Asem Mohiuddin
On Friday misty morning a bus load of youth from Palhallan village in North Kashmir straightway drove to Rose Avenue colony some 30 kilometers away at Zainakote Srinagar.
The youth packed with emotions had one resolve. All they want to get-terrorist tag removed. At Rose Avenue colony, the senior Apni Party leader Ghulam Hassan Mir was personally waiting for them at his home. On the gate one by one, he ushered them to his large guest room normally where he attends the public on a routine basis. But the crowd today was larger. To accommodate all, the sofas, furniture were instantly removed and the darbar began.
“Sir, we have come with all the hopes and expectations. We want you to guide us so that our energy and talent is not wasted,” said one of the youths.
“We have been exploited all these years on one pretext and the other. But the situation has arisen that no youth from the village gets a job or accommodation on rent anywhere in the valley, forget outside Kashmir”.
Palhallan, a north Kashmir village falls in Pattan assembly constituency with a population of 14000 souls. For a long time, the separatist sentiment was running deep and the Jamiat Islamia wielded overwhelming influence over it.
The worst happened to the village when it hogged headlines in 2010 to protest the killing of three youths in a Machil encounter by the army. Though the entire valley protested and subsequently subsided, the hamlet continued to remain on boil.
Authorities enforced strict measures to quell the separatist sentiment since then and Palhallan thus attained the dubious tag. To seek the clearance from security and intelligence agencies to pursue their career or jobs in the private and government sector, the youths have been going through tough times.
“In the fit of emotions, we failed to understand that we have been exploited. It was actually a game plan to ensure Palhallan boycott the electoral process so that some people gain political mileage out of it. If we had been voting, we would have got our own representative to address our issues but we didn’t properly channelize our energy since we had no true mentors,” another youth who was leading the group told Mir.
As we stayed out of mainstream politics and were daydreaming of something unachievable, our exploiters enjoyed the power and money.”
Speaking one by one, all of them resolved to vote this time and actively participate in the elections whenever the government sets the bugle.
“We won’t vote only, rather we will choose a leader on our side that will represent us and our aspirations,” they said in unison.
They all, however, urged Mir to ensure they are not anymore tagged as ‘terrorists’ and they are encouraged to join the mainstream.
“We want you to help us to get this tag removed and guide us properly,” they appealed.
Mir, though having a patient hearing, assured them that all possible support will be provided on his side to bring positive changes among the youths.
“Our youth shall not be blamed for any of their misconduct. They have been misled and encouraged to choose the path that is unachievable,” he said. “So it is our responsibility to guide them positively and I am always ready to do so,” he told the gathering.
