ASSEMBLY ELECTIONSJ&K assembly election: Youth in Kupwara want to be part of India, not PakistanSagarika Ghose,TNN|Nov 27, 2014, 07.46 AM ISTcommentsShareShare MoreAAAn anti-incumbency sentiment against Omar Abdullahs government is sweeping across the state.RELATEDBATGUND (Kupwara): Phiran-clad, ruddy-complexioned students, wage earners and shopkeepers gather at the central market square here to discuss politics and the assembly polls.Interest in politics is high. Flags with faces of PDP, NC candidates and also Sajjad Lone are strung up across the market. Kupwara in north Kashmir is where NC is strong. But an anti-incumbency sentiment against Omar Abdullahs government is sweeping across the state. Turnout was high in the first phase because though Omar is young, we hate his government. Theres Bandar raj in Kashmir. We want badlav, says student Arshad (18).Aquib, a Bsc in Mathematics, says the biggest worry for Kupwaras youngsters is unemployment. We want jobs. We want to go to Mumbai or Bangalore for good jobs. But how can we go there when we have no money? Arts student MohammadKaiser (21) dreams of working for an MNC but feels Kashmiris dont get their due.We have talented people. Were ready to work hard. But we should get respect in the rest of India.The Centre should recognize our talents. We respect all people from rest of India who visit Kashmir. Why dont they too treat us with love and comradeship? Arif Mohiuddin has a masters degree in History and AbdulRashid a Sociology MA. They say even those with advanced degrees work as dailywagers. I work piling hay though I have anMA. I wish to work in a big Indian city like Bangalore. I love computers.Batgund is a ramshackle dirt-poor village, its houses mostly of wood. Agriculture — mainly paddy — is the main activity. The nearest college is 30km away. Locals complain state officials come from Baramulla or Srinagar, theres none to speak for Kupwara. Cricketer Pervez Rasool and UPSC topper Shah Faisal are spoken of with pride here.There should be no problems in deal ings with rest of India, insists Kai ser. Islam teaches us to respect all.What do they think of the film Haider? Many havent seen it. Among those who have, verdicts unanimous: Bakwaas film.Mohammad Shafi, who runs a store, says the film depicts Kashmir as it was years ago. The biggest problem for us today is that the rich are getting richer while those below poverty line are getting poorer.Even as the aspiration to be part of the imagined prosperity of big cities like Mumbai or Bangalore is uppermost in rural Kupwara, theres equal pride in Kashmiri identity and Islam.Says Imtiaz Ahmed Wani, 27: We believe in Islam and Islamic laws. Islam doesnt permit vulgarity or violence. We dont wantHindustan ka noon in Kashmir, we want our own laws. How do they react to Narendra Modi? He speaks the language of change, we may not vote for him but everyone wants a better life. We understand his message. But we want a Kashmiri CM, says Abdul Rashid.Hit by poverty, floods and an uncaring political elite, Kupwaras youth say they can well appreciate why an earlier generation took up the gun but they would never do it.Says Arif Mohiuddin: When you have an MA, your parents keep yelling at you to geta job ... something happens to the brain ... Dimaag kharab ho jaata hai.Sometimes you take up the gun. But nobody wants to go down that road anymore.That is a wrong road. We dont want Pakistan here. The youth here has one request for the government: jobs, jobs, jobs.Perhaps the best antidote to azaadi is growth, the best way to fight militancy is toensure the aspirational India story comes to Kashmir. Kupwaras young men are bristling to belong to the India of their dreams.Stay upda
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 12:00:47 +0000
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