A south Indian tag bestows you with so many benefits. One of it is that you choose to be a peripheral Indian, as it makes you feel Indian only when a sports player wins a medal for India, a cricket match happens against Pakistan or if it’s Independence Day. A perfect example of this is visible on the reaction of Keralites, on Kashmir issue too.
Kashmir is burning…obviously, most of India doesn’t care about it and the situation is worst in Kerala – the place where I live in, as people here act as if all these incidents are happening on a different planet.
The conspicuous irony about this is that I’m talking about a society of an Indian state, that boasts of its high literacy rate. A place where people are educated and are said to be socially conscious. I am not considering those who are literally neutral about every other social issue that happens around them (obviously, they own the right to be loved by everyone).I am concerned about the silence of those who are said to be socially aware and responsible.
Isn’t it something on the lines of a selective humanitarian concerns syndrome, when you intentionally decide not to talk about human rights violations that don’t affect you directly?
The people who have enough time to share and spread a social media campaign on saving the Amazon forest don’t have time to quote a “Stand with Kashmir” slogan.
An intelligent friend of mine told me that Amazon forests contribute 10% of planets oxygen and as he, like any other human being, is aware that no one can breathe without oxygen, he thought to share it on Facebook. This is his logic behind it.
Another friend convinced me stating she is too busy and didn’t have time to think about Kashmir but was blessed with a few moments of boredom that she taught to be responsible about the Amazon fires. Of course, she would. It’s a matter of survival. But I doubt if we really care about the environment.
If it was like that, and if we were so kind that we care for the environment, why can’t we show kindness to those 8 million lives locked up on the valley?
So it is a sort of selective kindness, I would say.
It’s not that we shouldn’t care for the Amazon forest or for trees and animals. We should. We have to. But how can we abandon those millions of people who are denied their basic human rights? How can we just neglect them and be happy?
Kashmiris are human beings, just like you and me. And If they are the citizens of this country why are they not getting the basic rights of any other citizen living here? Moreover, why are we not concerned about it? It’s happening in India… our own country. If we don’t make noise to protect our people, our constitutional values, who will do that for us?
Why don’t we care for them, speak for them or simply upload a mere social media post, something we did for the Syrian people while we weren’t aware of Syria’s location on the world map.
This ‘selective social responsibility’ of people is killing me from inside. This is not how we should coexist. There is no humanity in this way of neglecting some social issues and considering the other. At least I believe so.
This “nothing matters” approach. This conscious silence. This biased sort of humanitarian concern. All of these indicate the death of democracy and implies how we are surrendering ourselves to power. Today it’s the Kashmiris. But be sure it may happen to you anytime.
Still…we don’t raise our voice for the people of our own country who are forced to shut their mouths for days and days.
Be silent. Until the threats of existence knock your doorsteps.
Be silent, India. Shush, Kerala.
But, history won’t forgive you for this conscious silence. History has never pardoned inhumanity.