Kupwara, Aug 4 (ANI): Conflict in any form has a devastating effect not only in terms of violence, destruction of lives and property, collapse of services and compromised pace of development but in more unseen ways, which are equally devastating. The effects of protracted conflict are insidious, marring the psyche of the people, causing injury which are not visible but causing immense pain, trauma.
If we look at Kashmir today, the evidence of such injuries are apparent. The region which has seen bloodshed and violence in so many forms has given rise to a generation which has not known peace. Apart from the actual flash-points and fall-out of this violence, is an underlying tension, sense of insecurity that does not leave the people.
Like the youth anywhere, there are questions, a seeking of answers beyond what their previous generation has to offer. But living in this kind of compromised peace, the answers are harder to find. Evidence of changing patterns are becoming apparent.
Kashmiri society has always inculcated a respect for elders. This is now changing. Abiding by the views of parents, listening to their advice, directions, all of this has been replaced by hardened attitudes. When confrontation between the generations reaches a flash-point, things get worse and often out of control.
More and more Kashmiri youth are attempting suicide. This has been a growing phenomenon and recent reports have shown that since January 2011, about 35 young people, both men and women made attempts to commit suicide in Handwara and Kupwara districts of North Kashmir.
Often the trigger for taking this extreme step seems petty. On June 21, following an altercation over a mobile phone, newlyweds, Mehraj-ud-Din Wani, 35 years and his wife Rukhsana living in Khan Mohalla Punzwa village in Vilgam Handwara consumed a poisonous substance, they found at home. They were spared a painful death, being rushed by others in the area to Sub District Hospital at Kupwara where doctors washed their stomach and after a day of observation, discharged them.
In the same week, there was a report of an unfortunate incident from Dardpora village, Kupwara district .An unmarried woman in her 20s, following a heated argument with her parents about household matters, gulped down what turned out to be lethal poison. She succumbed before any attempts to save her.
The toll is adding up to a very disturbing picture. Over the these last six months of the year, seventeen FIR's of 'serious nature 'related to suicide attempts have been registered in police stations in Kupwara and Handwara districts. Nine women and three men lost their lives while the remaining four women and one man had a narrow escape.
Suicide in Kashmir is not an isolated phenomenon. It is related to the larger social, economic and political dimensions of the region as it lurches from one phase of violence and strife to another.
According to Mr. Manzoor Hussain, who teaches sociology at University of Kashmir, there is an endemic fear, turmoil, depression within society. Late marriages are becoming a pattern in Kashmir which brings with it attendant problems of frustration, of rootlessness amongst the youth. Social evils like dowry which have existed over time add to the worsening situation.
There are probably no easy answers but there is a growing concern on how to stem this tide, how to orient young people to create a more peaceful and stable life for themselves. Mr. Hussain advocates inclusion of 'Moral Education' in curriculum, a revisiting of foundational principles and valuesfor the youth to imbibe. This he feels could help in finding answers to the stress and trauma faced by the youth.
In fact, this view finds a resonance, in an even more specific way. Maulana Mohd Iqbal, President 'Wefaq ul Madaris' (a body of Madrasas), Kupwara, relates the increase in suicidal tendencies amongst youth to leniency reflected by parents and Ulema towards the tenets of Islam. This dilution of core religious orientation is exacerbating the situation and pushing the young people towards this extreme step.
In Kashmir, the social fabric of society has been under strain for long years now. Young people are very much a part of this and infact like the youth everywhere, need a hand that steadies them, guidance that helps their lives come on to some track and equally important, a resilience and perspective that comes from an ethos, spiritual and cultural.
Understandably there are no simplistic solutions to this complex problem. There are many factors operating. Chief Medical Officer Kupwara, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Khan believes, people have easy accessibility to organic-phosphorous (poisonous substances). He also is of the view, that the trigger for sudden rise in suicides is domestic situations and their inability to overcome problems, big or small.
He feels the leaders in our society need to address the issue, to focus on creating awareness, sensitising people to the dangers that the youth sometimes teeter on. A top police officer, on conditions of anonymity said that the youth lack moral and religious education and take extreme steps over minor issues.
The challenges before the youth in Kashmir are immense, The Charkha Development Communication network feels that they are troubled today and the avenues to help them overcome these seem to be inadequate. Perhaps what they require is understanding from society and their leaders at a more expansive, deeper level.
To combine the moral and religious aspects of dealing with youth with practical steps for their routine problems, the obstacles they face within the family or in society. For it is the youth that the future is based on and what will shape the region's development, its road to a peace and harmony. By Shahjahan Afzal (ANI)
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