Shabnum Durani
In light of the current political situation in Kashmir, the last few days have been a constant struggle to stay calm. Social media channels like Instagram and Facebook only add to the anxiousness. Every single day Instagram pages display uncensored pictures of dead bodies covered in blood, may that be of militants or locals.
Years of conflict in the valley has made many of us immune to these images. But what haunt me at nights are the images of these young innocent children crying in despair, left behind without their parent. Their childhood days and future are left to the fate to decide.
In my mind, I sometimes argue that the era when kings ruled the world was better. There were rules that the monarchs had to abide by. Children and women were prepared for what was to come, unlike what we see today.
One does not need to be a parent himself/herself to understand what the children of conflict zones have to go through. We have advanced to the stage where we have accumulated wealth in the form of big spacious houses, expensive cars and other latest gizmos, but how have we advanced as a collective conscience? Tweeting and using hashtags to reach out to the families in mourning, can never replace any ones loss and more so what the loss the children in these families experience.
As a Kashmiri, I often hear our elders say, ‘’what your parents can do for you, no one else can.’’, which no doubt is a universal truth. Very rarely are children lucky to find genuine people in their families to support them, emotionally and financially. Children who are victims of this brutality in a way die a death along with their parent.
What we need to reflect upon is who will take the responsibility of constructing a rewarding future for these children? What can we collectively do as a society, as people of one land to undo the damage caused to these innocent children in their formative years? Is violence or use of force the only solution to our problems?
Yes, we may have external elements to deal with but it is only fair that we deal with the internal battles first. In the name of Kashmiriyat, let us first stand up for each other and the future of our children. The enormous quantum of damage is suffered by our own people every single day.
If we look back at history, collective conscience and action has always paved a way to achieve one’s goal. The concept of ‘’Collective Conscience’’ developed by the famous sociologist, Emile Durkheim dominated over other concepts in my life.
To understand this concept in simpler terms, we can say that a collection of common beliefs and ideas strengthens our bond as a group, as a society, and acts as a major component towards unifying us to achieve a particular goal. It emphasizes the fact that our thinking, our shared faith can contribute towards the collective goodness of the society at large. When we are open to helping others unconditionally, the gesture could affect their future existence positively in a number of ways that we may or may not be aware of.
It is that emotion that binds us together devoid of other differences for a greater cause. In this context ‘’Kashmiriyat’’ can be a collective conscience , provided it is channelized in a positive manner, keeping in mind the well- being of the most vulnerable section, i.e. children and women. It is a known fact that children and women who are victims of conflict suffer silently, however, they are indispensable to a strong social construct and therefore no society can flourish without them.
We all have to leave this earth one day, nobody is here forever but each one’s contribution can go a long way in building a fair and safe haven for our children. We, as a society, are answerable to every question these little ones ask. We owe it to them.
As Ronald Reagan puts it, ‘’Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.”
It is this ability that each one of us must search for and nurture collectively so that there can be a better tomorrow.
