Everyone thinks that
Kashmiri Pandits want to go back to
Kashmir Valley, but is it true?
After the Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir Valley, several of the families started to rebuild their broken homes.
As one of their greatest assets was knowledge, they started working on their necessities by working in offices and teaching their children.
There is no KP child who hasn't seen his or her parents grinding themselves and then yelling at them to study and get settled. Parents just wanted their kids to complete their studies and start earning.
They have spent so many nights settling their kids that they don't want to return to Kashmir and start their old ways of living.
Although it might not be true for each one of us, and some might want to go back and settle in Kashmir again, but everyone knows that it is not actually possible to do the same.
Now the question arises, what are politicians yelling for? Have they ever done any survey to check what are the needs of KP families?
The answer is NO.
Instead of working towards making KP families a simple target in Kashmir, there are two ways by which Kashmiri Society can be saved today. These days it seems as if Kashmiri Pandits have become
Chicken Targets in Kashmir.
What are the 2 options?
1. Create Community Security Teams: This is by far the most underrated ideology and I don't think anyone would have actually talked about the same.
If you really want Kashmiri Children to crack exams and settle in specific apartments constructed as Chicken Huts, it is better to train them as
"Indian Military Academy" and hand over weapons to defend themselves.
I researched sometimes back and got to know that the government actually does have policies where some community members who live near border places are trained and provided weapons to defend themselves.
These people actually defend their communities and work according to law enforcement agencies of the Indian Government.
At least KP families living in Kashmir will know that they are going to a war zone and they will know that they can defend themselves in case any terrorist comes to their community to tries and threaten their safety.
Although it is easier said than done, still it makes sense to learn to defend yourself rather than being a mere "chicken-like target".
2. Work Towards Conserving Kashmiri Society: I don't think that the first point can ever be implemented, still, we can at least work towards conserving our Kashmiri Society by working on the below items.
Making it Mandatory to Attend Religious Rituals at Our Home
Making it Mandatory to Learn the Kashmiri Language for Our Kids and us too
Making it Mandatory as a Family Tradition to Visit Kashmir Every Year
Opening Kashmiri Society Schools
Opening Kashmiri Society Hospitals
Opening Kashmiri Society Job Centers, etc
As a community, we have so many groups that have good funding. Some also have funding coming from international Kashmiri Societies, but still we as community members are not able to create a single
Kashmiri Society School or Hospital that would actually benefit our own society!
Making it mandatory to have Kashmiri Subject for KP's in
Jammu and Kashmir, will help in safeguarding our language, which seems to be getting lost these days.
Although some people are trying their best to preserve it, still it needs government intervention to make it mandatory in schools and colleges.
Plus, we should work towards developing Hospitals and other Medical Outlets. There are several communities that have done it. For example, Sikhs have their schools and colleges that ensure that their kids get admission and resources for their over all development. Similarly, other communities also have similar institutions.
Instead of attending meetings and deciding how can we go back to a place where every year KP's get murdered, we should actually focus on tightening the security in Kashmir and working towards safeguarding Kashmiri Culture by encouraging Kashmiri Kids to visit Religious Places in Kashmir.
We should work towards having
Safe Zones for
Kashmiri Pandit Tourists during religious excursions.
Currently, there are not many
Sarai's or Lodging Places for Kashmir People, especially the ones that are safe. Big hotels are there, but obviously, these are expensive, and sometimes we don't actually want to fund terrorism indirectly by living in their hotels.
It will be better to have dedicated Army Protected Lodging for KP Families that come for Religious Activities to visit these places.
This makes also sense because visiting these places actually makes a place more comfortable, or else these places will just be forgotten in time as kids from KP Families do not visit so often to these places.
There are many other things that we can do to ensure that there are more positive affects on Kashmiri Society and we are not just planning to go back to Kashmir without having a proper road map.
This should become the generational aspiration to preserve our Culture and Tradition and to settle in Kashmir slowly and steadily as the resources and
Jobs increase.
At least the elected or selected members, whichever they are should try to focus on these things before thinking about going back to Kashmir to settle and harvest Kashmiri Pandits as "Chicken Targets".