Says Kashmiri lives have become statistics, alleges structural exclusion, ‘political disempowerment’ after Article 370 abrogation, claims hate and crime have become ‘a qualification of leadership’ in many parts of the country
Suhail Khan
Srinagar, Sep 27: PDP leader and Pulwama MLA Waheed ur Rehman Parra on Sunday said the youth of Jammu and Kashmir have taken “two paths” since 1987, and claimed the dignity of Kashmiris has always been “challenged” in the country’s largest democracy.
Addressing the Kashmir Youth Leadership Conclave here, MLA Parra said, “We have seen youth hunters, we have seen challenges. From 1987 till now, the youth have taken two paths — they took up stone pelting, guns, violence, protest, freedom. And now we see another phase.”
He said the dignity of the youth in J&K was “always challenged” and that “questions and responses were denied in the largest democracy of the world”.
The PDP leader said it was important to understand why a person takes to the streets. “When does a person experience violence? When does he come to the streets? When he is not invited. When no one listens to you again and again, then you feel that you have to protest, you have to take to the streets,” he said.
MLA Parra claimed that “almost 100,000 young people” were lost in the process.
He said the situation of young people elsewhere in the country was now drawing similar attention. “Today, when you see young people in India coming out on the streets, there is a realisation that something is wrong somewhere. The systems and institutions are compromising. And today, the youth of Delhi is in the same situation as the youth of Kashmir used to be.”
PDP leader said Kashmir could not be kept away from the national narrative and that the region’s challenges were tied to the politics of the Indian National Congress. “Fortunately or unfortunately, it comes from the Indian National Congress. Even when the BJP was not here in Kashmir, our challenges were very unique.”
He said the PDP’s “numbers are low”, with only three seats, and that its “political relevance is low” and “strategic relevance is very low because of the border and the Line of Control”.
“The way Congress is conducting politics in the country, we understand there are challenges — so much hate, so much polarisation, so much division,” he said.
MLA Parra claimed hate and crime had become “a qualification of leadership” in many parts of the country. “The molestation, hate, crimes have become a process — it’s a qualification of leadership in many parts of the country today,” he alleged.
Referring to the Congress as the party that “established the Indian freedom movement” and “made a constitution”, he said, “Because of national compulsions, we understand that whatever is happening in Kashmir, the audience of that is in Congress.”
“But Kashmir is so much important, and because it is always said that it is an integral part of the country, the people of Kashmir… it is not addressed when we see it again and again,” he said.
He added, “It is very disappointing, even if we hear the speeches of Rahul Gandhi. Many times, the important issues in terms of youth, in terms of the future, are not addressed.”
MLA Parra said there was a structural problem in how opportunities were distributed in the region. “Eighty per cent of the population in Kashmir is open-minded, they have 20 per cent opportunities. And 20 per cent of the population is 80 per cent open, 80 per cent opportunity.”
He said the feeling in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 was one of “political disempowerment”. “Our constitution was snatched, our institutions were undermined. After that, to get people out of this system, Kashmiri-speaking people, to get them out of administration, a reservation policy was introduced.”
“Reservation should be prorated. Reservation as per population. The more the population, the safer it is. We understand EWS, SC, ST, or any other reservation, but it should be according to its population,” he said.
He alleged that a “matrix” applied over the last 4-5 years on the basis of open merit had “paralysed a generation”.
MLA Parra said whenever there is a mistake, a large section of Kashmiris does not get admission in colleges or universities and cannot even fill a form because “the seats are already taken through a very systematic process”.
“So in that way, we will subjugate people, we will take them out of the system, we will exclude them. So we did not even have the scope of integration for people — leave it politically, you are not even ready to assimilate this generation,” he said.
MLA Parra said youth is not a status, but “Kashmiri lives have all the time become statistics”.
“How many people were arrested, how many people were put in jail, how many people were encountered, how many people were harassed, how many tourists came — everything has become a number in Kashmir. And this is not today, this is historically from the last three decades. When the Congress was there, we were always a number,” he said.
“And it is not about the humans of Kashmir. So as long as the larger political discourse, conversation, country wisdom, will not humanise Kashmir… Kashmir is peaceful, but Kashmiris are peaceless,” he said.
He pointed to the closure of the highway during tourist season as an example of the fragility of the situation. “Why is the government always so paranoid here? For example, when tourists come, we see a small thing, that our highway is closed. It is because peace is so fragile that you think that a civilian will travel with a tourist. Can we trust that or not? So it is a very fragile situation for all of us.”
