The fury of floods in Kashmir is a formidable challenge not only to its people whose lives have been devastated and dislocated, but also to all of us living outside the Valley – the apathetic and the sensitive as also souls in whom bitterness against Kashmiris suppurates. Imageries of floods are often evoked as metaphors for destruction of the old and a promise of a new beginning. Might not this be the time then to liberate the present from the past, to convey all around that Kashmir means more to us than territory?
It is still too early to gauge the precise scale of tragedy in Kashmir. But considering that the humanitarian crisis under which the Valley is currently reeling has been billed the worst in the last 109 years, civil society assistance to alleviate the plight of Kashmiris will convey our ability to empathise with them, despite the chasm of suspicion and distrust dividing the rest of India from the state.
For us not to rise to the tragedy stalking Kashmir will be a poor commentary on us. Natural disasters or man-made crises have in the past inspired publications to initiate relief funds inviting monetary contributions from readers. Past calamities have inspired doctors to offer their services free and civil society groups to collect clothes and food and medicine for distribution among those whom Nature felled.
Temporary relief
Good Samaritans have already jumped into the swirling waters, so to speak, to offer their hands of help, in what are still early days of the Jhelum ravaging the Valley. But the efforts over the days must become more visible and concerted, at least on par with what we saw during the havoc the 2001 earthquake wreaked on Gujarat, the tsunami disaster of 2004 and the 2013 flooding of Uttarakhand.
Undoubtedly, such measures provide relief only temporary in nature. But the salutary impact of these voluntary efforts is to forge bonds between the suffering and those fortunate to escape it, through sentiments expressing shared humanity rather than constructed, ever-changing ideas of nation, religion, region and language. Not to express a high degree of human solidarity in the context of Kashmir would imply assigning relatively greater importance to notions of nation and loyalty to it than humanity. For this to happen will be perilous.
This is because anything pertaining to Kashmir will necessarily have politics underlying it. Not to accept it would smack of hypocrisy. Obviously, this doesn’t imply Kashmir was flooded deliberately, but there are voices in social media which do construe the inundation as Biblical in nature, a divine chastisement for supporting a militant secessionist movement, for their relative lack of loyalty to India. To even argue against the inanity of this proposition is to sanctify it.
Such bigoted voices in cyberspace will undoubtedly stoke anger and alienation in Kashmir. There will also be Kashmiris who, as soon as the Jhelum rediscovers its quieter ways, will advertise the outpourings of the loony brigade to promote their political agenda. It will have an appeal particularly for those whose lives the floods have devastated, as also the many who will remain dissatisfied with relief operations despite the best efforts of the Indian army. In such scenarios, few emerge satisfied or lavish praise on governments.
Likewise, should civil society efforts for providing relief measures in Kashmir pale in comparison to campaigns mounted during past calamities in non-Kashmir areas, rest assured we would have added one more item to the long list of grievances Kashmiris have against India. This will in the popular narrative get portrayed as the common Indian’s insensitivity towards Kashmiris, intent on coveting the land for its beauty, for having Hindu holy places, and for the ideas of geography and security embedded in him or her.
Deep alienation
For many outside the Valley, the relief and rescue operation the Indian army has undertaken is proof of the Indian state’s impartial attitude to all its citizens. Alas, the Kashmiris are so deeply alienated from the Indian state, and consider, rightly or wrongly, the army to have been their principal tormentor, that it is debatable whether their efforts today could heal old wounds and usher in reconciliation.
This is precisely why it devolves upon civil society, all of us in fact, to step in to express our solidarity with the Kashmiris in their days of distress and dismay. It will distinguish us ordinary citizens from the Indian state and its history of deeds and misdeeds, as is anyway the case in reality, and open new vistas to the future.
It is also possible that once normal life returns to Kashmir, so will sentiments of separatism. However, in expressing our solidarity with the Kashmiris, we outside the Valley will have proved that our humanity recognises no barriers, that it is all encompassing. Our own faith in ourselves will stand renewed.
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It is still too early to gauge the precise scale of tragedy in Kashmir. But considering that the humanitarian crisis under which the Valley is currently reeling has been billed the worst in the last 109 years, civil society assistance to alleviate the plight of Kashmiris will convey our ability to empathise with them, despite the chasm of suspicion and distrust dividing the rest of India from the state.
For us not to rise to the tragedy stalking Kashmir will be a poor commentary on us. Natural disasters or man-made crises have in the past inspired publications to initiate relief funds inviting monetary contributions from readers. Past calamities have inspired doctors to offer their services free and civil society groups to collect clothes and food and medicine for distribution among those whom Nature felled.
Temporary relief
Good Samaritans have already jumped into the swirling waters, so to speak, to offer their hands of help, in what are still early days of the Jhelum ravaging the Valley. But the efforts over the days must become more visible and concerted, at least on par with what we saw during the havoc the 2001 earthquake wreaked on Gujarat, the tsunami disaster of 2004 and the 2013 flooding of Uttarakhand.
Undoubtedly, such measures provide relief only temporary in nature. But the salutary impact of these voluntary efforts is to forge bonds between the suffering and those fortunate to escape it, through sentiments expressing shared humanity rather than constructed, ever-changing ideas of nation, religion, region and language. Not to express a high degree of human solidarity in the context of Kashmir would imply assigning relatively greater importance to notions of nation and loyalty to it than humanity. For this to happen will be perilous.
This is because anything pertaining to Kashmir will necessarily have politics underlying it. Not to accept it would smack of hypocrisy. Obviously, this doesn’t imply Kashmir was flooded deliberately, but there are voices in social media which do construe the inundation as Biblical in nature, a divine chastisement for supporting a militant secessionist movement, for their relative lack of loyalty to India. To even argue against the inanity of this proposition is to sanctify it.
Such bigoted voices in cyberspace will undoubtedly stoke anger and alienation in Kashmir. There will also be Kashmiris who, as soon as the Jhelum rediscovers its quieter ways, will advertise the outpourings of the loony brigade to promote their political agenda. It will have an appeal particularly for those whose lives the floods have devastated, as also the many who will remain dissatisfied with relief operations despite the best efforts of the Indian army. In such scenarios, few emerge satisfied or lavish praise on governments.
Likewise, should civil society efforts for providing relief measures in Kashmir pale in comparison to campaigns mounted during past calamities in non-Kashmir areas, rest assured we would have added one more item to the long list of grievances Kashmiris have against India. This will in the popular narrative get portrayed as the common Indian’s insensitivity towards Kashmiris, intent on coveting the land for its beauty, for having Hindu holy places, and for the ideas of geography and security embedded in him or her.
Deep alienation
For many outside the Valley, the relief and rescue operation the Indian army has undertaken is proof of the Indian state’s impartial attitude to all its citizens. Alas, the Kashmiris are so deeply alienated from the Indian state, and consider, rightly or wrongly, the army to have been their principal tormentor, that it is debatable whether their efforts today could heal old wounds and usher in reconciliation.
This is precisely why it devolves upon civil society, all of us in fact, to step in to express our solidarity with the Kashmiris in their days of distress and dismay. It will distinguish us ordinary citizens from the Indian state and its history of deeds and misdeeds, as is anyway the case in reality, and open new vistas to the future.
It is also possible that once normal life returns to Kashmir, so will sentiments of separatism. However, in expressing our solidarity with the Kashmiris, we outside the Valley will have proved that our humanity recognises no barriers, that it is all encompassing. Our own faith in ourselves will stand renewed.
