Last week, two poignant images of the newly orphaned infants, Maryam Jan and Zaira, surfaced on the social media in Kashmir and they broke everybodys heart. Their mothers were killed during the encounters between the militants and the security forces, one in North and another in South Kashmir. Maryam Jan, 6, is from Handwara and Zaira, 10, is from Shopian. But less than a week on, both are forgotten. Soon, a new development, a new atrocity or a new human rights violation will command fresh attention and will similarly also be forgotten. For a brief time, the images of Maryam Jan and Zaira became the latest symbols of the tragedy in Kashmir. The pictures of the both were taken during the funerals of their respective mothers. In her picture, Maryam Jans eyes were brimming over with tears and her face was contorted into a heart-rending expression of pain as if she were conscious of her monumental loss. Her mother Misra Bano was killed when she and the four other members of her family got trapped in the house along with the militants at Yunso village in Handwara. Similarly Zairas mother Ruby Jan was shot dead when security forces fired at the protesters trying to help the two trapped militants escape at village Wanipora in Shopian.
This tragic state of affairs will go on endlessly in Kashmir unless some credible steps are taken for the resolution of the lingering conflict in the state. And that seems unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future. There is thus little hope for a durable peace in the state. Killings of the mothers, fathers, sons and daughters will unfortunately to go on. And all of them will get their few days of mourning and then will be forgotten.
In Kashmir, people die and are killed under different labels. And though in case of the civilian killings, condemnations and the grief duly follow, a significant part of this is selective and politically convenient in nature. The public outrage generated by the civilian killings is disproportionately more than the one over those of the mainstream political workers. On the other hand, killings of the security personnel is generally seen as par for the course as they are seen as part of the oppressive state machinery. In contrast, militant killings are not only widely mourned but people also put their own lives at risk in an attempt to rescue them once they are tracked down by the security forces. This is how Ruby Jan allegedly also lost her life, trying to save the militants without caring for ten month old daughter. One cant but feel horrified when one senses little hope for an improvement in this troubling situation even in the long term. Here is hoping against hope that the situation changes for the better and both India and Pakistan take steps to address the factors that sustain the violence in the state.
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