Time to change !

A host of themes surface in my mind to write upon. Some of these are Wiki Leaks about Kashmir, police harassment of youth, the story of Afzal Guru’s sentence of execution, Omar Abdullah’s hassles for facilitating Sardar Atique and his colleagues’ visit to Srinagar, Sardar Atique recognizing the state government as elected one, Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, disconnecting Gilani Sahib’s telephone link etc. are some of the topics making rounds in my head.  Any organization or community with high objectives demands that the nation should be enjoying enviable character. It should nurse love for the people, hate falsehood and fraud. Without adapting the righteous path the objective cannot be reached.

Unfortunately we have become insincere and faithless about our day to day affairs of life. We have become insensitive. Any conscientious person can easily analyse our destruction. For example we upset traffic system by making a number of queues instead of one. By disrupting order we waste lot of time. And this causes delay to essential services like medical, education, and business enterprises. Disrespecting womenfolk in public transport has become a regular norm. Patients are crying out of pain in hospitals and they have to purchase medicines from private vendors while government provides them these. Testing machines are generally dysfunctional in hospitals. It is reported that doctors in government hospitals have formed nexus with private practitioners and owners of diagnostic laboratories. Hospitals are stuffed with filth and there is every danger of patients getting infected. Toilets and washing rooms in hospitals are filthy and stinking.

We invite readers for a comparative study of Government hospitals in Jammu and Lalded, SMHS and SKIM hospitals in Srinagar in the context of toilets and washing rooms. A patient admitted in any of Srinagar hospitals will be accompanied by a group of his close relatives and friends carrying cooking paraphernalia and food items as if they are on a picnic. Many of our people pretend to be offering namaz and there are some who take the initiative of raising couple of mosques in the locality. God Almighty says in Quran about namaz: “Keep up namaz as it prevents one from evil”. I am not a scholar of religious science but the normal and simple interpretation is that namaz should keep one away from evil. Let us make some introspection and ask ourselves whether we are strictly following the commandments of faith. Are not people stealing electric power and are not people resorting to deceit and fraud in their dealings with others? Are we not polluting clean and transparent water bodies? Do we not see officers and ordinary people one and all cleaning their cars on the banks of lakes and streams which spell ruin to the roads? And if anybody objects to this bad deed do we not quarrel with him?

How can one’s conscience be aroused when High Ranked of Govt. Officer  washes his car No. JK02Q 3403 on the banks of Dal close to Cheshma Shahi? Even close to Bren in the proximity of the office of IG CRPF and the residence of IG vehicles are washed from Dal waters despite the fact they know that under court order  washing vehicles on the bank of Dal is prohibited. Recently I wanted to register a case under 188 with the police station against a person who was washing his car on the bank of the Dal but  MLC of NC party managed to get him released. He is the same MLC who first fought election on PDP ticket but later on caressed the floor to join NC to grab MLC seat.

Top police officers, politicians and men of substance have built residential houses all along from Nishat to Shalimar along the bank of Dal lake. But the irony is that none of them is prepared to raise his finger against some one doing wrong things. What is more the ruling class comes to the rescue of the wrong doer. Entire police organization is deployed to suppress political activity or to apprehend innocent boys on allegation of throwing stones. Police makes it a source of bribe money. Police turns blind eyes to irregular things done around. We do not see police outfit and SHO and the functionaries of Flying Squad around Nishat taking note of the irregularities. We become spectators on seeing commuters exchanging blows and tearing clothes in a brawl and showing disrespect to womenfolk. To all these aberrations we become dumb spectators. While passing along streets we do see irregular things being done and we turn our heads as if nothing concerns us. Are we justified in calling ourselves the choicest of creation?

This is the season of marriages and rich people spend lavishly on these functions so much so a poor man loses all hope of getting his grown up daughter married and settled in life. Our daughters have reached 35 to 40 years of age and still they are waiting for a partner to settle down in life.

Mosques can be turned into training centres to teach virtues and the rights of citizens. But seldom do our religious divines talk about keeping environment clean and dealing with fellow beings with dignity and honour?

A large number of private educational institutions have sprung here in Kashmir earning profits in lakhs every month. Should we not ask the proprietors and owners of these institutions whether they have allowed free education to even 5 % of destitute and orphan students. Are we to leave the helpless, poor and orphans in this community to their fate? By doing so are we not sowing the seeds of class war on the same basis? Our nation has developed the habit of becoming silent spectators. On seeing an irregularity we seal our lips. Instead of supporting the truth we try to espouse the cause of a relative a friend and an acquaintance and our selfish interests even if it entails telling lies and committing frauds and supporting oppression. Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: “Stop wherever you find evil and oppression. If you don’t have power, raise your voice against it and if you are not able to raise voice condemn it in your minds and hearts. Not doing so is an indication of weak faith.”

I would like to submit to our nation that neither can oppression be stopped not evil prevented nor bribery eradicated as long as we do not reform ourselves and stop giving and demanding illegal facilities. It is nearly six months that I have been observing a broken water pipe line in front of the house of the minister in charge of PHE while I return home by Gupkar road. Now there has come up a ditch at this place. Chief Minster passes through this place besides most of the ministers of cabinet rank but neither the leaking pipe is repaired nor is the ditch filled. Ministers, who cannot get this leaking pipe repaired, should not be expected to provide clean drinking water to ordinary people.? The condition of water supply to people living in far off pockets can be imagined by this small episode. The irony is that J&K is self sufficient in water and is supplying water to India and Pakistan. But our water resources are getting destroyed and dilapidated to the extent that we fear our future generations may not get a bottle of water easily.

We have lamented the death of Dal lake to the extent that the mourners have no more words to utter on this stupendous loss. We criticise leaders, governments and government departments forgetting that we are part and parcel of this entire society and we are equally partners in these irregularities. We wish we could first make ourselves accountable for our acts. I implore my readers that we should change so that we are not made to cut a sorry figure in front of our future generations. I conclude with these verses:

“Jo joro sitam peh jhuka de sar

 Jo laga de tale zuban par

 Mujhe maslehat na sikhao tum

 Mere deen main yih haram hai

 Mere sar peh lakhun suliyan

 Mere hath chahe kalam karao

 Main kahunga bas wuhi harfe haqq

 Jo zubane khalq o awaamm  hai “

This article was published in daily 'Greater Kashmir' on 1st October 2011.