Assalamu Alaikum Miss Irtiqa,
Although I’m not fond of writing open letters to people, the circumstances in my homeland, Kashmir, prompted me to write one. I’m sure you remember your interaction with the media after your mother took oath as the first female chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
You had said, “I think it is a big day for women everywhere, especially Kashmir. She is a role model for women. I hope seeing her, more women will step out and do whatever they want to do.”
It’s known to everyone in Kashmir how Handwara’s teenage girl, who was molested by a man in uniform, was exposed by a high-ranking police officer. The officer, who put her video online, continues to roam free without any action being taken against him or the molester for that matter.
Both enjoy impunity and patronage of Mehbooba ji’s so-called system of justice. I still remember her father and mother crying during a press conference. Your CM mommy didn’t try to understand their pain because it didn’t offer any political mileage. Thousands of girls, who need security from such molesters, may not want to see Mehbooba ji as a role model because she failed to ensure justice for one girl, leave alone the cases of dozens of women molested earlier by men in uniform.
Freedom of Sorts
Miss Irtiqa, one of the newspapers quoted you as saying, “She (Mehbooba ji) would give freedom to people. She is not the sort of person who is planning to tie down people in any way. She would give people wings to fly.”
This sounds like a well-crafted quote with fancy terms like “freedom” and “wings to fly”, but in reality, it lacks substance. I wonder what “freedom” you were talking about. Let me tell you, Mehbooba ji has imposed strict curfew in the Valley since the last 30 days. It is the longest curfew in 6 years. She has set a record of sorts. Well done!
Today, while writing this letter, I’m reminded of a boy, Aamir Latoo, who happened to be your neighbour in Bijbehara. He had returned his home on Eid from his university in Aligarh, your grandfather’s alma mater.
This boy, a student of economics, was planning to go for a PhD program in some well-reputed university but his “wings” were clipped and his journey of life cut short last month. Ask his father, an embroider who worked from dawn to dusk with a needle and a thread to collect money for his son’s education, how he will feel when he will be asked by his customers to draw “wings” of some birds on their pherans or shawls.
Ominous Silence
This reminds me of another remark of yours, “My mom has always been a grassroot politician. She is a peoples’ person”.
Believe me, I’m not even surprised when the chief minister went into hiding instead of dousing the vicious flames which set our beautiful Kashmir on fire. I’m sorry to say that the “peoples’ person” has fast become a New Delhi’s person. She doesn’t listen anymore to the peoples’ woes.
Is this how a “grassroot politician” works? Do you have any idea why the “grassroot politician” had to fool a poor family in the name of lodging an FIR into their son’s killing in Anantnag just for a photo-op in the Dak bunglow?
You being Mehbooba ji’s daughter know her very well and see her as “a person who takes advice from everyone but takes her own decisions.”
Do you know that the chief minister hasn’t said a single word on the killing spree by forces. She is yet to make up her mind to order inquiries into the killings. She is not even in a position to ask the forces to stop use of pellet guns despite orders by the High Court.
She has cautiously maintained a sinister silence. She will lose her seat if she thinks of any action without the consent of India’s home ministry. Anyways, everybody in Kashmir knows the fate of probes and commissions and the powers of a chief minister in Jammu and Kashmir. You know, Pakistani media rightly calls J&K’s CM a ‘Katputli Wazeer-e-Ala’.
Stop Misleading People
In this age of technology, when news is just a click away on your iPad, please read about the condition of mothers and sisters who wait outside the ICUs in SMHS and SKIMS hospitals while their sons or brothers are being operated upon. It’s a heart-wrenching experience to read endless stories about the pellet victims who won’t be able to see the light of this world again.
Miss Iritiqa, I don’t have any personal grudges against you and I don’t hold you responsible for any of these things. As a fellow Kashmiri, I had ample reasons to react to your rhetoric about the new CM.
For God’s sake, next time you talk to media about any achievements of the CM, please keep the instances above in mind. They should serve as a reality check and deter you from any fictitious praise for any person. Because when young people like you mislead people about the harsh realities of Kashmir, it proves detrimental to the whole population of this beautiful land.
Fellow Kashmiri,
Rouf Bhat.
(The writer is a media professional and an aspiring researcher based in Srinagar, J&K. He can be reached at @RoufBhat_. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
Also read:
From ‘Baji’ to ‘Rudali’: Where is the Mehbooba Mufti of Kashmir?
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