So Arundhati Roy is supposedly 'seditious'. Without going into the legalities of whether she is or not, let's ponder on a few things. She has voiced what most of Kashmir has been saying all along. By the same logic, most of Kashmir is eligible to be tried for 'sedition'. If demanding that one's voice be heard is sedition, then maybe this is sedition. If holding an opinion that goes against what most in this country regard as the gospel is sedition, then maybe this is sedition.
What is behind India's collective paranoia about Kashmir? Why is that each time Kashmir erupts, popular opinion in this country wants to crush that eruption, quell the voice that emanates from Kashmir, and drown among howls of self-righteous nationalistic indignation the Kashmiri clamour that cries out for a platform to be heard?
Where were these howls of protest when Gujarat burned for more than a week in 2002? Where were all the 'Indians' when the face of the nation changed forever, courtesy Mandal and Mandir in the tumultuous times of the early 90's? Where do these voices disappear when scam after political and business scam is unearthed? Remember what we do during that time? We just shake out heads and try to laugh it off, saying that 'ye sab toh chalte rehta hai', scarcely realising that corruption is eating at the root of our social fabric like a hungry acid.
No one will say anything when the North-East burns, with innumerable forces and counter-forces trying to defy the might of India. When Naxalism - which even the Prime Minister calls the biggest security threat to India - continues to wreak havoc in the jungles of Dantewada, we again shake our head and shrug. Dantewada and Bastar are not as glamorous 'possessions' as Anantnag and Gulmarg, is it?
Nothing shakes us out of our consumerism-fuelled nirvana, until someone mentions 'Kashmir'. And then hell breaks loose. Why? Why the obsession with this parcel of land, more than one-thirds of which is not even in our control? Why this outpouring of patriotic 'love' for Kashmir Valley, and utter disregard for the rights and aspirations of Kashmiris?
This is a country where hooligans masquerading as political activists can ransack public property at the drop of a hat with brazen impunity, and walk away with a swagger, without even the threat of a police lathi falling on their backs. This is also a country where tens of people are killed in the Kashmir Valley for protesting against what they construe as discrimination and injustice by the establishment. No lathicharge, no tear gas, no water cannons, no rubber bullets, just plainly shot dead. That doesn't make us scream in unison, we are content watching the reality show unfold on live television. But the voicing of opinion, by the likes of Arundhati Roy, contrary to what the majority holds as the unalterable maxim will have us yelling 'sedition'.
We are so conditioned by the nationalistic propaganda about Kashmir fed into our young impressionable minds right from school that as adults it is almost impossible to hold balanced and sane views about the state's situation. Kashmir is not only the majestic mountains and the valleys, the beautiful Dal and the Jhelum, it's also made up of Kashmiris, both the Muslims and the Pandits, who give the land its soul and its vibrance. Each and every voice has to be listened to, even if it may be against our long-held position on Kashmir.
What kind of a democracy is this that denies its citizens their right to be heard, or do we want to hear only what suits us? Stop this neurotic obsession with the K word. There are many pressing matters that require our hypocritical value systems to exercise better judgment.
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