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Kashmir: Here’s What They Will Never Tell You

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“Before I Knew You, I Thought Brave Was Not Being Afraid. You’ve Taught Me That Bravery Is Being Terrified And Doing It Anyway.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton

Bravery is a simple word, used in rather simpler situations nowadays. But hidden behind it is a very complex meaning which we can only grasp by witnessing a hard choice between what’s right and what needs to be done? These choices can be different to various people. For some it can be making a decision about their career, for others, it can be to survive through the day. But where bravery is a choice for others, it has become a way of life for the people of Kashmir.

Word: KASHMIR.

Synonym: Paradise, Jannat.

Kashmir, most people will tell you, it is Heaven on Earth (of course, no doubt about that), but what they won’t tell you is that they have been going through hell for years.

What would you feel if you were given a beautiful home, near a calm yet beautiful lake, surrounded by heavenly scenery? But the condition is that every day there would be people at your door who would claim that it is their house. And if you resist, they would shoot you with pellets and poisonous gas; just because you’re holding onto the one place you love the most.

Now, we all have some knowledge of the horror that the people have to go through because of social media and news on TV. Recently more than 50 people got arrested just for cheering for Pakistan, several people got injured by the hands of Indian Army and bereavement has become a part of their everyday routine. We feel for Kashmiris as though they are a part of our own, you ask why? Well, as sometimes in a dead man’s face, to those that watch it more and more, a likeness, hardly seen before, comes out -to someone of his race. When usually tourists visit Kashmir, they do so because they see the undeniable beauty of the valley but they don’t see the horrors that the place has seen. Kashmiris have a bond with Pakistanis but we are separated. I believe Tennyson said it right,

“For this alone on Death, I wreak

 The wrath that garners in my heart;

He puts our lives so far apart

We cannot hear each other speak.” 

Source: Samaa TV

This is the tragedy of our lives. If the mountains, the rivers, the lakes, the valleys, Kashmir as a whole, could speak, they would probably cry out the blood of all that they’ve lost.

There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else.I don’t know what that feels like and I don’t know what bravery in battle feels like, I don’t know what people feel when they’re faced with death, I don’t know what people of Kashmir feel every day when they rise against all odds.

Even though the Government of Pakistan has turned a blind eye to our Kashmiri Brothers & Sisters, I would like to say on behalf of all Pakistanis, that you have been through, You Are Not Alone. Your resistance, your courage, your love, your strength and your passion is Immortal.You are a flame that can not be put out. You have been fighting this immense darkness and evil through the ever fiercely burning stars within your souls. We will always look to you for light. With Hope and Love.  

For Pakistanis, here’s a link to a documentary by Kashmiri Youth which you must watch if you haven’t already.

It talks about the factors that inspire their art and how it takes the form of resistance in a conflict-ridden Valley.

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