June, 2010

When Kashmiris witnessed the “June Drop” of 118 “Apples”.

(Tufail became the first victim to “June Drop”)

Ahmad Kashmiri

It is said that the tragedies on one hand tarnish the very social fabrics of the nations and on the other hand bring a whirlpool of ideas, opinions and flashes to the suppressed lots. And for that purpose writers happen to be on the frontline who synthesizes sentences, paragraphs and the titles innovatively by utilizing and correlating the native maxims, beliefs, facts and the concepts that any particular nation upholds. Apple as a fruit represents Kashmir in many ways, beauty, innocence and climate are some of the examples. There is a saying, “An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away” meaning this fruit is much fruitful for good health. Many celebrated writes have used apple symbolically in their prolific write ups while writing on the turmoil of Kashmir. The world celebrity writer and Booker Prize winner and intellectual, Arundhati Roy after visiting kashmir in 2010, wrote an article entitled “ Kashmir’s fruits of discord”, in New York Times on Nov 8, 2010  , wherein she resembled the children with the apples writing, “…..It was apple season in Kashmir and as we approached Shopian we could see families in their orchards, busily packing apples into wooden crates in the slanting afternoon light. I worried that a couple of the little red-cheeked children who looked so much like apples themselves might be crated by mistake. The news of our visit had preceded us, and a small knot of people were waiting on the road….”

“June Drop” is yet another phenomenon related with apples which refers to fruit trees particularly apples natural tendency to shed some of their immature fruits. Fruit trees often set more flowers than they need for a full crop, to offset sudden loses from weather or other cultural factors.

The experts reveal this “June Drop” as, “Bottom line is that June drop is not just normal, it’s actually good for the tree. It’s helping you too. You’ll not only get larger fruits, but the branches of your fruit trees won’t be so heavy they need propping up.

By the way, it’s called June drop”

With June Drop in apples, one can get satisfied for it being beneficial for the other fruits and here the apples. But even a single fall can’t be withstood when it is the case of lives and not to speak of thinking of it when the life is of a human being that too a teenager.

 But ironically Kashmir witnessed the “June Drop” of its innocent children in year 2010, which started in June month but did not stop till November wherein the lives of 118 youth were consumed.

 Kashmir, a piece of land on earth, some call it paradise, has always been a treasure of human resource in all respects. World celebrates/ observes the occasions and developments emerged out of the utilization of human resources viz politics, freedom, religion, science, technology, inventions, discoveries, personalities, children etc etc. but Kashmir is a different dish to taste in all respects. Here ‘Human Resource’ itself is unwanted, indigestible and an unpalatable thing and ironically saying that even “June Drop” swallows up this human resource.

 This is an irony that where we would have celebrated and enjoyed the outcome of human resource, there we are made to mourn even for our children when they get killed and then on their anniversaries.. We mourn the killings, we mourn the rapes, we have here disappeared fathers, departed sons, widowed women, half widowed young women. We are a nation being suppressed at every point. Our leaders, intellectuals, religious scholars, think tanks and teen aged youth are murdered for no sin other than being the defendants of the basic HRs. 

The year 2010, with reference to HRs in Kashmir, is all important for those people of the world who love children and for that matter Kashmir witnessed the “June Drop” for their children. When this “June Drop” occurred, the king on the regime was neither a child nor an old man but in- between, meaning that much years have not passed since his childhood, further meaning that he “could” realize the pain and agony when a child or a teenager is killed. But alas!  Is it that, he did not feel pain of a father or a brother? Had he felt, and then this “June Drop” might have not engulfed our 118 “Apples”.

In Kashmir, the killing mayhem started on Jan. 8, 2010 with the killing of Anayat Khan, 16, of Dalgate Srinagar when the paramilitary forced killed him in cold blood. Till April 24, 6 more teenagers were killed in the different parts of the valley. And it was June 11, this year when the “June Drop” started with the innocent “falling” of Tufail Ahmad Matoo, 17, of Srinagar who was coming back home from his tuition centre and was hit by a tear shell. June 19 witnessed the killing of Rafiq Ahmad Bangroo 24, who was with his people protesting the killing of Tufail and others including those three innocent kashmiris who were killed in a fake encounter in Karnah. Then the sky of Kashmir witnessed “Fall- out”killings almost daily or sometimes the toll showed a higher graph than those of days. But the “sky” never turned Red.

The space does not permit here to list the killings that took place in 2010. However the heart-piercing part of the “story” is the killing of those children who were of the age of 7 to 9 years, who were just coming out of their infancy. Tawqeer Ahmad Rather of Delina Baramulla is one among them who was “put” into grave just at the age of 9 years. More heart rending is the killing of Sameer Ahmad Rah of Batamaloo who was not killed by any bullet but was brutally  beaten to death in his lawn. All the 118 killings have such tragedies that volumes of books will not suffice. Not only males but females too were not spared. Fancy of Batamaloo and Mubeena Akhtar of Sopur are the two, here to mention.

In a short span of 4 months Jun- Oct, most of the teenagers were “dropped”, world raised voice but this “June Drop” did not stop in Kashmir. The teenagers who were killed were almost all reading in schools and colleges. I remember Iqbal of Tangmarg, who was a distinction holder in his studies, was a Khateeb (who would give sermon on Fridays), who when recited Quran, his voice would resemble with the voice of Immame Qabba, who after his graduation had the dream to join Madina University for higher studies.

 In the backdrop of human rights, indeed, with all meanings and definitions, a commoner can conclude, that HRs range from ‘life to laugh’. While as life being the primary HR, there are other rights too vital for its health. And I remember the act of a civil administrator, Deputy Commissioner, who in a Tangmarg village, allowed Ahad Shah, a heavy weight and tall man, to speak aloud and plead his case of nut tree, who (Ahad Shah) earlier was forbidden to speak aloud in front of deputy commissioner by the subordinate officers. Deputy Commissioner made the subordinate officers understand that Ahad Shah’s loud voice was well according to his physique and body structure and if he was not allowed to speak aloud he would not express himself fully and would develop psychological distress.

  The first thing that we find in Islam in this connection is that it lays down some rights for man as a human being. In other words it means that every man whether he belongs to this country or that, whether he is a believer or unbeliever, whether he lives in some forest or is found in some desert, whatever be the case, he has some basic human rights simply because he is a human being, which should be recognized by every Muslim. In fact it will be his duty to fulfill these obligations.

The first and the foremost basic right is the right to live and respect human life. The Holy Quran lays down: Whosoever kills a human being without (any reason like) man slaughter, or corruption on earth, it is as though he had killed all mankind ... (5:32)

Immediately after the verse of the Holy Quran which has been mentioned in connection with the right to life, God has said: "And whoever saves a life it is as though he had saved the lives of all mankind" (5:32).

Thus we pray that let this June drop for the benefit occur to our apple crop only and not to the crop of our youth comprising teen agers who are the sons and daughters of the parents, pupils of their teachers and the future of kashmiris.