We… the chased!

The other day I got an invite from one of my friends to ‘like’ his page on facebook. The page was related to something like ‘Kashmir Parkour Freerunning Team’. This sport was new to me and I did some research as to what it was upto. Enlightened with the basics of this comparatively new sport, I sensed that it had a huge potential in this part of the world. Atleast the ‘Freerunning’ part of the name would suggest that.

          We, Kashmiris, are used to this thing for a pretty good amount of time now. Terms like chasing, running, thronging, escaping have somehow become part and parcel of our discourse. People, especially children, are chased by canines and in the subsequent freerun, they may well get entangled in the web of the wires of liberty (and freedom) also called as Concertina wires. These wires are themselves related to a different kind of freerunning and chasing. When our freerunners have nothing to do, they raise up the fists of resilience (and arrogance) and aim at the chasers who in turn chase them out of the sight. Some of those chased may even end up in the Jhelum only to be fished out at a later time. Aimed at preventing the chasers being thronged by the freerunners, these wires often cause a few hiccups in the corridors of the power where those in power have to give lengthy accounts of the procurement and budget details of these precious wires to those who are still chasing power.

          Come Ramadan, our Nafs chases us to beyond the curtain Restaurants where we chase even the Satan away with our sumptuous eating. Same holds good for any ‘good’ marriage feast where the number of dishes may well exceed the strength of the Baraat. And then Eid follows. And then everyone wants to break free and chase away all the good habits which we may have acquired in the preceding month. We plan getaways which occasionally turn into escapades to death. Why? We… the chased try our hands at chasing our fellow drivers and ultimately both of us get off the track (chased into death). Long live the freerunners! Another cycle of chasing and freerunning begins here. The Hakeems of the world supposed to be at the Shafa Khanas have escaped their way into their homes for celebrating freedom (from the bondage of the ‘Blessed month’!). Finding no one to cure the off track drivers, the freerunners again raise the fists of arrogance and chase humility, brotherhood and amity away out of the sight of even the far sighted. Damaging Hospitals, Schools, Computer centres, Offices while on the free run is what we are expert at. I guess freerunning cant have a better explanation anywhere else in the world.

          This doesn’t stop here. Drama continues….. The chasers (janbaaz sipahees) arrive and chase away the freerunners. Those who wont run and instead try to walk the path of truth, justice and amity…….walk! They walk  towards the four walled chambers of Disturbed Areas where Public Safety & Special Powers are of prime concern and no one give a serious think about who is trying to walk (through his life as a normal being) and who is on the run (perverted and arrogant).

          We do chase dreams as well! Dreams as wild as getting Justice from the ‘highest seat of Justice’ of the largest Democracy. In the process, we find some strange companions who supposedly want to help us. They even brand our ‘Ameer-e-freerunning’ as the biggest wisher of Peace. But their actions elsewhere in the largest Democracy suggest otherwise. These octogenarian companions of ours plead cases for the oppressors, fake encounter specialists, rioters and men behind the Govt. sponsored pogroms in other parts of the world and in this part of the world, do a volte-face and behave as messiahs of peace, amity and brotherhood! Strange are the ways people toy with We… the Chased.

Keep Chasing………………………….

“Long live freerunning (‘resistance’)”. They say!

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Epilogue:

A group of youth went to Pahalgam on Eid eve. On their return, met an accident... few of them died and few more got injured. As the injured were rushed to hospital, the staff was out to their homes, for celebrating Eid. Result: Vandalization of the hospital building and subsequent arbitrary arrests.

            Meanwhile, a prominent lawyer of India, Ram Jethmalani has expressed his wish to represent in court various Kashmiris languishing in jails. He is the same lawyer who is representing Amit Shah, one of the preperators of the Muslim genocide of Gujarat!

                                                                           ~~~~~~~~

                                                                 Criticism is welcome!

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The Last Handshake...

I try to speak,

and there is none to hear.

I try to tease,

and there is none to bear.

I try to criticize,

and there is no target!

I try to recollect,

and there is none to forget.

It was joy,

it was fun.

To meet you, know you,

all of you, one by one.

To share with you,

ice-cream and nuggets!

Rooms and assignments,

joys, sorrows & secrets.

Now that you aren’t around,

as is the course of nature.

We will be friends,

friends, for all future.

The hearts melted,

and thus spake.

It was the last meet,

the last handshake!

Insha’Allah! we’ll meet again,

with good new surprises.

With some untold secrets,

and some unkept promises.

It was the last meet,

the last handshake!

Vice President……much ado about much less

For over a month now, the tussle over the presidential election is going on. Long-time friends have turned foes & allies are pitted against each other. Despite the fact that most of the parties claim that they want the election to be consensus based and above political ‘tauntocracy’, each one of them is trying their fullest to gain political mileage from these elections. This has even led to loyalty differences within a party. An example of this is the candidature of P A Sangma who quit his party Nationalist Congress Party which is an all-weather ally of the Indian National Congress. He has now become a strong contender against his good old friend Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA nominee. On the other hand, parties like JD – (U), DMK and Trinamool Congress are waiting for the tide to turn in a particular direction to jump into the winning bandwagon.

The two major alliances, UPA and NDA, competing to be in power in the Centre are using this election as the preparing ground for the 2014 parliamentary elections. In this case the nomination of candidates assumes more importance as it can become either a precursor for the forging of new alliances. On the other hand, the nomination of a particular candidate can prove to be the alliance breaker. The best example of this is the opposition of the UPA candidate, Pranab Mukherjee, by the all-important partner in UPA – the Trinamool Congress. The presidential election may, well, be termed as indicator of the mood of the various parties before the 2014 parliamentary elections.

In the midst of all this, the election to the post of Vice President has also gained momentum with various contenders springing up for this post. The Vice President’s election which would earlier be done by consensus has now gained ground as a battle of Prestige and Honour for the different parties with each party trying to present such candidates which would prove their ‘inclusive’ and ‘secular’ image. The ruling coalition is most likely to nominate someone from the, supposedly, unrepresented sections of the population. But what remains to be seen is what really would the Vice President from the ‘unrepresented’ section of the population do good to them. The examples of previous Vice Presidents stare in anguish at those who claim to do good to these sections by electing a President or a Vice President from them. Mohammad Hamid Ansari (the incumbent), Prof. Saifuddin Soz, Dr. Farooq Abdullah & J M Lyngdoh (former Chief Election Commissioner) are some of the names doing rounds.

Talking about the Kashmiri Muslim perspective to this election, even if India does get to have a Kashmiri Muslim Vice President, I don’t think it would be of any immense good to the people of this state in particular although it may help the Centre to project a ‘secular’ and ‘inclusive’ image of itself in the international community. The post of the President in a parliamentary democracy like India is largely a ceremonial one and no concrete decision making power lies in the hands of the president, except for approving (formally) what has already been approved by the two houses of the Parliament. While observing the political hopscotch, one can clearly see the handicap of the president in taking any concrete decision on his own. Talk of the Vice President; he is way behind the President in this respect except that he can adjourn the Rajya Sabha in his own capacity for a particular time if he deems it fit. Even the Rajya Sabha is most of the times presided over by the Deputy Chairman (in absence of the Vice President). In my opinion, it would be better to have a powerful and important portfolio in the Central cabinet for a Local Politician than a post, the incumbent of which is meant for Ceremonial Foreign tours, Ceremonial receptions of foreign heads & laying of floral wreaths at Raj Gath or other Samadhis!