Whenever I narrate my tales of my childhood and youth, I barely forget quoting of having spent my most of the lifetime on roadside platforms of shops called “wanapenjean path” in Kashmiri (outposts of shops made of wooden planks), and listening to innocent thoughts and experiencing the pure sentiments of Kashmiri elders. Most of them, I know, although were unschooled and unlettered but undoubtedly educated and politically and culturally conscious than most of the literate lot of today. As a result, my brain and thoughts nourished in the company of those pure souls, unbiased humans and friendly and decent men. People, today as well, feel that flavour in my short stories also. My short stories reflect those shades of perceptions which I hold in my memories. (Alas! I find myself now like a drowning man clutching flowing straws).
In light of those experiences, I framed an opinion (not necessary to be perfectly correct because my word is neither divine nor a universal truth) is that the success of a movement lies in its right direction while that needs a firm mindset and guidance of visionary leadership. Unfortunately, that sort of leadership is in short supply.
Till we are not able to identify the root cause of the problems we cannot find the solutions. Till we do not take the interests of all stakeholders in consideration we cannot hammer out a solution. Iron fist approach is no permanent solution to any problem. By employing such type of policy you can calm down people for sometime but its results could prove more devastating in the long run. Painkillers are a temporary relief not cure. History is replete with the saga that great emperors who were not with the tune of the time were swept to the junkyard of history.
My personal opinion is that India could not produce any leader like Morarji Desai till today. He was the only leader who is worthy to be called a secular, shrewd, statesman and great.
I think we are the victims of leadership failures so honest endeavours fail to reap the required harvest.
We are caught in a pincers hold between management and leadership crisis. Management is not capable of doing things right while leadership is not doing the right things.
A serious impediment to rapid progress and becoming India a superpower in spite of having rich resources and cheap manpower is because the leadership lacks the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency. Presently, there is no leader in my view who could prove so shrewd to take some bold decisions. Most of them seem just after vote politics even if it is on the cost of state interests and sensibilities.
Political violence or conflict is used by either person, political parties or governments to achieve political goals and derive political capital out of them. We can call them war profiteers also. In fact, they are the real parasites. Political experts say that many groups and individuals believe that their political systems will never respond to their demands. As a result, they believe that violence and conflicts are necessary for them in order to achieve their political objectives. Similarly, many governments around the world believe they need to use violence in order to intimidate their populace into acquiescence.
We had been taught that in a democratic setup, the voice of people is heard and politicians fairly represent the aspirations of people but while watching the activities and attitudes of these politicians we come to know that what we were made to understand is not true but merely an idealist perception? And we come to know that in reality politics is a business, or I may go as far as to say that in some cases it has turned ‘mafia-like business’? A family business where a small group of people control the affairs of politics for their personal gains and self-interests, thus their whole period of governance or politics revolve around amassing wealth, placing their kith and kin on important positions, appointing their own people in government services through the illegitimate ways and enjoying the luxuries of life; so, for them, it appears like to hell with the common man and the accountability of administration?
From my childhood days, I’ve seen people clung to one motto to console themselves, that is “this too will pass”! This is the homily what people here have been parroting till now. Not these naive people knowing that ‘indeed, all have to pass’ but they too will be swept to the dead zones like straws are driven by the fast winds if they do not raise their voice against the injustices and are not with the tune of time?
We also need to know that political developments have enormous impacting upon literary scenarios also?
Watching the literary ‘developments’ in Kashmir, more appropriate to call them literary dramas, make a sane person to think as to whether or ever serious steps were taken to uplift the Kashmiri literature and a Kashmiri writer? Or bringing these government controlled literary forums to existence were just a pretext to derive political capital out of them? Or was it to keep a group of so-called “writers” in good humour? Or were it to feeding the jumbo-sized staff of these futile literary forums? The truth is, they have become locomotion engines which consume oil without propelling forwards?
We also need to ponder over the impact which Kashmir politics has on the postings and appointments in such literary forums wherever they have been brought to existence? No government ever bothered to examine or look over the accomplishments of those objectives and aims which held the base to bring these literary organizations into the existence or to check if they are just eating the vitals of our economy in terms of millions and millions of rupees? Even literary awards are deemed dramas in most of the literary circles here. I am sure, if a CBI enquiry is conducted for the State Awards and Central Awards, either given by JK Academy or Sahitya Academy startling disclosures will come to the surface. There is a widely held perception regarding these awards that in most of the cases money and other “illegitimate things” played a role in granting such awards while the genuine writers were ignored and neglected. As a consequence, uncertainty and mistrust and disappointment developed in them.
The tragic part of our literary history is that balds actually wrestled for the ‘combs’ and got them. Our land is unique, and peculiar as well, compared to other civilisations. We have a routine here to give combs to balds and mirrors to blinds!
Someone has rightly said that what is true does not always come out, and a lie always takes a prisoner, and a human being will continue to remain a prisoner until the truth is uncovered, and it often consume a human being for life.
Had the people, who hold crucial positions in government-controlled literary forums/organisations/departments, not forgotten that the head proud today of the crown on it, tomorrow there will be the din of mourning song on his head. They did not remember that Amir Minai had long before said:
hue namwar be-Nishan kaise kaise
zameeN khaa Gayi aasmaaN kaise kaise
Alas! Panegyric turned them, megalomaniac. People don’t dare offer them a word of advice, and if anyone does, he is not heard. Finally, the time comes when the dog is told he had his day and time is over. The chair is wrenched from them which they otherwise never deserved!
Nazir Jahangir is a freelance writer and columnist
