Jnu Student, Shehla Rashid at the launch of her political career in Srinagar. From being at the forefront of the student agitation calling for the release of Umar Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar, to taking a stand about the human rights violations in Kashmir, Shora was well known for her activism before joining the Jammu and Kashmir’s People’s Movement.
One will write about one’s travel on a later date.
So which do you prefer daytime or nighttime? One is a lover of the night. It’s so much more intimate, more intense. They say when you can’t sleep at night it’s because you’re in someone’s thoughts, we nocturnes must be playing havoc in a lot of heads.
Last night my dear friend Ocean called up at an hour which may seem strange to anyone who has no inclination about my sleep patterns. After chatting for a couple of hours, he asked, ‘how would any guy you’re dating react to you talking to a guy at this hour?’. The age old, tiresome mumbo jumbo ‘ladkiyaan raat ko ghar se bahar nahin jati! Ladkiyan raat ko admiyoon se baat nahin karti’. It’s an awfully screwed up thought, jumbling the time of the day with my decency and morality. But one is a self proclaimed (I’m sure otherwise too) ‘bachalan aurat’, therefore it’s fine.
The best conversations happen at night. The best drives, the best friendships and the nicest stories unfold in the middle of the night. The best time to remember the almighty, to reconnect with yourself, to walk by the side of the Dal or stand by the side of a flyover, is at night. ‘ I often think that the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day,’ said Van Gogh and Swan Williams said, ‘ I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night!’ Me too, me too!
P.S- Believe you me, if I really like you ( which is a rarity, since one is a misanthrope) then you can call me at any time of the night. On the other hand, even if I really love you and you call me between 6.00-11.00 a.m, I am cursing you under my breath. Not because I am asleep but because I find it very rude, to be disturbed at a time when I’m sorting myself out. My morning doesn’t get better with good morning messages and calls!
A lot has happened over the past month. On the 14th of February 2019, as we are all aware, a convoy carrying CRPF personnel was attacked by a Fidayen. This resulted in the death of more than forty men of the Central Reserve Police Force. The attack was condemned by Indians, the International media and the Kashmiris. The Pulwama attack, led to the Balakot attack in Pakistan. The series of events which took place after that, had all of us glued to our television sets for hours, waiting for Abhinanadan to cross the Wagah Border.
All this while on this blog one posted nothing. ‘Zip it if you have to come here and cover anything’, I was told. Unfortunately, after the series of events, one has not been able to drive to Srinagar by one’s self. This year on women’s day, we dedicate the entire month to the Kashmiri women and to the women who ask for peace.
At the Aath March Saath March, today, a reporter said to Memuna from AIDWA, ‘don’t tell me about war tell me about women’s issues!’. To which she retorted, ‘Do you think war is not a woman’s issue?’. I stood there nodding my head thinking about the widows of the jawans, their mothers and their daughters. I also stood there thinking about the Kashmiri mother’s whose children have been attacked, thrown out of their paying guest accommodations in the middle of the night and had to return to the Valley, not knowing what the future holds for them.
Appeasement is what most would term my attitude towards Kashmiris. I would like to think of it as empathy. One’s never agreed with many things that the Kashmiri state but one’s also vehemently opposed the atrocities that are carried on in Kashmir. To not see those and stand against those, would make me inhuman. To not be moved by the plight of a mother or a sister, whose son or brother has been missing for decades, detained without any charges for years, blinded and worse tortured and killed, isn’t possible for me. If that makes anyone assume is because of a Kashmiri man, so be it! If that makes me anti national, so be it!
Before we go ahead and isolate every single Kashmiri, leaving them with no choices, let’s give compassion a chance. Before we accuse them of everything, let’s not forget for a minute that Kashmir is not just a state, the conflict makes it one of the most profitable businesses in the world and everybody other than mother who produces the child who looses his life, fighting from this side or that, has something to gain!
A 100 pieces of me-project 