The Legitimate Desk: Losing
When the body of militant turned scholar Manan Wani reached to his native village in Kupwara after he was killed in an overnight encounter last week, the massive debate on social media was triggered.
The people on the social media were lamenting over his untimely death and choosing a gun over a mighty pen against India.
While the separatists justified his decision and said that he dedicated his degrees and life to the people of Kashmir, some well intellectual circles regretted and said that Manan could have been more productive for his people had he continued to fight with pen.
In fact in the recent times the militancy has many educated faces in Kashmir that doesn’t worry only Kashmiris but also New Delhi who faces lots of criticism at international forum for its failure in Kashmir on political front.
Although the separatists are justifying the joining of educated youth to the militant ranks, however, the social pressures they have been facing also prompted the secretary of United Jihad Council Shakeel Ur Rehman to appeal the educated youth not to join militancy.
Expressing his concern Rehman said that the educated youth are the real assets of the movement and they are the one who would take this movement forward and right now they need to concentrate on their studies. He even also asked the militant groups not to recruit the young educated youth into their ranks.
While it is yet to be seen whether the appeal will reach to the ears of the youth and will shun the path of militancy but one thing is clear that in Kashmir people have been realising that it is not worth to see a highly educated youths losing to the gun.
For any society living a decent, dignified and a progressive life, the importance of scholars, intellectuals and well educated youths cannot be overlooked.
As the times have changed with the growing advancement in the technology, the world powers have been involved in fighting the proxy wars especially the ideological ones.
Economy is at the centre of stage and they ensure there are minimum or no causalities or damage to their side inflicted by the wars they are thrusting upon the people.
When the violence is justified as the only tool to fight against the suppression that too while sitting on the weaker side it imminently proves that the warrior is sitting on the dark side of the world.
The leadership in such critical times need to understand and find the new dynamics of war fighting instead of stagnating to the old obsolete techniques. In fact the separatists also induce more educated youths to their camp for the separatist politics.
While the separatists in Kashmir enjoy a wide space on the ground and overwhelmingly are accepted the dark side is that it has failed to promote any young faces in its leadership.
It doesn’t even posses any official think tanks on various economic, political and social facets to document the Kashmir in its pragmatic manner for the future course of action.
For any society loss of scholars is the collective loss and the time has come when we need to awake to this harsh reality for the better and prosperous future of Kashmir.
