To Go or Not To Go: Dilemmas of Everyday Life in Kashmir

Srinagar:- Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said,“Go and see for yourself. Some South Kashmir districts were a challenge. The other parts of the valley, including Srinagar, are normal.”

In Kashmir, what you do see for yourself are school children and teachers waiting for the morning newspaper to find out if there are classes or not. In the past one month, schools and colleges have been shut for almost 17 days. Since July 2016, educational institutions have remained shut for more than 60% of working days. 

Government claims that shutting down of schools and colleges are done for precautionary reasons in order to ensure safety to students during potential clashes. 

On 27th May 2017, post the killing of Sabzar Ahmad Bhat, commander of militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen, government feared a repeat of July 2016. Immediately strict instructions were issued to all educational institutions to remain shut for more than 3 days. 

“This is becoming a mental torture. We barely get to attend college. I should have been finishing my last semester by now but because of the constant shut down I’m only starting the last semester now”, said Sheema Ashai an MSc Bio-Resources student at the University of Kashmir.

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Syed Altaf Bukhari, Education Minister of the State said, “We have asked schools and colleges to remain shut for law and order reasons. I do not want security forces to start entering premises of educational institutions. I do understand that this shutting down is not a permanent solution. Nevertheless, I definitely do not want a dead body and most certainly not a student’s dead body.”

Young students on the other hand are starting to feel choked. Aala Fazili, a researcher at the University of Kashmir says, “We Kashmiri students face abuse from security forces while we are on the street, outside our campus. The campus is the only place where we feel free and relieved, but now by shutting down campuses, they’ve entered our educational spaces too.” 

On 15th May students at a college in Pulwama violently clashed with security forces for their allegedly overbearing presence on their campus. The State’s education minister takes responsibility for what happened in Pulwama. “Pulwama was a mistake. It should never happen again. But after Pulwama, the anti-social elements in society have manipulated the agitated minds of these students and encouraged them to take to the street. I believe that these elements even enter schools and colleges and misguide our children. I am strongly investigating this. In the next 15-20 days, I will ensure that no outsider enters educational campuses to exploit these children.”

Najwa Shabir a Bio-Science student of University of Kashmir believes that by shutting down educational institutions the Government is definitely trying to take precaution and ensure that a post-Wani situation does not repeat.“There is no justification to violence from both sides – the State and us youth, but when you shut everything down, our schools, our movement on roads, the internet, we students have no other way to vent our frustration than express ourselves on the street.” Najwa also narrates that by claiming ‘normalcy’ in the Valley the Centre is only trying to downplay the violence and justify their acts of ‘barbarianism’.

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Students in Kashmir have been at the receiving end of the worst side-effects of conflict. Today, a young Kashmiri population, full of dreams and aspirations, ends up sitting at home, endlessly waiting for a ‘normal’ day at school or college. Syed Altaf Bukhari claimed that he’s very clear that supplementary classes must happen and unlike his predecessor, there will be no compromise on set syllabus.

In response to this, Sheema Ashai claims that education in the valley has become merely a race to the finish. Quality of education has been heavily compromised on. “It is not that they are worried about the quality of our education. By not reducing syllabus, even though we don’t have classes, they only want to pressurise us so that we won’t voice ourselves on the street.”

The Education Minister of the State claims that, in the given situation, his only request to school children is to focus on their studies and not worry about the conflict. “If students focus on their studies, I will ensure that not a single security force will enter their campus. This is my commitment to them,” Bukhari told Kashmir Observer.

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Aala Fazili responds to this by saying that this simply goes to show how superficial the government’s concern for education is. “They imagine students to be a flock of sheep coming out of the system. After all these years of conflict, if students really want to protest, nobody can stop them. None of these shut-down measures are going to make any difference”

This year, the student community have not shied away from being vocal about their demand for Azadi. “Those who are getting killed are our friends. How can you expect us not to raise our voices?”. 

2016 witnessed 2,690 incidents of violent demonstrations, firing and use of shotgun pellets. This was 79% higher than the the recorded 1,500 incidents in 1989 when the militancy erupted in the Valley. Unlike the 90’s the struggle for Azadi is no longer exclusive to gun wielding militants. The resistance has seeped into daily life. 

In response to this the Education Minister of State said, “Of course education and politics cannot be kept separate. It is important that students protest. It is their democratic right to do so. Protest everyday in your campus for 15 minutes but do not do it on the street. I urge you to protest on campus, I will really respect that.”

The young student from Kashmir University, Fazili, believes that there is continuous pressure from the government to erase history from the minds of students. ‘‘We keep ourselves connected to our past, by being out on the street. For the youth of Kashmir, the real school is out on the street”, said Fazili.

“Students are an integral part of our society. Never before in the history of Kashmir have students come out on the streets like this. How does this sound normal to anyone?”, questions Sheema Ashai.

Najwa on the other hand claims that she is worried about the future generation. “When this sort of violence becomes a way of life younger children will start to get desensitised. There will be a generation of uneducated kids who cannot distinguish right from wrong. This really scares me.”

Education Minister, Syed Altaf Bukhari says that until now he has never heard students protest about their schools being shut down, “If I get even one demonstration from students about their classes being cancelled, I will be happy. I will consider it as success. I want children to understand the importance of education. After all Gandhi or Jinnah could not have done what they did without education. If I see a protest asking for classes then that itself is a start for peaceful education.”

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