THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

MUBASHIR BUKHARI 

Imagine these scenes: a few teenage girls dressed in the usual school uniform setting out for school in the morning. Barely outside their homes, in the open, the girls’ strip down to their underwear, slip into more fashionable clothes, and set out to have fun. A young mother pissed off with her husband’s philandering decides to slit the throats of their two young boys as a way of getting back at her husband. A stray dog finds an infant abandoned on the street, lifts the baby in its mouth, and roams around the city centre with the baby clutched

between the dog’s sharp teeth. A man was spotted seducing a young girl in the woods before a stranger reprimands him for the sexual indiscretion. A boy was found murdered with one of his arms cut off from the body. 

The graphic anecdotes have not been culled from a juicy, cheap potboiler, but the above scenes, so sordid in nature that you might feel disgust welling up in you, are enacted right before our eyes, if only we had time to pay attention to what is going on around us in our society. Our social fabric, let’s admit it, has gaping holes wide enough to show us the dark underside of the life we have constructed for ourselves. How else does one explain these degenerate incidents, which are falling into a clear pattern, becoming the rule rather than the exception. 

For example, the poor infant’s lifeless body dangling from the mouth of a stray dog in Srinagar a few months back reveals how promiscuity was widening in our society, turning upside down our social mores. Although there is no research or survey done to come to an exact figure on such cases of out of wedlock pregnancies in Kashmir, a gynecologist at Lal Ded Hospital Srinagar says they come across only 5-10 per cent of the overall cases, since the majority of such births or the termination of births are midwifed by local pharmacists and fly-by-night private medical clinics.

 A video recently went viral on social media showing three teenage Kashmiri girls taking off their school uniform in the open and donning trendy clothes while a friend of theirs filmed the entire sequence on her smartphone before uploading it on YouTube. In another video, a couple is entwined in each other’s arms while some fellow discreetly records the sexual intimacy on his phone.

A student of engineering in Peerbagh is brutally murdered with his throat and chest peeled off and one of his arms torn away from his torso. The police said it was an unusual love affair beginning with an innocuous conversation on cellphone between two strangers and ended in a violent crime.

Has the set of values our society lived by for ages fallen by the wayside in our pursuit of material gains? How much role does political repression play in contributing towards the waywardness in the society? Can religion play a role in beating back the growing tide of vulgarity and degeneracy?

Basarat Hassan is a PhD scholar in sociology at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He feels the armed conflict going on in Kashmir for the last nearly three decades has exploded the structure of our society. “There is a lot of geographical boundary and resistance here, and in the midst of this water-tight situation technology provides the space that people crave for. It would not be wrong to say that, in Kashmir, technology is an alternate free world to people who are otherwise bound.”

Hassan explains how youth in Kashmir are finding themselves in the middle of a chaotic situation where the ideals they look forward to, the aptitude they develop and the ideas they call as leisure are all contrary to the moral values they are expected to keep.

“Pornography, the so called sexual liberty is deeply consumed and practiced in the quarters of our society. We are simply being exposed to materialism through a reverie of liberalism, freedom and equality,” said Hassan.

Hassan believes that parental care and attention becomes all the more important given the conditions our youngsters find themselves in. “The role of parents is all the more critical given the early age exposure to extremes of everything negative. I am not saying that parents are the only party responsible for the mess but they are an important party to it, and they have the power to turn it around as well,” said Hassan.

Dr Mansoor Ahmad, a psychiatrist at Srinagar’s Mental Hospital, says that each day he comes across cases of youth who are exposed to substance abuse and addiction and most of them complain that  they don’t get enough attention and care from their parents.

“When you have a kid who is going through some problem and there is no one to listen to him, parents are too busy with their jobs or anything else, he or she is vulnerable to a world of ills. This is why a small issue gradually evolves into a major crime or a health hazard.”

According to Dr Ahmad, unchecked and needless exposure to technology especially the Internet and mobile telephony is making things worse in such a situation.

“Technology is not bad but how you use it determines its affects and unfortunately in Kashmir, we mostly use it negatively. For example uncontrolled exposure to crime, and other gory incidents on different media like internet and satellite television has had its overall impact on the mental health of the society, people are emotionally numb these days, you will have pictures and videos showing torn bodies, nude girls and religious texts all circulating at one place on social media, a human mind is influenced and sometimes confused by these diverse subjects,” said Ahmad.

He feels, seeing all this, people wrongly assume that it would not affect them for they do not see any physical or tangible connection between them and the mess.  But this notion, over a period of time, has proven detrimental and has placed us at a point where we are witnessing episodes involving unimaginable violence, immorality and crime.

Some feel we need to be able to distinguish between what is inherently good and bad for society and just cannot pick and choose from what is out there on offer. Dr Javid Ahmad, a certified Aalim (Islamic scholar) and a medical doctor practicing at Government Medical College Srinagar says that Kashmiri society is at a very critical point.

“You cannot be a victim’s friend and his murderer’s attorney as well, a line has to be drawn but in Kashmir there is no one drawing it, in fact we all believe that we can take everything along and still have no repercussions, we make sure that our child goes to a convent school, study literature that contains sex, drugs and immorality, be exposed to the darker side of technology and then also study the Qur’an and Islam and follow it, it is impossible, too hard for an adolescent to manage,” he said.

The Kashmir Monitor also spoke to Mufti Ishaq Nazki, an Islamic jurist from Dar-ul-Uloom Raheemiya, a premier religious school in the Bandipora district. Nazki gives an Islamic explanation to the problem:

“There is utter moral destruction and the reason is baydeeni (straying from Islam). We have forgotten death, forgotten Islam. There is no fear of Allah since our earning is Haraam (prohibited) and we feed our kids from the same Haraam earning, when this happens at large people hardly have a problem in committing or witnessing a shameful act, both at personal and social level.”

To counter the waywardness, Mufti Nazki said we have to take responsibility and focus on moral education among kids and adults as well.

“As kids, we used to be first taught Islamiyat and Ikhlaqiyat (good mannerism) but today our education revolves around materialism and money; it is everyone’s problem and the responsibility also lies with everyone, parents, teachers, ulemas, media, politicians and youngsters; they all have to wake up or else we will end up like those countries which are bearing the ill-effects of the limitless liberalism and freedom they once used to advocate,” said Nazki.

If one talks about parents earning a Haraam livelihood, white collar crimes and corruption is the first thing that comes to mind.

A 2014 research paper titled “White-collar Crimes in Kashmir” by two scholars of the Psychology department of the University of Kashmir and the University of Jammu defines white collar crime as a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation. The purpose of the concept of white-collar crime is to call attention to a vast area of criminal behavior which is generally overlooked as criminal behavior, which is seldom brought within the score of the theories of criminal behaviour.

It says: “One side J&K Government is trying to use advanced technologies in different departments to make work easier and comfortable for its employees another side some officials are involved in white-collar crimes which destructs the future of younger generations.”

The paper specifically refers to the infamous BOPEE scandal which involved corruption at the highest level.

It concludes that in Jammu and Kashmir white-collar crimes are increasing tremendously and because of these crimes the state is one of the top-most corrupt states of India. White-collar crimes and related abuses are not adversaries that can be targeted, met, attacked, and defeated once and for all. Other experts also believe that the emergence of social issues and avoiding their remedy with time increases the overall criminal behaviour among the population.

A 2013 research paper ‘Normlessness and Seeds of Criminality in Kashmir: A Social Analysis’ by one research scholar Aijaz Mir of the Department of Sociology, the University of Kashmir explains the rot better. Here is an excerpt from it:

“Kashmir just a century back was nearly a crime free, and a morally strong place to live in. Crimes were neither committed in an organized way nor were reported by people at large. The dominant majority of people in that situation lived a peaceful non violent life in which they hardly witnessed or heard about any major crime. In actuality, their (sic) existed a non violent social ethos in the extreme form and any kind of violent, immoral or criminal act was considered undesirable and condemnable.

But today’s Kashmir is a different Kashmir with both traditional and modern crimes comprising of murders, rapes, dacoity, arson, eve-teasing, dowry deaths, economic crimes like corruption, drug trafficking, smuggling, cyber crimes, crime against women and children, etc.”

“From the field study of Srinagar city we found that almost 86% people agree that crime rate has increased in Srinagar city. Most people believe that rise of conflict situation is the primary cause of increased crime rate in Srinagar city. A maximum of 38.28% people follow this opinion. The other main reasons are excessive freedom to youth (22.91%), socioeconomic insatiability (10.30%), immorality (10.30%) and poverty (4.18%),” states the research paper.

It adds that the most prevalent crimes in Srinagar city are crimes related to women, crimes related to alcohol and drugs, property crimes, motorized traffic crimes, cheating, and most recent the cyber crimes.

The paper also refers to Robert Merton’s theory of ‘anomie’, one of the important theories in understanding Crime and Criminology.

Robert Merton’s theory of anomie first appeared in 1938 in an article titled “Social structure and anomie”. According to Merton, anti-social behavior (crime) is produced by the values of the society itself in encouraging high material aspirations as a sign of individual successes without adequately providing approved means for all to reach these goals. Merton states:

“It is only when a system of cultural values extols, virtually above all else, certain common symbols of successes for the population at large while its social structure rigorously restricts or completely eliminates access to approved modes of acquiring these symbols for a considerable part of same population, that anti-social behavior ensues on a considerable scale.”

Thus this theory is based on the assumption that persons who are denied the means to reach their goals get frustrated and resort to deviant behavior. It is low socio-economic groups which are discriminated against; they have a greater incidence of deviant behavior.

One of the essential premises of this approach is that organization and disorganization in society are not mutually exclusive, but rather that many of the cultural values that have desirable consequences often contain with them or produce undesirable consequences.

Sociologically the emergence of crime in Kashmir can be explained in terms of factors which include the environment of inequality, competition and conflict created through the process of modernization, urbanization, industrialization, material development and so on.

In this particular social dynamics, sociological-pathological factors of social disorder, disorganization, improper socialization, nuclear family, School control could not be avoided and were considered as co-relates of this grand transformation. The features of deviance and delinquency could not be avoided. 

The added factors to the emergence of criminal trends are media exposure and IT revolution. This situation has led to the emergence of crime as a social trend and has attracted the younger elements in society.

                            

                 Spotted! Stephen Hawking in a Pheran

By MUBASHIR BUKHARI

Not only local populace and models can been seen wearing Kashmiri’s traditional cloak-Pheran but even the living legend Stephen Hawking was spotted wearing it.
Professor Hawking - who is known for his good humour as well as his fearsome intelligence - was attending the ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London to present a BAFTA award to Eddie Redmayne who played Hawking in his biographical romantic drama film The Theory of Everything.
During the function Professor Hawking who was accompanied by many Hollywood stars stand out by wearing Kashmir’s Pheran. Though Pheran has catched the eyeballs of many stars and politicians in the past but Hawking’s wearing Kashmiri cloak at a big function will further popularize the Kashmir’s tradition at International arena.
Stephen Hawking who suffers from motor neurone disease, is so paralyzed by the illness that he can speak only with the aid of a computer was seen wearing grey colour long Cloak popularly known as Kashmir Pheran at the function.
Pheran has already went global with people especially in United Kingdom and other European countries wearing it.It is worth to mention that many national e-commerce online shopping website like Amazon.com , Kaboodle.com, ebay.in and exoticindiaart.com  have played an important role in making this cloak global.
Similarly looking into the popularity of the 'Pheran', many local e-commerce shopping websites have emerged in valley which are shipping this ethnic dress worldwide.
 Pheran is a loose cloak worn in winters to keep warm but the garment has recently become a fashion statement and has flooded many e-commerce sites.
Stephen William Hawking is an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge. His scientific works include a collaboration with Roger Penrose on gravitational singularity theorems in the framework of general relativity, and the theoretical prediction that black holes emit radiation, often called Hawking radiation. Hawking has achieved success with works of popular science in which he discusses his own theories and cosmology in general; his book A Brief History of Time stayed on the British Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.

 Recently, a movie with a name The Theory of Everything was made on Stephen Hawking’s romantic life from the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Wilde Hawking, which deals with her relationship with her ex-husband, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, his diagnosis of motor neuron disease, and his success in physics.

http://www.kashmirmonitor.in/news-spotted-stephen-hawking-in-a-pheran-79454.aspx

In this hamlet, mobiles can break bones
  'What is 2G, 3G, 4G? Can’t make a call Jee'

Srinagar: Imagine a situation wherein in order to make a phone call you have to either tie or hang your mobile on rooftop. Isn’t it strange, but in one of the small village of Uri area it still a daily practice.

For people of Muqaam Peeran, a small hamlet of Boniyar town searching for mobile network is not only difficult but sometimes dangerous too. Many locals fractured their arms and legs and even broke their mobile phones after falling from windows while searching for network.

With coming of internet the whole world has become a global village, and the people of this hamlet too want to join the community but bad network shatters their dreams.

For them Facebook, Whatsapp and other social networking and chatting sites are alien and is a new world altogether for them. They say they too want to be on Facebook, know the outside world but they can’t. “Some of our native residents are on social networking sites, I am also there, but for that we have to travel some 20 Kms to browse the internet. The lack of proper network disconnects us from virtual world,” says Rafi Ahmad, a local teacher.

“Bhai for you it may sound strange, but here people don’t know what is Gmail, Email, Skype, Whatsapp, we chat and blah blah. I know because I use to work in Baramulla and Srinagar. Here medium of entertainment is TV or radio,” says Manzoor Ahmad o local.

But using mobile phones in any corner of home or even in their yards are still a distant dream. “First we use to walk kilometres to make a phone call, now at least it has reached our rooftops. But find a single tower sitting at any corner of our home is not possible,” says Shafqat Ahmad, a local resident.

Though the hamlet is surrounded by beautiful mountains and forests but here locals don’t have access to post the beautiful pictures on Facebook and count the likes and comments. The pine trees, snow clad mountains and huge rocks are the main attraction of this hamlet but get unnoticed.While rest of the Valley is moving towards the 4G world, the locals here don’t want any ‘G’ but only a mobile tower. “I don’t know what Gs you are talking about. We want one mobile tower here. So that we can make a proper phone call to our relative’s friends,” says Zahoor Ahmad. written by Mubashir Bukhari

                     In strange times,old survive and young perish
                     Nowgam continues to mourn Faisal, Mehraj

MUBASHIR BUKHARI

Srinagar: ‘Mata maritav vuni chu na vansi kam, Mata maritav vuni chhiva na manzi nam’ (Do not die on me, you are so young! Do not die, your nails but barely henna –tipped!”), these chants are reverberating from the homes of Meraj-ud-Din Dar and Faisal Yusuf who were killed by Army’s 53 Rashtriya Rifles at Chattergam area of Budgam district on Monday evening.
The streets of Nowgam look like a war zone, clad faces with stones in their hands are ready to take ‘revenge’ of their two innocent brothers. While mourners in numbers are consoling the families of the youth others are decorating the graves of Faisal and Mehraj buried together in native graveyard. A pall of gloom has engulfed the native place of these slain youth.
The home of 14-year-old Faisal Yusuf has lost its charm and sheen. His father Mohd Yousuf Bhat wearing a skull cap, surrounded by neighbors and relatives has become more vocal since his “little prince” died. Giving the references of Islamic verses his father seems to be more delighted for the “sacrifice” offered by his beloved son.
“14 Chapters (Para) of Quran were engraved in my 14-year-old son’s heart. But they didn’t spare and martyred him along with Meraj. But it was destined we can’t do anything. I ask Allah to give me strength to face the reality,” said Yousuf Bhat.
A 7th class student, Faisal wanted to memorize the whole Quran instead of keeping the dream of becoming Doctor and engineer. His sister Bisma who is in second year is in trauma, his younger brothers Farhaan and Farzaan hardly understand the meaning of death.“We are shattered, we don’t let anyone discuss Faisal in front of family members. We have caged his sister and mother, they faint each time. But what we have lost him who will get him back,” said Muzzafar Ahmad, Faisal’s cousin.
The picture is no different at Meraj’s home, which is few minutes away from Faisal’s house. One has to first pass the graveyard, heavily guarded streets, cladded faces to reach another innocent’s home.
In the middle, some locals while interacting said that security forces didn’t even allow relatives and neighbours to meet the bereaved families for first two days. “First they killed our brothers and now they have turned these streets as military fortress. They didn’t allow us to meet them,” said some of the residents.
While entering the gates of Mehraj’s home, mourners are gazing at every entrant with their faces. A group of women is surrounding Mehraj’s mother in tent setup in their yard. While his father Ghulam Mohd Dar a PHE employee by profession is sitting silently in a room surrounded by group of people, some known some unknown.
With little hope, no demands, Mehraj’s father is calmer than Faisal’s father. He doesn’t believe in govt or army probes. His demand is to see the killers of his son.
“What demand you are talking about? I don’t have anyone. Just identify the killers, disclose the names, give them to me.Probe doesn’t bring back my son back,” Ghulam Mohd Dar said.
Meraj-ud-Din Dar (21) was younger among siblings and was laborer by profession. On that fateful day Dar didn’t see the face of his son in the morning. “I didn’t see him in the morning as I left for work. When I came back at night my whole life was changed,” he said.
“Army shoots to kill people rather than saving them. We are helpless, armless we can’t do anything. The killers of my son will be changed from one place to another but at last they will be let free,” said Mohd Dar.
He said that today we lost Faisal and Mehraj but this bloodshed will not stop because gates of justice is closed in case of Kashmir.
Four days have passed since these two youth were killed, but their locality is still mourning their death and the deserted streets and mournful faces stands testimony to the fact that wailing will continue till justice is not be given to them. And their mothers will be yelling
‘Mata maritay vuni chhiva na vansi kam(Do not die on me, you are so young!)
Mata maritay vuni chhiva na manzi nam (Do not die, your nails but barely henna –tipped!)

Why Do Loved Ones Hurt Us the Most?

VO nahin mila to malal kya, jo guzar gaya so guzar gaya,

Use yad karake na dil dukha, jo guzar gaya so guzar gaya .

Tujhe aitabar-o-yaqeen nahin, nahin duniya itani buri nahin,

na malal kar mere sath aa, jo guzar gaya so guzar gaya .

vo vafaain thi ke jafaain thi, ye na soch kisakee khataain thi,

vo tera hai usako gale laga, jo guzar gaya so guzar gaya .

Whether you accept or not but all of us have seen the ‘Break-up’ or “Hurt by loved one’ phase in once, twice or sometimes thrice in our life. But the day when our hearts are broken, we feel restless, isolated and what not. We try to balance ourselves but our brain doesn’t respond with our heart. Both starts war inside thus hurting each part of the body which in turn increases the pain and makes us more uncomfortable.

But nothing can be done at this stage, our loved ones with whom we spend beautiful days, dream of more joyful years have left us alone. We try to find out the reasons behind the whole scene but our so called dear, close partner of ours is in no mood to answer our queries ,that department is shifted somewhere else, maybe far away from our expectations.

What we do then, try to kill ourselves, smoke like anything or drink a lot. Do whatever but the pain is not going to subside so fast, it will take its time. Then what is the medicine to kill the pain, to me nothing, I don’t know if you have any alternative or not.

The man who thinks he can’t get old...

Meri aankhon ki namkeen mastiyaan
Meri haathoon ki beparwa gustaakhiyaan
Meri zulfon ki Safediyan

Nahi Manunga Mein
Kyoun Ki budha ho kay bi Mujhe mein hain jaan

Mera gardan ki nazar aane wali lakiren
Mera sason ka bar bar ruk jana
Mera chehra ki Jhurrian

Nahi Manuga Mein

Kyoun Ki budha ho kay bi Mujh mein hain jaan

Jab Tak Hain Jaan ,Tab Tak romance karta rahoonga Jaan

Don’t be disappointed after reading above shayari of mine.This is simple tribute to King of Romance SRK Khan who still thinks he is young….

Dear Shahrukh

    We know you are good romantic actor and have given some of the memorable movies which will be remembered for generations but this doesn’t mean you will do useless movies and expect people to like you. 

Mr. Samar Ananad their was lot of expectations from your last movie “ Jab Tak Hain Jaan” after your bumper flop performance in Ra.one but you disappointed man. What was the need to act with girls who are half of your age and make no chemistry with you at all.If you are thinking you are still young and can romance any age heroine then you are wrong Major.It would have been better if you should have paired up with your favourite co-star Kajol ,Rani,Preity Zinta .

Moreover, the signs of ageing are visible on your face and wrinkles stands testimony to the fact that you are no longer a sweetheart of every young girl. And the kind of movies you are doing from last few years have completely downgraded your market.

Though I know you have acted well in many movies but you need to introspect what you really want to do.

If Romance-Please act with your age girls not with Anushka, Deepika or Katrina.

Super-Hero-Please forget this genre because it’s not your cup of tea.Don’t ever think of making sequel to Ra.one.

Action-Please you are not Dabbang,Neither Rowdy Rathore nor Tesi Maar Khan so better stick to some other roles like papa of action hero, brother that will suit you not as an action hero.

Well Mr. Shahrukh kHan after your no no show in the field of romance there is no genre left for you other than focusing and managing your KKR team .

And last thing ,if you don’t like this letter please don’t file defamation case against me because I have written this  completely based on my own observations not to gain publicity…

Neither I am Rakhi Sawant nor Veena Malik,  so no case, no publicity otherwise if I become popular maybe I can replace you as a new lover boy….

I am Joking SRK….Keep Rocking because you are the man who thinks he can’t get old…

A letter to irritating soul "COLD"

Respected Cold and Cough

Sir/Madam I don’t know who you are

I shouldn’t have written this non-sense letter to you and wasted your time but you gave me sleepless night’s man.After every week you come to me and get stuck to me as I am your beloved. Though I know you have some fucking old relationship with me but this doesn’t mean you can trouble me anytime.

I have some responsibilities bro and have to go to work daily but how can I work if you jam my brain followed by headache.I am not joking dude, seriously I am fed up with your irritating and disgusting behavior.Nowadays half of my nights go in vein.I want to do some fruitful stuff but because of you I am unable to do anything useful.

This was one aspect of it and another disappointment is that each time you visit me, I have to spend lot of money to take refugee from you.morever I have to take high dose drugs to kill the shit you produce inside and if these market based fucking drugs don’t work, I have to use some traditional way to get rid of you for e.g. making egg by putting lot of chilly powder or preparing dry potatoes that is annoying man.

Moreover, the Sadak Chap doctors of my locality prescribe long list of tablets which are of no use, they in turn increase the pain and suffocates me.Now I kindly request you to leave me alone for some months and go and fuck around some other rich guys who have guts to bear you, have money to spend on you even if you continuously irate them because they have lot of Swiss Bank accounts they can bear you. 

One more thing they drink lot of liquor and enjoy going around with beautiful girls, you will enjoy each moment. But please leave me alone, I don’t have anything to bribe you neither I am too handsome to appease you. So for God's sake leave me and my nose alone.

If you are not leaving me alone, I am not going to forgive you on the Day of Judgment. That’s all what I have to say,but I know you are crooked soul and these words mean nothing to you.

Yours disappointingly

Mubashir Bukhari