It's about time we stopped hurling hyper nationalistic arguments and abuses at people of Kashmir and learn to listen to them, and empathise for a change. Why are they protesting?. Why are some of the young and educated taking up weapons rather than well paying jobs?, out of the 70 new recruits who joined the extremist groups in Kashmir, 2 held a PhDs and 8 more had PG degrees. Do you think people of Kashmir don't care much for their life. They want to lead a peaceful, happy life just like the rest of us, but they can't because they are unhappy.
The reasons range from historical dissatisfaction from wanting to be a part of the Muslim majority Pakistan, the feeling that they had been unfairly linked to the Indian Union. To political and economic reasons like lack of developments, constant wars, terrorism, and the tyrannical violence shown towards them by the same security forces that are supposed to protect them.
India has failed Kashmir
Majority of the people in the Kashmir valley want to be a part of Pakistan, but the Hindu majority districts like Jammu and Ladakh want to be in India.
The dissatisfaction in Kashmir is not unfounded, they are not all invoked by foreign agencies and religious extremism.
- India has already lost a large amount of territory to Pakistan and China, we hold only 47% of Jammu and Kashmir, our first failure was our incompetence to protect them from foreign invasion.
- Tens of thousands of local lives have been lost, they have been killed by both the militants and the Army.
- Most of the reforms and autonomy that were promised to J and K has been taken away. The central government is even trying to remove the article 370.
- The Centre has rigged their elections in the past, removed CMs they didn't like, thrown democracy out of the window.
- Unsuspecting citizens have again and again gotten injured and even lost lives caught in cross fires between the army and militants. A nine year old girl lost both her eyes to pellets fired by the army, just a few days ago.
- Fake encounters and mass community punishments have further given army a bad reputation.
- Voiceless- No one has asked the people of Kashmir to decide where they want to be. Everyone just shouts treason when they hear any argument that is different from the one that is spread in Delhi.
All the men and women in Kashmir should be allowed to vote on the issue, even the 1.7 lakhs displaced Kashmiri Pundits. If the majority in Kashmir decide if they don't want to be in India, enjoy all the subsidies, benefits, protection they get as a part of being in India, they should be allowed to do so. After all India didn't always exist, we were created by unifying many kingdoms. Our boundaries are merely imaginary lines, are lines more important that the lives of the people who live in it?, will our identity as Indians change just because a small part of our country decide to be called by a different name?.
We don't have to loose more of our army men and they don't have to loose more of their people to bullets and bombs. Pakistan will stop trying to infiltrate India. India can finally be peaceful.
"We cannot force people to love a country, or a person, or anything for that matter, force only creates anger and turmoil."
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