Unlike last year when we celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr in the throes of months of social and political turmoil, this year the festival has followed a relatively peaceful period. The social peace in Valley has uneasily held despite many developments threatening to disrupt it. However, the security situation has continued to be grim. Until May, security forces have killed over 100 militants, most of them local youth from South Kashmir. The ever rising violence highlights one basic aspect of the Valley situation. That is, militancy despite increasing number of killings is far from being vanquished. And that the new government at the centre will have to embark on a meaningful political intervention to address the situation.
More than an occasion of joy, Eid in Kashmir is a time for reflection. And of mourning too, for the thousands who have died over the past three decades. Eid is inherently also about joy and celebration but there is nothing routine about this joy. The festival is about a spiritual renewal and a sense of fulfilment. In Kashmir and of course in other troubled spots of the world Eid assumes a meaning that runs even deeper. It is a very solemn occasion for individual and collective reflection and remembrance. It is also about our obligation towards our society. We not only inherit the tragic fallout of the trouble over the past three decades but also continue to live this reality in the present.
This year too many a violent incident took place leading to loss of many lives. Sadly, our Eids are no occasions for a community level effort to help out the people who have lost their loved ones to the violence. This Eid is little different. We celebrate Eid and God showers us with his blessings but we are forgetful in our joy. As always we succumb to an unbridled consumerism. We are generally bereft of the concern for the poor and the people who have suffered.
On this Eid, there is an urgent need to reflect about our failures as a community. It is incumbent on us that while we go about celebrating Eid or any other festival, we also remember housands of the victims of ongoing turmoil and contribute in a material way to lessen their misery.
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