Solidarity or Show off

“Agar kuch kartey ho, tou Jatatey kyun ho”

If you show solidarity with someone, care for someone, then why do you show off, and highlight it? The other day, at a tea point outside the Aligarh Muslim University Campus, an Indian student asked me why are the Pakistanis highlighting the Kashmir issue and showing off. He said it was good, if they care but why do they have to portray it through media?

I smiled and asked do you care? His reply was affirmative.

I asked how?

Do you protest against the inhumane killings by the Indian army in Kashmir? Did you raise your voice against the brutal gang rape victims of Kunanposhpora? Do you ask your government why they killed thousands of innocent Kashmiris by labeling them as terrorists? Do you grab your soldiers by their collar and ask them why they raped and murdered two innocents girls in Shopian? Do you ever dare to ask your government why are thousands of Kashmiris languishing in Indian jails if they are our ‘own’? Do you ever try to see with your eyes what is actually happening in Kashmir rather than getting spoon-fed by the state and the jingoistic non sense of your media?
You people never even try to watch the horrible scenes carried out by your own Indian army and your government and instead always rely on what you are shown on your tv screens. You people blame that Kashmiris are terrorists but I ask you to pay a visit and see how humble and hospitable the Kashmir folks are. You people claim that Kashmir is the crown of India but did you ever take care of that crown? Never! Yes, hundreds of thousands killed, thousands disappeared, hundreds raped, half widowed, orphaned and this barbarism still goes on. Bravo! What respect, your crown is getting.

Dear friend, you talk about Pakistan. Why should they not highlight our issue? They feel our pain, they watch the terror going on everyday and they care about us. We thank Pakistan for their undeterred support right from 1947. We salute their unending moral, emotional and political support. We salute those sisters who send their lone brothers to fight the occupational forces in Kashmir. How can we forget the thousands of Sajids, Akbars, Hamzas, Rashids, Bilals. We salute those Mothers in Pakistan who tell their sons go and secure the chastity of our sisters and mothers in Kashmir. We thank those thousands of young men, who sacrifice all their desires for the protection of Kashmiri masses under the occupation.

So my dear friend, why shouldn’t Pakistan as a nation feel concerned about this? Why shouldn’t they protest, take out rallies, raise funds, highlight Kashmir issue at an international level? It is a matter of love and care. It is a matter of belonging. It is not a matter of occupation.

My friend, if taken care by India, if several thousand not killed, if thousands of households not destroyed, if not hundreds of widows, orphans, harassed in our own land; this time Kashmir would have been more prosperous and peaceful. But times have changed all.

India wants to hold Kashmir at gun point but Pakistan has held our hearts with love and there, my friend, lies the difference!