The Hindu : Rage against the dying of the light

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 27, 2003

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Rage against the dying of the light

By Syeda Saiyidain Hameed

It was Dylan Thomas who said, "Do not go gentle into the good night/ Rage, rage against the dying of the light." On Tuesday evening, some of us, ordinary citizens and concerned people of Delhi raged. We stood on Sansad Marg, across the road from Park Hotel, in solidarity with the Kashmiri Pandits whose families had been gunned down in Nadimarg village in Pulwama district of south Kashmir. We were mourning the killing of 24 innocent villagers and demanding justice for the survivors. Not even the most hard-hearted cynic could keep a dry eye reading the blow-by-blow account of the event on March 25.

The pathos of a handful Pandits who had for 12 years braved the scourge of terrorism and chosen to stay back in their beloved Valley, is an expression of the most depraved mentality. Beasts masquerading as humans in military fatigues brutally gunned down the last of them sparing neither the smallest baby nor the most venerable elder. These families had stayed back from the early 1990s on the strength of support they got from their neighbours. These very neighbours, Muslim women and men, were seen on TV screens and in photographs, crowding around the grieving families, speechless with the horror they had witnessed with their own eyes. And those who perpetrated the heinous massacre, will to their dying day, carry the guilt not only of taking 24 innocent lives but also of having tried to deal a death blow to very ethos of Kashmiriyat.

In this land of Sufis, made sacred by the teachings of Nund Reshi and Lalla Arifa, who are these shaitani forces which kill innocent children, women and men to create terror. Every time innocent blood is spilt in Kashmir whether of Muslims, Sikhs or Hindus we read about `unidentified gunmen' who enter at the dead of night, force the villagers to line up for identification or tell them that they have cordon and search orders.

Having lined up their prey, their guns then splatter innocent bodies with bullets. Children's small bodies are seen riddled with holes, before they are covered with white sheets. Women beat their breasts when they see the faces of their loved ones for the last time before the last rites are performed.

One entire generation of Kashmiris has been lost in this 12-year dance of death. Can we forget the face of Prof. Mushirul Haq, Vice-Chancellor, Kashmir University, when he was gunned down in 1991? Or the face of Abdul Gani Lone who was showered with bullets last year? Or the mass killings of Sikhs in Chattisinghpora three years ago. Or Abdul Majeed Dar of Sopore two days ago and now the Kashmiri Pandits. Kashmir has been a gallery of horrors.

On Tuesday, we all stood up. There was not much planning or mobilisation. People came out spontaneously, nothing was more important than standing on Sansad Marg for the victims of Pulwama. A few of us spread the word and in a matter of two hours we had representatives of over 30 civil society organisations such as the Women's Initiative for Peace in South Asia, the All-India Democratic Women's Association, the Indian Social Institute, Sangat, the Aman Ekta Manch, the Muslim Women's Forum, Guild of Service, Jagori, Saheli, Action Aid, the Women's Federation for World Peace, North Eastern Network and Servants of People Society plus many, many individuals who came in their personal capacity.

Our message was clear; namely, we won't let this go on. We won't allow the peace process to be derailed. We are one with the Kashmiris in their moment of sorrow. We demand that the central and state government ensure that they will ruthlessly crush all elements who will try to use this event for political gain. No reprisals, justice for the families, and protection for the minorities. We will not go gentle into the good night.

(The writer is Convener, Muslim Women's Forum.)

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