Children face bleak future in Kashmir, so does the youth
Today's children are tomorrow's adults. If they are denied their basic rights and privileges, what kind of adults will they become?
WHILE THE politicians, industrialists, bureaucrats, professional strategists, writers, and journalists are busy discussing the issue of Kashmir, a profound crisis with cataclysmic consequences for Kashmir’s society is developing. The multiple afflictions imposed on Kashmiri children, with scant attention paid to them by the government has ravaged their childhood and also threatens to cast a shadow on their future. 5.5 million Kashmiri children, who are under the age of 18 and constitute 55 percent of its population have a bleak future. One can see them everywhere, in educational institutions with scanty education facilities, wandering aimlessly through the streets, begging, selling Kashmiri handicrafts, selling water bottles, boiled eggs or homemade bread, polishing shoes, cleaning cars, working as domestic helpers, working in shops, mines, at construction sites or on road pavements, repairing bikes, working in tea stalls and restaurants, selling and buying drugs or cigarettes, fighting for or against the government killing, playing in streets and dirty dusty fields, or risking their lives with unscrupulous human traffickers to reach Western countries. They are small, underweight, sickly, slow, and lethargic. This is the future of the ravaged Kashmir.
The vast majority of the people live/exist in poverty. More than 80 percent of the people lack safe drinking water and electricity facilities. People in Kashmir live on Rs 50-100 per day. Kashmir has the highest maternal mortality rate in India. More than a quarter of Kashmiri children die before age of five. Most are delivered at home without the professional assistance. On top of that, there have been curfews, search operations, torture, custodial killings, disappearance and killing of children which done an irreparable damage to their fragile psyche and personality. The conflict in Kashmir has a direct bearing on women community, late marriages have become trend. A huge portion of women have crossed the marriageable age but they fail to find a suitable match of themselves. This has resulted in moral depravity in society. Some 80 percent of the women are illiterate thus lacking powers and privilege.
Sub-standard education or the non-availability of adequate teaching staff and infrastructure is another serious problem Kashmiri children are facing. Sixty percent of the Kashmiris are under 18 and according to the report of Directorate of School Education, Kashmir the number of school drop outs in Kashmir division only has been estimated 1.56 lakh. While the total number of students enrolled in schools in Kashmir division is 10.4 lakh, in which 7.58 lakh are enrolled in government schools. Schooling is grossly inadequate, in some schools two teachers are meant to teach 200 students, only few schools have adequate physical facilities; the curriculum is outdated and largely irrelevant; most schools operate in rented building and makeshift tents without heating, electricity or water facilities. There are multiple reasons for poor education system: lack of effective, competent and committed teaching staff; fear and insecurity due to conflict, poverty, the politicisation of education, widespread sickness among children and the lack of healthcare.
Drugs have become another problem in the Kashmir valley. They smoke it, sniff it, taste it, inject it and temporarily escape into a deceptive world. Be it a way to fight personal crisis, means to wipe the mental scars or just a sign of being cool, the youth in Kashmir have fallen into the trap of drugs, with such cases increasing by 35-40 percent in the last few years. The epidemic of child drug addiction is driven by conflict, poverty, unemployment, despair, insecurity, torture, and killings. Although strictly prohibited by Islam, condemned and frowned upon by culture, and considered a shameful and illegal practice, homosexuality has become a fact of life in Kashmir and another evil caste upon small children. In the past, sex between men and young boys was unheard off now it is the reality in Kashmir. Due to the conflict, general lawlessness, overall climate of impunity and poverty a large number of orphans and unsupervised children, drug addicts have turned perverts. “Boy play” has become institutionalised, infact, it has turned in a big business, an industry and a status symbol among men. The way Kashmiri society survives and resists is no less than a miracle. Today’s children are tomorrow’s adults. If they are denied what children must have in a civilised world, what kind of adults will they become? What kind of a nation will be formed? What will happen to the universal values of honour, dignity and rights? For the treatment meted out to Kashmiri people, particularly the young generation, certain questions need to be answered by those, who claim to be democratic, pluralistic and progressive.
Sub-standard education or the non-availability of adequate teaching staff and infrastructure is another serious problem Kashmiri children are facing. Sixty percent of the Kashmiris are under 18 and according to the report of Directorate of School Education, Kashmir the number of school drop outs in Kashmir division only has been estimated 1.56 lakh. While the total number of students enrolled in schools in Kashmir division is 10.4 lakh, in which 7.58 lakh are enrolled in government schools. Schooling is grossly inadequate, in some schools two teachers are meant to teach 200 students, only few schools have adequate physical facilities; the curriculum is outdated and largely irrelevant; most schools operate in rented building and makeshift tents without heating, electricity or water facilities. There are multiple reasons for poor education system: lack of effective, competent and committed teaching staff; fear and insecurity due to conflict, poverty, the politicisation of education, widespread sickness among children and the lack of healthcare.
Drugs have become another problem in the Kashmir valley. They smoke it, sniff it, taste it, inject it and temporarily escape into a deceptive world. Be it a way to fight personal crisis, means to wipe the mental scars or just a sign of being cool, the youth in Kashmir have fallen into the trap of drugs, with such cases increasing by 35-40 percent in the last few years. The epidemic of child drug addiction is driven by conflict, poverty, unemployment, despair, insecurity, torture, and killings. Although strictly prohibited by Islam, condemned and frowned upon by culture, and considered a shameful and illegal practice, homosexuality has become a fact of life in Kashmir and another evil caste upon small children. In the past, sex between men and young boys was unheard off now it is the reality in Kashmir. Due to the conflict, general lawlessness, overall climate of impunity and poverty a large number of orphans and unsupervised children, drug addicts have turned perverts. “Boy play” has become institutionalised, infact, it has turned in a big business, an industry and a status symbol among men. The way Kashmiri society survives and resists is no less than a miracle. Today’s children are tomorrow’s adults. If they are denied what children must have in a civilised world, what kind of adults will they become? What kind of a nation will be formed? What will happen to the universal values of honour, dignity and rights? For the treatment meted out to Kashmiri people, particularly the young generation, certain questions need to be answered by those, who claim to be democratic, pluralistic and progressive.
In order to draw sympathy for some people, your article ends up discriminating against others. Since when did homosexuality become "illegal" again? Are you not aware that the Delhi High Court decriminalized homosexuality on 2nd July, 2009 stating that discriminating against queers was equal to infringing upon their fundamental right...
Isn't it enough that homosexual men and women face enough discrimination from society without you vilifying them further to serve your sympathy campaign?
Its ridiculous! Instead of striving towards an 'independent' society which is non-discriminatory and inclusive of all people, your comment smirks of some right-wing conservative Islamic idea of what is right and what is wrong! Shame on you!
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