kashmir. I even met some young tourists from Southern India who were otherwise very rigid vegetarians but couldn’t resist tasting the famous Wazwan of Kashmir!

I have never seen such perfect summers in Kashmir since the year of my birth which happens to be the most unfortunate year in the history of this land. Although it might be nothing new to elders to see the tourists crowding the valley as if Kashmir was the centre of world tourism but for people of my generation this might be a very rare sight. Comparing the current tourist season with any of the 80s or 70s the elders might shoot down the current season as just a rare and very small scaled glimpse of old but for people my age it is the best we have seen in past 20 years.

Seeing the vast contrasts of two summers separated by just 12 months is remarkable. It was as if just a year ago I had left my home in a war like situation where the people had stood up in unison against a power much greater, as if I had spent my last summer’s in a safe house in the heavily disturbed Gaza of Palestine and yet just one year later I come here as if coming to the serene and peaceful Switzerland of the East.

One just can’t resist but give in to the temptation of imagining what a peaceful Kashmir would look like. A booming economy, the tourist centre of the world, prosperity and peace to its people and once again a cultural and religious hub of the whole region in large. Once again a land of mystics and Sufis, untouched valleys and unseen treasures of nature. Even a possible centre of world adventure sports. Unmatched potential for progress and prosperity co existing with our old age customs and traditions of brotherhood and hospitality. A coexistence of the prosperous and modern new with our very unique old. Ahh… How I wish!

What an unfortunate generation I belong to, I never got to see the Kashmir I imagine in my dreams, which was a reality my elders lived. Dream it truly is and coming back to the actual current reality of today where an entire generation has been led aimlessly by leaders who themselves have failed to recognize an actual aim for struggle, a realistic goal. A rational mind tends to think that accepting our destiny and fate lies with the might of our foreign ruler may be the best option for a fact that no blood would be shed, no innocent lives would be lost and tourism based economy will once again boom. But for a passionate lover of his land it is very hard to accept a personal life of prosperity and peace when his land is still not free and the sacrifices of his brothers have been forgotten.

Personally, I still can’t decide what the future of my land should be. Peace and prosperity of my valley at the cost of true freedom or freedom at the cost of our economy and more importantly many more innocent lives. This is a question that can’t be asked because it can’t be answered. The answer can’t be asked from our leader or our ideal, it lies deep within our own patriotic souls. All we need to do is look deep into ourselves with a patriotic and yet very rational mind and see for ourselves what truly is the best for our mother land. I believe, God will answer.

For the time being I enjoy the very brief period of peace and prosperity that this summer is and take as many digital pictures as possible for my college so that when my Europe return friends meet me, they all will exclaim in unison…”Switzerland wasn’t this beautiful !”

Starry Night

It is early August and the beautiful summer season is into its maturity with flowers blossoming in my garden. Tonight the sky is clearer than usual and exposing all shinning wonders hidden beyond imagination. The stars appear brighter than they usually are; something is different about this night. Maybe they have assembled to bear witness to how paradise will burn into ashes.

Turning the head other way, and there they are moving in the sky as if being summoned by God himself. A cluster of shooting stars moving across the dark sky and slowly fading away behind the mighty mountains which limit my vision. I keep searching for the horizon and the shooting star but the farthest I see are the peaks of the snow clad Himalayas.

I hear voices echoing in the valley, this is nothing like I have heard before. An entire population singing in unison; singing as if charmed by the Pied Piper himself. They sing of their brotherhood, they sing of their patriotism, they sing of their nation, they sing of their freedom, they sing of their sacrifice, they sing of their martyrdom, they sing of their valley.

Decades of anger and frustration, an entire generation of oppressed and tortured unfortunates on the streets. A generation of my peers, a generation I have grown up with. A generation which has seen their fathers murdered, their brothers tortured, their sisters raped, their mothers widowed. An entire generation of youth which has grown up in fear of the men in camouflaged army uniforms. ‘

They gave up guns and bullets for a promise of better future, a future where they saw their freedom and prosperity. A promised ‘azaadi’. Twenty years later and the promises still remain unfulfilled. They have had enough of their leaders and their so called country. The limit has been reached and breached; they will no longer remain mute spectators to oppression. The fear of death is no longer a fear, they accept death as if martyrdom. Children, men and women all hand in hand, an entire population of ordinary unarmed Kashmiris protesting on streets for their freedom, fighting for their basic human rights, for their right to democracy and self determination of their nationality.

The bullets fail to deter their march past Indian paramilitary camp after camp, one falls and three more take his place and this time only with louder slogans and harsher tone. Young blood gushes through the gutters and smoke fills up the air. The frightening memories of losing their beloved to the men in uniform still haunts them, maybe this is what has made their hearts so strong that even the bullets don’t seem to stop them. The memories which never seem to die, reminders of their sacrifices. They ask of the 90,000 brothers which they lost to Indian forces, the 7000 brothers that disappeared in Indian custodies, the 100,000 children that have been orphaned, the 22,000 women that have been widowed, the 10,000 women that have been raped. They ask of their childhood which was spent hiding in the closet and now their youth which is lost in pelting stones at an enemy which was supposed to be a friend.

This is an entire generation which has been misunderstood by the rest of the patriotic India, which sees stone pelting as riots and mobs while ignoring and overlooking the basic causes of this anger and frustration.

Suddenly a massive explosion wakes me up from this procrastination and deafening screams of my brothers being murdered are heard from all directions; and yet the mountains refuse to stop the echoing voices in my ear”Sarfarosho Chalo...Cheenke lenge Azaadi Azaadi”

This time I see a shooting star blazing the night sky and I close my eyes and ask God for myself.

As I get ready to go inside and have a nice dinner with my family; tears fill my eyes and I can’t make out if it is the tear gas explosion which is making me cry or my inner conscience which asks of me what I have done for my valley.

In Gods lap

“If you want to find God, find him in yourself...
And if you still can’t...then head for the mountains...!”

The magnificent Himalayas surrounding the Kashmir valley protect it like a great wall against the mythical dragons and evil spirits...the mountain range provides the valley with breathtaking natural beauty and its own patches of paradise on earth...It also provides mountaineers with great opportunities to conquer the mightiest mountains and the toughest peaks ever known....
The famous Sufi saints of the valley drew their inspiration from the mountains...The mountains form a part of the famous legends and myths and an integral part of the mystical world...
It was during my famous and rigorous Biscoe school camps that I got curious to know why some people give up all their worldly wealth and come to mountains, leaving behind their ‘few’ friends, families and desperate enemies...giving up all the earthly pleasures and luxuries and all the glory just for the sake of sitting on a mountain peak and gazing at the sky...!
It all seemed so inappropriate and crazy for such successful people to give away their fortune and take up the life of a homeless wanderer with nothing to lose...Maybe they were possessed by the demons or maybe they were insane...Whatever it was, it never made any sense...
The good old Biscoe days when we were made to scale the traditional tough terrains with heavy haversacks on our adolescent backs and wood for camp fire in our soft hands...

Even long before we hit puberty, we were already scaling the mighty Himalayas aimlessly in search of something we knew not....!
And that something was something we were never aware of...All the while I used to wonder the point of punishing our bodies and going beyond limits into unknown terrains and territories...Maybe it was the lure of conquering the mighty mountain and the treasured feeling of standing on the highest peak as if proclaiming our superiority over all other creatures or maybe it was the adrenaline rush of walking the treacherous and most dangerous narrow paths...I believed it was the natural greed of the human nature for glory which kept us going even in the worst situations...
But how wrong could I have been...!!!
Having passed all the physical endurance tests and conquered all the mountains...Still the same question haunted the adolescent mind...
The question which had no answer...Some gave up and moved ahead into a world of unsatisfied accomplishments where they would always find something missing from their lives, an internal peace and satisfaction which would haunt them for the rest of their mortal life...
But some persevered and resisted until they lost their sense of existence in search of the answer...

Some say the mountains are haunted by the Jinn’s and the wandering spirits and some say by the walking snowman called ‘Yetis’...and sometimes such unbelievable myths come to life when you gaze on the giant footsteps in the snow or an exorcism being performed on a mountain side...
Sometimes what you see is hard to believe...and sometimes such truths shake your soul inside out awakening it to an unbelievable reality...!
Many monks climb the steep slopes in search of the eternal Shangri-la and many Sadhus wander in hope of finding the mighty Shiva in the mountains...
The tough treks up the steep mountain slopes and the uphill battle against the elements... Maybe I used to interpret such voluntary self torture as the human nature of ambition and greed for power...But the truths hidden in the mountains never lie and they speak of the divine...

The gigantic mountains are a source of mystical experiences...Breath taking sunset and sunrise, the lush green forests, the treacherous steep slopes, spine chilling piercing winds...the melting glaciers and the fresh snow...the huge rocks surrounded by wild flowers...the gushing white waters...sparkling fresh morning dew...the unending long days and the starry nights...the uncertainty of time...the calm of the valley...everything a mortal could ask for...and yet the same old greed of wanting more...the desire to fulfil all the unsatisfied emotions, an ambition to go to the top...a struggle for an internal satisfaction and peace...a fight for power and desires...a fight for the title of strongest and most powerful
When the mountain finally beats you down to earth...tired and beaten...ashamed of the unsuccessful efforts...defeated and broken, having lost to the mother nature...then for the first time in your life you start looking around yourself, admiring all the gifts that nature has bestowed on us...contemplating and reflecting on how the water always manages to break through such massive rocks and make its way forward...how the weakest of creatures manages to survive in the most hostile environment...how each and every creation is unique and wonderful as if designed by God himself...humbled by the experience, you watch the tall mountain in awe and wonder...

And finally a DIVINE intervention....!
The spirit is awakened...a divine satisfaction and peace blesses the soul...
A soul which suddenly wakes up after years of slender and wakes to the voice of nature...The Gods nature....you give up and let yourself be defeated and feel like having achieved all that was to achieve...you no longer want to win...
It’s the feeling when you realise how small is your existence...how powerless are your most powerful attributes...a true realisation, as if you have conquered death itself
this feeling of being mortal and weak makes you lie back and enjoy the painful moment of your defeat...the moment when you look up at the sky, close your eyes with the last bit of strength left in your body...you see yourself elevate to a land unknown to this world...a land of the pure and divine...a land of freedom from desire and ambition...a land of fulfilled promises and wishes...a land of peace and satisfaction....a land of perfection and blessings...a land of joy and justice
Sitting on the peak of the mountain and looking at the world with a changed perspective, praising the God who created you from dust...
All the achievements and all the wealth are of no value any longer...All the ambitions and desires disappear into thin air...Finally you have found the answer, an answer to all your questions... you bow down and gaze with utter humility at your own humble soul...
Opening your eyes, you find yourself lying back in Gods own lap...
The mountain is no longer a question of intimidation...it’s no longer a challenge...you move on with respect for each and every step that the mountain allows you to take on its back...the soul has finally awakened to the reality of this world and the world after...
God always gives you traces of his existence...it’s we who need to open our eyes, awaken our humble spirit and start admiring God in everything that has been created...it maybe the mighty mountains or the vast plains or even a simple rock lying by a river...God flows through all his creations
A divine realisation of our mere existence and a divine creator of all...a humbling experience...an eternal peace and satisfaction found in the magical mountains and mystical valleys where you find yourself lying in Gods own lap...
Your own Shangri-la, an answer to all the questions...

Kashmir on the verge of people's revolution(Part-II)

Thursday was followed by a historic Friday when the world witnessed the true rise of a giant…An awakening, a united resistance…A people’s revolution
"Eidgah Chalo" call by the separatist Hurriyat Conference was met by a tremendous and unprecedented public response…A massive crowd of well over a million ordinary suffering Kashmiri’s marched towards the historic Eidgah grounds and gathered for pro-freedom slogans and even more attended the Friday prayers calling for a revolution…
The over whelming numbers in itself is a history in the making…the whole valley had united for a common cause…the most fascinating thing about the protests in Kashmir is that unlike Jammu, all the religious parties stood shoulder to shoulder…non-muslims and muslims alike for one cause…The suffering fruit growers unable to trade with the markets in rest of the country due to highway blockade, showered the sea of people with apples as if it was raining apples for the protestors…the martyrs were remembered and their suffering families got the deserving respect…such a tremendous sense of kashmiri nationalism as never seen before
Amazingly the whole sea of people went unnoticed in the national (Indian) media which never highlighted the fact that over one million ‘PEACEFULL’ protestors shouted for freedom and independence…
All the Indian media managed to report was that a bunch of people led by separatists carrying anti national green flags carried a rally to Eidgah grounds...!!!
Wake up people…this is no longer a separatist led movement…they are mere spectators…It’s a people’s movement…
The most important fact being that the pro-Pakistan slogans were replaced by pro-independence or rather pro-freedom slogans…Literally every Kashmiri including the very old woman and the very young children were shouting for freedom….!!!
This truly can be put as a beginning of a revolution when Kashmiri people have decided to put an end to this life of misery and grief, a life of despair and disparity, a life of struggle for the very basic human rights to survive…This is the time to undo the curse of the ‘cursed heaven’…never before in our history, not even in 1990 such a movement was witnessed which was entirely a peoples movement…this time the leaders are mere spectators and have been led by the people and the people unlike the early 1990’s are un armed and using non-violent ways to protest…the slogans for Pakistan have given way to slogans for freedom…this is entirely a peoples movements…a peoples struggle…
The martyrs of this land have sacrificed their souls for a generation of intellectual protestors who have decided to follow the non-violent resistance like the great Mahatma Gandhi…
The optimism in the eyes of the common people is quite easily visible but it’s rather hard to believe that we can ever be independent…though the people sense a revolution coming, but it’s rather difficult to even think of independence when we actually are so dependent…!!!!!
The spirit and the will of people isn’t ready to realize the fact that India is not just any ordinary country but a prosperous and flourishing nation with a very strong military…
The Indian military hasn’t yet retaliated to the pro-freedom slogans…It’s just a matter of time before the armed forces decide to end this aimless show or the so called mass movement….and when that day comes, we won’t have any place to hide or run to…we won’t be able to resist the brute force and the piercing bullets that will shatter our homes and our dreams too…we will bleed and we will suffer…we will die in pain and anguish over the fact that we never got what we deserved and what was rightly ours…once the men in uniforms and the men in arms come searching for us, we won’t have a place to hide….the freedom which has been stolen from us will never be ours….
BUT…world has witnessed the most amazing turnover’s in its history…so many times have we seen the impossible and unbelievable happen…take the example of India which over turned the imperial British Empire to win it’s freedom or the great revolutions of Europe and America…
The people hold the ultimate power to rule and to ruin any kingdom…it’s the people who hold the supreme strength…
In recent days we have seen many intellectual Indians such as the Bookers Prize winner Arundhati Roy supporting the Kashmir cause…many other intellectuals in India have questioned the Indian democracy for suppressing the will of Kashmiri people when the people are struggling for basic survival leave aside freedom….Why can’t the people push towards the United Nations solution to the whole dispute…A justified PLEBISCITE….??? Doesn’t that sound fair enough???...and even if it ever happens we all know that most of the kashmiris from Azad Kashmir (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) will vote against Pakistan and most of kashmiris from Indian Occupied Kashmir will vote against India…That will mean an independent Kashmir…!
Although it sounds great on paper but the fact remains that independent Kashmir is an impossible existence….!!!
In the midst of all the politics and all the drama, we the common Kashmiris suffer every day and every night…We are the children of despair and grief….WE ARE A CURSED BUNCH OF PEOPLE LIVING IN THE CURSED PARADISE….!!!
I guess the media can no longer hide the fact that this is no longer a protest over the Amarnath Land Row or any fight with communal forces in India…but this is much more of a mass awakening to the much bigger Kashmir issue… The massive public movement for freedom and the peaceful unarmed protestors (ready to stand up against the strongest and the most brutal enemy for freedom) makes an intellectual think that a revolution is a genuine possibility…we got all what it takes to begin a revolution…now all we need is an unselfish leader who will guide through the right track to a land of peace and salvation…..and that’s what I think this revolution lacks….a great leader fighting for the sake of kashmir…
What so ever happens in the coming days..one thing is for sure…blood will be shed…it might be a bloody revolution which will either manage to give us our freedom and basic human rights or it will be a mass murder brutality which will give a life even more miserable than the one we already have….
Personally, I wish we continue to be a part of the prospering BRIC countries (Brasil,Russia,India,China) and I wish the future of my fellow peers would not be lost in this so called revolution which seems to be fighting a lost battle….Moreover the innocent youth is protesting as if celebrating an event or as if on the verge of victory…but least they know that the way ahead is the most difficult and hardest with unseen dangers and unthinkable risks that may ruin their future or even take away their precious lives…!
I am leaving for college in Middle East and I have no idea that by the time I come back what history would have written for my people…Freedom is all what we seek….!!!
Monday has been declared the day for carrying a pro-freedom rally to Lal Chowk (Lal Chowk Chalo)…I guess we will see even more people attend the peaceful agitation and cry for freedom…Expect to see Ghanta Ghar (clock tower in the middle of Lal Chowk) covered with green flags…
I don’t know if I ever will be able to blog again or not…I don’t know what fate holds for me…I don’t know what turn history will take at this important time for both me and my valley….!!
Well, I better start packing my stuff for college before it’s too late….It’s quite an exhausting job when you have to pack your stuff in such chaos …I don’t know when will I be able to meet you guys next time, until then good bye and stay well….
And yes, one request to all you folks out there reading this blog...try to uncover the realistic truth behind the superficial truths which the biased Indian media will put in front of your unaware eyes in the coming days….Know both the sides of story before forming any opinion over the Kashmir issue…
If you can then pray for my valley which is crying out for help and a revolution seems not so unlikely possibility…May God bless Kashmir with enough strength to fight through these difficult darks days into the days of freedom and prosperity...
FREEDOM DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN INDEPENDENCE...!!!

Freedom Blogger...Signing out indefinitely

Kashmir on the verge of a people's revolution (PART-I)

"A sleeping giant waking up to this world of injustice and oppression"

It was Thursday, The last day of the three day deal which Hurriyat conference had announced for giving people a breather before another week of continuous strike and protests….
Sensing the urgency in the eyes of every Kashmiri rushing to markets that this might be the last day when day get a chance to go out and buy themselves a bag of rice before their lives get crippled again with the indefinite strikes and curfews…Even I rushed to the overcrowded and busy Lal Chowk (city centre)….No, not to buy any rice or processed food packs of the Italian pasta or Chinese chowmein but instead to buy my essential stock of groceries and clothing to help me survive in college…
Yea finally I found a college ready to take me in...The current scenario doesn’t allow a Kashmiri to live freely in India (AS IF WE WERE LIVING FREELY IN OUR OWN VALLEY….!!!)
Most of the Kashmiris living or studying in the more greener pastures of India don’t feel secure anymore…Thanks to the communal forces acting in this great nation that forced me to go for college to Middle East (Dubai) rather than our own thriving metros….
The shops seemed so empty and the clothes looked like they belonged to some ancient age….!!! Maybe the highway blockade and the strike kept the newer and trendier stuff from reaching the windows of our cities beloved shops….!!!
Totally frustrated, I decided to come back home empty handed…But just as I was about to go back to the car parking which happened to be quite adjacent to my school (C.M.S. Tyndale Biscoe which sits handsomely at the heart of the city centre), I heard a familiar sound…The ‘ding-dong’ of the famous school bell (which is already a piece of history due to its age and the high pitch sound it creates throughout the otherwise chaotic Lal Chowk streets)
I turned back and remembered that I was standing right next to the glorious and historic school gate…All the memories of the nostalgic childhood flashed across my eyes and I stood there as if a spectator witnessing his wonderful childhood pass by him…and then this moment of wonder was broken when a sharp voice thumped my ear…"Hum Kya Chahte???……Azaadi,Azadi…Azadi" (What do we want?....Freedom, Freedom…Freedom)
It was a huge crowd of young students in their school uniform (in fact the students of historic S.P. College) protesting the death of their beloved batch mate at the hands of Indian troopers….The students in their school uniforms and handsome ties over their sparkling white shirts with their broken voices portrayed the dismal future of our next generation..Following them were the girls of Womens College with their own slogans for freedom…
I stood by the side of my school as a mute spectator witnessing the historic scenes…Youth bringing a new life and new energy to this struggle against oppression and brutal force…What better way to compliment when a group of bar association (lawyers) dressed in black joined the students in their cry for freedom…
The intellect is finally getting vocal and driving home the point that they are not ready to give up their basic human rights…
Seeing the huge rush and chaos in the crowd, I somehow managed to make my way to home…
The scenes are still quite vivid in my eyes…
And then late in the evening I peeped out of the window in my room on hearing someone shout out from a loud speaker…"Hum kya chahte??"(what do we want?) followed by huge chorus from people "Azadi Azadi Azadi" (freedom freedom freedom)
The huge crowd of ‘ordinary’ people protested throughout the night with the mashals (torches) burning and flames rising high…
I could feel the heat even from a safe distance…! The heat which spoke a lot more than the crowd on the street…The heat which spoke of the fire that had been ignited twenty years ago and now had grown into a full blown resistance…The flames which spoke of the ray of light which the common people had chosen to follow….The smoke which told the untold story of a ‘burning paradise’…It was quite indeed a sign of waking of the giant…
The common ordinary soul has finally waken up to its struggling conscience which isn’t ready to give in to the brutal oppression….A conscience that is ready to fight and struggle for freedom…The conscience of the common ‘people’ which has finally woken up to this world of injustice and cruelty…
To be continued...

We need some 'real' heroes not any virtual messiahs

I know it’s been some time since I blogged and yes, I know the very basic rule for blogging succesfully is to blog every single day even if you don’t feel like writing or even if all you can do is to spit out all the poison which has already erroded and corrupted the minds and souls of humanity…!
Leave aside the thought of blogging as a carrer option…even if you ever dreamed of blogging as a leisure, you can’t stop blogging even for a single day….!
Well, talking about me….I have got my own reasons…..Read On
As always I have been absconding for days together and that adversely affects my audience which needs to improve in quantity (not quality!)….Actually it’s something like this; ”I blog for few days and gain a huge audience who like to type my blog address every morning but then I go missing for another few days and lose the dedicated traffic which once had promised to take me to glory…!”
Don’t worry, I won’t quit so easily….!!!
I am a fighter as I said…I fight the depressive unconciousness into optimistic consciusness and then after losing all the audience, I chose a day (just like today) to restart my blogging venture and start from scratch….(ooow….I love it…!!!!) heh
(I call it “BLOGGING IN BITS AND PIECES”…!!!)
Ahem…So coming back to quench the needs of the very few people who still are in the hope that maybe I wake up some day from my miserable and lethargic life and write something which they might just love to read…(or maybe copy for their own blog…..!!! SWEAR… have seen my blogs get copied sometimes…!)
Don’t worry folks I already know how irritating I am when I think of myself as some SUPER blogger whom the world can’t get enough of…hehe
But honestly, lately my blogs have seen a massive increase in traffic and tremendous response in the form of commments plus the additional encuoragement from a local newspaper…wow I think I’m finally writing some shit which people feel like reading (maybe to get their daily dose of points to win some debate or discussion with another fellow about the situation in Kashmir…or maybe to win some points in their favour for the ‘BLAME GAME’ with another communal friend…or most probably reading my blogs just for the sake of ‘Time-Pass’ because they might wanna know what’s happening in the kashmir valley which otherwise was in their families tourist calendar for the season….!)
Hah...Such great resons to read about the plight of oppressed and suffering people…(What a shame!)
Well..talking about my blogs, I guess it was quite a wonderful week for me…Such glorious comments and traffic from all around the globe, the news item in a local paper plus people showing their support through comments(and equal number of people with stern oppossition..!)
But then I went missing as always and I know most of you folks out there would have been seriously pissed with me for not writing everyday about my valley and it’s people….at least not since the independence or let’s say DEPENDENCE day…!
Alright I know I am just an 18 year old small time blogger….But still I think I don’t need to write again what we people went through and how the whole valley burnt and the way it burnt since last week…
For Gods sake…I can’t dedicate rest of my life to punishing myself with blogs about how me and my people suffer everyday…and that too when it won’t make any difference because I know just like any stuff you folks read out there…you will read my blog as well, and give a sigh of sympathy and then move on with your busy lives….!
Or even if somehow someone might wanna do something after reading my blog, at most that would be to put in a comment or some stuff like that….
For heavens sake…tell me how does that make any difference…????
The things will remain as they always were...
Oppressed and un heard people forced to remove the word joy and it’s synonyms from their dictionary…a bunch of people with no hope or no messiah to put an end to this suffering….or may I say, cursed people living in the ‘CURSED PARADISE’…!
I guess at most the only difference my blog will make is just that you folks will see us now more sympathetically than before….
BUT WE DON’T NEED YOUR SYMPATHY OR YOUR AFFECTION…we need you to stand up and fight with us for what is right…
But I guess, there ain’t any more revolutionaries left in this country of the Great Mahatma Gandhi who will have the courage to stand up for what is right, even stand up against his own country just for the sake of justice…I guess, all what we read in our Indian history books about the great Indian revolutionaries or the freedom fighters is actually JUST HISTORY….!!!
Maybe the ‘legendary’ generations and the ‘legends’ left nothing for the future world but just few tales of heroic deeds…!
So basically it won’t make any difference if I blog when an army man murders a father,rapes a sister or burns a mother….
What the hell am I gonna blog for…??? A lost cause…!!!
No, I am not saying that I am some kind of a heroe or a messiah for my people but I can promise you onw thing…if asked to fight, I will stand up and shout through my VOCAL throat to let the world know that we are the children of despair and depression….Struggling to establish our own identity when the very basic thing that keeps us away from being murdered are our “Identity Cards” with our latest photographs on them….!!!!!!

I can see some of you folks out there giving a sympathetic sigh of grief over our suffering or maybe trying to absorb the fact that Indian militia has deprived the people in Kashmir of their very basic human rights….or maybe some of you might be copying my blog to some another page or taking down some points foryour own communal debate…even maybe some of you folks would be steaming with anger and furiously posting a comment for this blog….
I DON’T WANT ANY ENCOURAGEMENT OR ANY OPPOSITION…NEITHER ANY TRAFFIC NOR ANY AUDIENCE…
ALL I WANT IS SOME COURAGEOUS AND BRAVE SOUL TO STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR OUR CAUSE….even if not for justice then for the sake of humanity
Honestly it won’t make any difference if after reading this piece of honest and true confession you might have an adrenaline rush to do something for us because all this counts to nothing until you stand up and do something…………..
We want some ‘REAL’ heroes and not any virtual messiahs….!

Black Out (Blogging in Dark)

India celebrates it's 62nd Independence Day and we Kashmiris haven't still figured out a way in last 20 years to call this day as anything but a 'DEPENDENCE' day....!!! lolz
The whole valley has once again gone into complete darkness (literally darkness!)... A total black out
No, not the type which we witness in winters when our high voltage power lines snap off but this time it's something of a voluntary black out where people themselves turn off each and every source of light they can find....!
This all has been termed as a united way to protest the opression by armed forces and a unique way to celebrate our very own BLACK DAY..! (even the moon couldn't betray us tonight, it's hiding beneath the DARK clouds which no longer seem to have a silver lining and it looks like a storm is gathering in the dark....)
In fact if it didn't sound dramatic enough, people have decided to continously beat their roof tops for half an hour as a way to raise their voices in unison....and as I write this blog, I can hear the tapping of tinned roofs all over the valley....! (must confess, it sounds quite cool when all roofs go..BANG BANG....!!! surely some music directors can take some inspiration...I mean the different kind of new age music...let's say 'BLACK eyed peas' !!! hehehe)
I guess in the last two decades we Kashmiris have really taken protesting to an all new level....! heh... we have invented such ways to protest that can put any revolution to shame (though the only difference being that we ain't any revolutionaries but a bunch of suffering people who have been pushed to wall and have been left with no other choice but to revolt against opression and aggression..!!!)
Well, talking about the whole Kashmir issue...I have already made my point in my previous blogs and it doesnt make any sense to repeat the same miserable story again and again....though I am only 18 and still inexperienced but I have enough 'grey matter' to understand the complexity of an issue and especially when it's an issue of my very own people....maybe my point of view might not sound too authentic but I have my way, an original way of looking at things....and it gives me great satisfaction to see that at least my point of view has been recognised by a local newspaper..thus it won't make any sense if I start repeating the same old tragic tale time and again...! (hope you agree)
Hmmm....so with lights off and freedom resricted, there isn't much joy left in my newly found ADULT life...and moreover, my DVD library has already exhausted so now no new stuff left in the stock....
But then there exists a ray of hope, something I am really looking forward to...
Have been waiting almost three months for this day and it's here...
The brand new EPL (English Premier League) season starts tomorrow....and it promises to be yet another cracker...some mouth watering clashes on the first week end and my beloved Manchester United in action against age old rivals Newcastle United...(still remember those early days when Man United used to put 6 past the otherwise talented Newcastle goal keeper....!!!)
The best thing is that Fergie (Sir Alex) stayed and he made the wonder kid Ronaldo to stay...(Real Madrid still can't believe that money can't buy a Ronaldo..!!!)
This might well be Fergie's last season and we all expect it to be an absolute belter...the expectations are really high after the last seasons league and European double...We might repeat a treble or who knows with this young and talented squad a quadruple is possible.....Glory Glory Man United
With the valley gone into crisis...I think the devils are calling me, Oh yeah, they are the Devils in RED....!!!!
Finally, I got my team back in action....normal services resumed...(no longer sitting at home would be such a pain in the ass....all hail Man United....)

Anyways coming onto a serious note...My eyes can no longer suffer the pain of reading a blog in dark and when that blog reflects the misery of your own folk it causes even more pain....
I better put out my laptop lights before some one starts calling me a traitor....!!!
The whole valley has gone into such darkness that I can see no lights being turned on from anywhere....
Let's hope the morning would be bright and sun would shine for ever....(and yes one more wish, may Man United kick some ass...!)

FINALLY, some one hears me out (I am on newspaper..!!!)

Page 8 of the Greater Kashmir, which made me famous...ALMOST...!!!!
I told you I need some motivation for blogging, be it some comments (which rarely come!), the international traffic (which actually is increasing everyday) or some burning issues which make me open the laptop and start typing or else you will see an end to my already struggling 3 month old blogging career...! (still can't recover from the "Google AdSense" depression...they kicked me out...!!!!)
Well ,yesterday happened to be a special day for me and my motivation...22 COMMENTS on a single blog...(whoa..!! Am I dreaming or what...!!!!!!)...but miserably most of the comments were targetted against the sentiments of my fellow Kashmiris and were highly debatable issues…
as I told you before,there are a lot of stories which are not reported in the media and go un heard in the rest of India thus making it difficult to make them sound authentic and credible....(unfortunately they happen to be the stories of Kashmir).....so it was quite predictable to see the anger in the Indian public which reflected in the comments....(still wondering which comments??...read the previous blog "Kashmir Burns (blogging LIVE from war scene) " )
It was a highly turbulent and tense day in the valley with protests taking place in every nook and corner of the city, infact I couldn't sleep till late midnight because this time the VOCAL protests continued late into the night and robbed me of my precious sleep...(what a shame..I sleep when my city burns and my fellow people shout out loud for the ones hiding in their homes to come out and join their hands in this revolt against opression and human rights violation…)
Yes, the people were all fired up against Indian armed force's late night actions of breaking into houses and beating up harmless women and innocent children...but still it didn't make any sense to raise pro Pakistan slogans.....maybe the attrocities by Indian armed forces pushes the people to turn towards Pakistan as a ray of hope (wish they had the vision to see beyond a Muslim majority country...!!! and see the real UNDEMOCRATIC truth behind our so called sympathetic neighbours....!!!)
But somehow, I did manage to put my conflicted conscience to rest and went into a deep slumber ..!
Woke up today late in the morning with the same fear of not knowing what worse the day holds for me and my fellow people who had been suffering since last twenty years and were now caught in the middle of a marsh from where none of the ways look like leading to heaven...! (hope you got that)

As usual,the first thing I do in the morning is to search for the local newspaper "Greater Kashmir" which happens to be the only source of un biased, unheard and untold stories of my valley....but I couldn’t find the newspaper on the dining table nor anywhere in the kitchen…it was already quite late(almost noon!!) and I supposed that after drinking the habitual glass of milk (in fact chocolate milk...!!) I would as usual find it in the store room with rest of the out dated newspapers…!!!
Alas! It wasn’t even in the store and that’s when I realized that I was living in the middle of a valley in which every single home was surrounded by an army regiment and your ‘identity card’ forms your basic right to prove that you are not an extremist….!!! (pity me and my fellow peers who can’t go out of their homes without an ‘Identity card’ and if somehow some of the younger youth forget it……then we may never see them again..!!!! )
The civil curfew is actually so strict that hardly any newspaper is available in the morning…..(aaahhh…thus goes the chance to read some true stories for the day…!!!)
And then as expected, I logged online to see what my friends had been up to or what they had to talk about on ‘Orkut’ and ‘Facebook’…..
Suddenly as I logged into Facebook, one of ma friend buzzed me up with ‘Congrats’…n I wondered what for…..!
That’s when he sent me this link which changed my fortunes for ever……!!! (hahhaa…wish it had changed my fortunes for real….!!!)
http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=14_8_2008&ItemID=29&cat=21

My eyes stuck on the headline:-
"Kashmiri bloggers discuss Muzaffarabad march, police action, curfew"
Some kind of 'déjà-vu' feeling which I usually have before such things…. there it was....my blog on newspaper.........whoa...!!!!.........Such an adrenaline rush…!!!
I went bonkers, seeing the article with my MISPRINTED blog address....(unfortunately the newspaper misprinted ‘2virginz’ as ‘virginz.blogspot.com’) which unfortunately didn’t help me increase my blog traffic....!!!
But anyways I felt as if I had achieved something big, really big…I had attempted to tell the other side of Kashmir’s story and now I had a reason to believe that some one was listening…..

Here’s what the news item read:-
Kashmiri bloggers discuss Muzaffarabad march, police action, curfew
by Majid Maqbool

Srinagar, Aug 13: Kashmiri bloggers are making their presence felt on the net by posting their views uncensored as curfew across the valley entered its second day on Wednesday. A blogger from Kashmir, under the domain name kashmir-truth-be-told.blogspot.com in his August 11 post writes, “The unprecedented brutality unleashed by Indian paramilitary troops on unarmed Kashmiri protestors marching towards Muzaffarabad defies all logic.” On August 12, the same blogger rued whether justice will be done and those responsible for the killing of unarmed people across the valley brought to book. He writes in his post, “I wonder whether the murderers of these thirty protestors will ever see the justice? Or will they be treated as heroes as all other previous Indian paramilitary personnel have been for similar crimes in the past?” The comments, in response to blogs from Kashmir on the issue, pour in from across India and the world. Mrinmoy comments in response to the post of the Kashmiri blogger kashmir-truth-be-told”, “I heartily pass condolences to those persons who have lost their lives in the recent agitations all over the Kashmir. I am from West Bengal and this type of act should be actively restricted. I and all my fellow friends from West Bengal love the land of GOD, the people of Kashmir and their tradition.” Suchi, in her comment to the blog regretted the loss of life during the protests. “I sincerely regret whatever happened in the valley yesterday, if I could, maybe I would want to erase the entire day from history,” she writes.
An eighteen year old Kashmiri blogger (virginz.blogspot.com) in his recent blog writes about his inability to move out due to the imposition of curfew in the city. “Just logged online to see what the world had been writing about the situation in Kashmir. The civil curfew is so strict that we can’t even step outside our houses to breathe the fresh air of the valley, leave aside the daring task of buying very few local newspapers with an unheard side of Kashmir’s story…!” It brings tears to my eye to see such a biased media, the young blogger writes about national media coverage on the present situation. And no, it’s not the fault of ‘an ordinary Indian citizen, he writes in his post. “He sees only what the media wishes him to see…an ordinary patriotic Indian who thinks that Kashmiris are some religious fanatics seeking independence from India without any explainable reasons, or maybe some other fellow Indians putting the situation in Kashmir as a work of some separatist Kashmiri leaders misleading the otherwise innocent and peace loving people of Kashmir.” The Kashmiri blogger also writes about the role of ordinary netizens like him in Kashmir. “When the media fails, it’s the responsibility of the ordinary people to find out the actual truth hiding beneath the superficial truths”, he writes about the present situation in Kashmir. Blogosphere remains a potent forum for discussions—and disagreements—on issues and controversies related to Kashmir. And Kashmiri bloggers continue to login to post their viewpoints on their blogs—uncensored, unedited, and for the world to read.

Holy shit…! I am on newspaper uncensored and un edited…!!!
I rushed to my cousins house who somehow had managed to get his copy of Greater Kashmir and there it was the magical “Page 8” with it’s story about Kashmiri Bloggers….
Wish the newspaper had not misprinted ‘2virginz‘ as ‘virginz’....aah! I lost such a big chance at gaining some audience and some popularity…heh or maybe not!.....(maybe ‘2virginz ‘sounds too complicated for even the most complicated Kashmir issue...lolz)
Anyways, now at least after seeing the mention in newspaper, I have managed to gain enough pride to look back into the eyes of the protestors on the streets who previously looked down on me as some kind of shameless coward hiding in the corridors of his luxurious home....!!!!
Freedom Blogger...PROUD TO BE A BLOGGER

Kashmir Suffers (What the media never reports)

Kashmir erupts to the massive opression and agression...A tremendous wave of unified strength and sympathy is being witnessed through out the state...These are some images to show the world what Kashmir has been going through over the last two decades...An uprising against the human rights violations which go unheard and un written in the Indian media....This is the other side of the story which the media always fails to report

Finally, the volcano erupts and people unleash their anger and frustration with both the state and the country for their policies in Kashmir....The will to fight opression and agression...A revolt against brute force in the land of the great Mahatama Gandhi...

Kashmir burns

One more murder to add to the already rising toll of innocent Kashmiri souls...Another teenager dies for a lost cause...

One more mother wails for her murdered son...The already widowed mother doesn't deserve to endure any more pain...

Defying the laws...Oppression being resisted

Even the ambulances will not be spared...

The end of every Kashmiris story...A dead young son leaving behind his widowed mother and ailing grand father to suffer till eternity....

THIS IS THE STORY OF EVERY OTHER KASHMIRI WHO EVENTUALLY DECIDES TO TAKE UP ARMS TO FIGHT AGRESSION AND OPRESSION
We need to understand the basic problems which forces a school going child to pick up arms and risk his mortal life for a cause which the enemies call as struggle for freedom...The enemy controls his uneducated but spirited mind and hatred rules his heart, leading him to a path which leads to spilling of more innocent blood

Time to ponder...Where did all those militants come from???

(These images have been copied from the newspaper 'Greater Kashmir' and all the photographs are coutesy of the photo journalist 'Habib Naqash')

Kashmir Burns (blogging LIVE from war scene)

"I swear to speak the truth, nothing but the truth”
Just logged online to see what the world had been writing about the situation in Kashmir (The civil curfew is so strict that we can’t even step outside our houses to breathe the fresh air of the valley, leave aside the daring task of buying very few local newspapers with an unheard side of Kashmir’s story…!)
The media is shockingly biased as always (though nothing seems like shocking anymore, not even the FALSE truths shown on T.V…!)…they are behaving as if nothing is happening in Kashmir and even if they ever tried to add some small news item about the situation…It would be only one side of the story…surely not our side…!
Going through the websites of some of the leading newspapers both national and some international, it was really shocking to see that how the written media had portrayed the whole situation and even the headlines of some leading daillies read something like “Kashmir back to 1990”…And the whole “Muzaffarabad Chalo” march had been portrayed as an attempt to cross the border into Pakistan….
But no one ever wondered what prompted the people do all that kind of shit which could result in the destruction of their beloved homeland and the loss of their precious ones…No ,one ever wonders what the people dare to risk their lives for….
The media has gone blind and deaf over the real issue which happens to be a total non-issue when one reaches the ‘Ground Zero’ i.e. to the root of the whole Amarnath Land row…
Ask any Amarnath Yatri if he or she ever wished that the arrangements would have been better or if they they ever felt that they needed more land….???
TRUST ME, the answer will a BIG NO….

It brings tears to my eye to see such a biased media…And no, it’s not the fault of ‘an ordinary Indian citizen who sees only what the media wishes him to see’…an ordinary patriotic Indian who thinks that Kashmiris are some religious fanatics seeking independence from India without any explainable reasons, or maybe some other fellow Indians putting the situation in Kashmir as a work of some separatist Kashmiri leaders misleading the otherwise innocent and peace loving people of Kashmir…Or as the common opinion goes around the country, no one sees a patriot in a Kashmiri…!
Yes, you are right to some extent to think of us as the initiators of our own doom…Quite true, we have started our own destruction and maybe our end will come even before the actual dooms day but I wish the whole world could see the cause of our this so called ‘self destructing nature’ which we never ever possessed in our history….
Our fellow Indian brothers you need to awaken your conscience and see beyond the beauty of this cursed valley…you need to act upon your right to information act….all our fellow Indians never get to hear our side of the story…The unheard side…As they say, "Every coin has two sides”
When the media fails, it’s the responsibility of theordinary people to find out the actual truth hiding beneath the superficial truths….
Even the local media news channels have been barred from extensive reporting….Holy heavens, at least freedom blogging still prevails…!!!
The Jammu-Kashmir highway which happens to be the only single route connecting Kashmir with the rest of India (also known as lifeline of Kashmir) has been choked leading to the fears of starvation and eventually death…Yes, the situation might not get as bad as starvation leading to death because thanks God at least the DEPENDENT Kashmir is independent when it comes to local vegetables supplies but the fact remains, we are being subjected to the worse case scenario by a bunch of influential, unchallenged communal fanatics trying to win the votes and the seats for their political parties in the upcoming elections…Even the print media that includes the only few newspapers which report the real story of Kashmir have been badly affected by the highway blockade…print media is running out of paper and ink and soon they might just stop reporting the truth….!!!
Even worse.. the power hungry politicians termed it as a ‘Jammu VERSUS Kashmir issue’
The fact still remains that Kashmir suffers and suffers badly…And as always, we remain unheard and un cured..!!!
The rally to the LOC(Line Of Control) ”Muzaffarabad Chalo” march which the media along with BJP and VHP portrayed as an attempt to cross over into Pakistan was actually an attempt by the ordinary local people (mostly fruit growers) to save their families from being starved because their only source of income comes from the markets outside Kashmir valley..and no highway means no life for the ordinary and poor…”Muzaffarabad Chalo” was an attempt to at least save their lone source of livelihood, if not from the traditional Jammu-Kashmir national highway then from the forgotten traditional detour which goes through the forbidden city of Muzaffarabad…It was deperation which urged them to take such extreme measures which would sent a wrong message trough out the country (and that was where the only hope of salvation lay)
No, definitely the people would have never actually expected the Government to allow them to cross over the border but it was just an attempt to put some pressure on the Indian government to open the life giving highway…
Tell me now, how can anyone justify the fact that army opened fire on around 500,000(five lac) strong crowd leading a peaceful procession in Baramulla to fight for their right to earn their three meals a day…!
If they used such force to disperse a five lac strong unarmed Kashmiris then why not the same force has been used to prevent the protests in Jammu and open the highway???
And as if the devil itself had arrived, the military blasted some tear gas shells and fired inside the various city hospitals adding to the miseries of the already injured….
My heart bleeds…..
Had I not been an educated mind, I would have definitely joined the people on the streets or taken up arms to fight back….But my mind is strong enough to understand the policies and propogandas which have led us to our own destruction
Now tell me why won’t the innocent and young next generation fall in the enemies trap and pick up arms to dedicate the rest of their mortal lives for what they would call as the struggle for freedom????
Time to ponder over the fact, where did all those militants come from….???
What motivated them to take up arms and risk their lives…???
I think…though unintentionally but the armed resistance is actually a creation of the opressive Indian army itself…the oppression and the aggression over the innocent will finally lead to some freedom fighters who will have their minds controlled by the enemy and their hearts by their emotions to wage a war against the army which burnt their mothers, raped their sisters, tortured their fathers and murdered their brothers…
The emotion of hate has taken over the emotions of joy and happiness, the anger over the will to forgive and forget…The volcano has to erupt some day…
The fact remains that people themselves are not quite sure which side are they with, but believe me…they are very sure what they are fighting for, a fight against oppression and aggression over the innocent families which forms the beginning of an extremist mind ready to take up arms against India….
As, I am writing this blog I can hear the voices of the people who have defied the civil curfew and have come on the streets raising anti India and pro Pakistan slogans (least do they know, true friends are rare and not even the hope of a fake Pakistan can make their lives a little less miserable)…
I swear it’s a war like situation on the streets with people raising anti India slogans and military crushing the people with open air firing and shelling on the protestors…(Have you ever heard of the term, ‘Take no prisoners’..!)
The sound of ambulance sirens and the tear gas shells is not enough to break the will of the people…I just stepped on the street outside and felt ashamed to sit at my home and watch the procession go by from the lanes and alleys surrounding my locality…a guilty feeling of not doing anything to save my people…The people in the procession looked down on me as a betrayer or some coward…and I couldn’t look back into their eyes, feeling humiliated I rushed to my room to write this blog as an attempt to do something for my people and put my conflicted conscience to peace …
And even as I sit here by the window of my room trying to look over the nearby houses onto the streets to see my people in blood and sweat being crushed by army, my parents pull me back…they can’t even let me sit near the window during open air firing session when the orders are loud and clear “FIRE AT WILL ”..they say it’s unsafe to sit near the window because you never know when a stray bullet might just knock you down…..
No, I have never ever hailed the protestors who fight on the streets with just their spirit as their weapon against an army batallion armed as if in a war…No, I never hailed the aggressive ways to protest an aggression …BUT this time, for the first time the cause is justified and right…this time it’s a fight against brute aggression and oppression…a fight to save our people from starvation…a fight to stand up for our rights, the basic human rights to live and live freely, a fight to account for the death of the innocent civilians…a fight to save the future of our land….
Yes, I know all you fellow Indian out there , reading this blog might think of me as some anti-national element…But trust me, I am enough educated to differentiate between what’s right and what’s wrong and I can’t be mislead by some fellow…I know, it’s not easy for you patriots out there to understand this blog as anything other than an anti-national article but believe me sometimes I speak my heart out and my heart never lies…You have to be a Kashmiri to feel the pain and grief hidden in this blog…A kashmiri who dies everyday for a fight which is all but lost…and the last ray of hope we have left is you….Yes, YOU
This is an appeal to our Indian brothers to realize the fact that we Kashmiris are not against any religion or region, we are just a bunch of ordinary but resilient people who have been subjected to tremendous oppression and torture…Our fight is not against India but against the policies of government when it comes to Kashmir…we are fighting to account for the death of our sons and daughters who are murdered every day and the murderer never faces any trial….this is an unheard side of the tortures of Indian army which the media never reports…
I know all you people out there love your country and your brave army but what I just told you will not be told to you by any news reporter or any newspaper because they go blind when it comes to Kashmir…
India is a great nation and even greater are it’s secular and warm hearted people…WE WANT YOUR SUPPORT…WE KASHMIRIS ARE ALONE AND INJURED IN THIS NEVER ENDING BATTLE AGAINST OPPRESSION…WE NEED OUR INDIAN BROTHERS TO STEP FORWARD AND HELP US WHEN WE NEED THEM MOST….WE ARE TIRED AND WE ARE BATTERED BUT WE WON’T GIVE UP…WE ARE CRYING OUT FOR HELP…

I better hurry now before some stray bullet pierces the armor of my room and straight into my skull or some military official finds about this blog and charges me with an attempted propoganda…so I better get going and hide myself shamelessly somewhere in the corridors of my home…..!!!!!!!!!!!

Freedom Blogger, blogging LIVE from the war scene…..!
(These views are mine but reflect the opinion of the general public…Just an 18 year old trying to raise the awareness among the warm hearted and unaware Indian brothers about his fellow people whom he can’t see bleeding anymore…)
“I SWORE TO SPEAK THE TRUTH, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH”

THERE WILL BE BLOOD (Amarnath Land Issue communalised)

It's been some time since I stepped out of my room or logged online to see what all you folks upto...
No, I didn't die...! (had a car accident few days ago...Don't worry fellas I am fine, will be blogging about it soon)
The State Government has imposed a strict 'Civil Curfew' in Kashmir for the fact that we people are not ready to give up our land and our will to fight for what's right...
The curfew has really restricted our very basic rights...(I wonder if there exists any right such as right to freedom of movement...!) They won't even let us move out of our homes and that too for no fault of ours...Our fellow Jammuites have been mislead and their craziness has taken it's toll on our already struggling tourism as well as horticulture industry..They have choked the 300km long Jammu-Kashmir national highway which happens to be the only single and precious route which connects the valley with the rest of the world (the other ofcourse being thorugh the forbidden city of Muzaffarabad which happens to go through Pakistan..!)...So basically, it's not only that we the civilians have been restricted to our miserable houses but the whole valley and it's already burdened traders have also been isolated from the profitable markets outside the valley...Almost a collapse of local economy

Just half an hour ago,I tried to step outside on the street to buy some toothpaste from a local grocery who happens to be a near by neighbour (my Pepsodent "dishum-dishum" is outta stock and I can already feel the rumbling of the bacteria having a ball inside my calcium rich teeth..!)
Though I managed to step outside the main enterance of my premises but had to run my ass back to the room because the heavily armed army men somehow suspected me to be a protestor before I had to show them my home and my life saving identity card (with an unusually shabby photograph which hardly resembles me now...I ain't a photogenic type..!)....and when they sensed the innocence in my truth, they asked me to get a glass of water for their THIRSTY fellas.....!!!! (life can't get any more adventurous..!)
heh...I better give them poison for making my life a living hell...(lolz now they would be searching for the guy who never turned up with a glass of water...remember the movie "Panic Room"....!)
The heavy AK-47 rifles and the ready to be exploded tear gas shells along with the heavily armoured army vehicles hiding behind the army bunkers(infact it's a "One-Tonne"...a WAR vehicle) gives it all a sense of war...the only thing that seems to be lacking is a Russian made tank and we would soon have our very own 'Gaza' fighting for it's land..
But the tragedy is that...Its not any 'no man's land'...It's Kashmir, my beloved mother land

Well, the question still remains what prompted the whole issue....
In the most simplest words that I can use is that, they took our land as an excuse for building some structures for the pilgrims but the people protested this attempted land grab in the name of holy religion and that too when it was against the law to buy or transfer any land in the state of J&K by any one else than a state subject of J&K (Indian Constitiution ARTICLE-370 refer to my previous blogs "Don't sell Kashmir")...The government rightly revoked it's land transfer order after massive protests in the valley and decided to construct the same structures (which SASB had promised)themselves with their own funds..infact the state even promised to make even better infrastructure than what SASB had planned....it seems to be such a happy ending.......but but but...
This time it wasn't a D!V!N3 but unfortunately as always when it comes to my mother land..it had to be a D3V!LS intervention....!

The fucking communal BJP and VHP as always with an aim to win some votes, started the communal agitation in Jammu...
Still can't figure out what the hell is Jammu protesting for...!
All the fellow Jammuites are being mislead by some filthy,wicked, evil minds trying to win votes for the upcoming state elections....And the people as always have gone blind in the name of religion just like our so called 'free' Indian media who have continued to report only the one side of story...(Ofcourse NOT the Kashmiri side..!)
Time to wake up people...
No, today I am not in my usual relaxed mood to crack some jokes while posting a blog...But I am dead serious...It's time to wake up and realise that our sense of pride and unity is being destroyed by a bunch of filhy politicians...'WE' can't let another Gujarat riots happen in this sacred and mystical land...A wake up call before it's too late
No, matter what ever the Prime Minister decides in New Delhi over the whole issue but we have to stay strong and united...We have to fight for what's right and we need to open our eyes and ears to figure out the bastards who have communalised the whole issue and are aiming at dividing the United States of Jammu and Kashmir....

Well; coming on to my personal reason for absconding for so many days, the recent events and the various factors have made me to go into a deep slumber reflecting upon what is said and done in this world of superficial reality...The mystic in me seems to make a come back every now and then and more powerfully during the last few days...It seems like I have got all the time in this world to think and to re-think about what I think...an eternity to re-discover and re-invent myself as an individual....
Have been reading the inspirational book, "The monk who sold his Ferrari" and some D!V!N3 thoughts are keeping me more than busy
It seems like I have got all the time in this world...And still I can't get enough time to even blog
"How can you love others....If you can't love yourself..!" (hope you got that...)

People let's take a pledge today and by people I mean the united people of Jammu, Kashmir and Leh
Yes, THERE WILL BE BLOOD....!
No, not the blood of dumb and deaf, innocent civilians....
but the blood of the demon hiding in the skin of the blood thirsty politicians...let's take a pledge to wipe out every communal force in this country....