Students in Kashmir have been confined to homes since August 5 last year. Photo credit-AP
Aruba
We pay taxes; we have rights. Natural and inalienable rights, that is, they belonged to us by birth and could not be taken away. Isn’t it the duty of the state to protect our natural rights? We the Children of Conflict have right to education as any other child on earth. We too want to access e-learning, take advantage of online classes, be a part of global networking on education and research etc. However all that is not for us, at least, at the moment. Though we were born free and equal in rights but time and again we feel like in chains.
On August 4 evening, Kashmir was in a state of alarm. Rumours were spreading like wild fire. The ruler had certain plans and the subjects knew nothing. When the doctrine of nationalism is being propagated like divine, how could subjects question the ruler. People were rushing from petrol pumps to ATMs, from medical stores to grocery shops and back. Scenes were chaotic.
It was getting dark, the clouds of fear and uncertainty had covered the moon light. The extraordinary security deployment, the geared up administrative machinery, arrests of political leaders etc, had kick started what was to follow. We were at home, anxious, apprehensive and to add to our agony, my Mamu was on his way back from Delhi in the night. We were so concerned about him that we had not even taken water for dinner. I was praying that whole night:
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake”
-Rabindranath Tagore
Well we all know what happened the next morning. I will not go in the political side of it. However for me as a student, it brought a sea change. Pre-August 5, we were going fine with our studies. Our plans were taking the concrete shape. Inching close towards our goals, we were like in a beautiful dream. Alas, started the nightmare. Curfew was imposed. Internet and all means of communication were snapped. Everything came to a standstill. I literally felt as if we were thrown back into the ‘Stone Age’. Being locked at home, our routine got completely disrupted. Without basic facilities of modern age, particularly with regard to education, it felt like being trapped in a cave for ages. In the age of artificial intelligence and 5G and so on, some in the administration were defending with “life before internet remarks”. Anyway, caged at home, ‘time’ started to pass slowly and it was then that I got an understanding of Einstein’s theory of relativity, ironically though.
So somehow we managed it, in the way “life before internet”. We read text books, made notes and crammed that. With winter inching closer, the formality of exams started and was soon over. As if the closure of schools post-August 5 was not enough, winter vacation was announced well ahead of winter. Again we were at the receiving end. Imagine about the students belonging to poor families. How could have they managed the expensive tuition classes? Was it a rocket science for the state to understand that the schools should be kept open throughout this winter with at least the bare minimum heating arrangements? Or didn’t it occur to the mandarins at the helm to allow internet for us to learn online? If nothing at least they could have arranged free video lectures for all of us.
Our classes had just been allowed to reopen and internet restored albeit only on 2G speed when the Coronavirus struck and we are back to square one. Thought it is a natural pandemic and probably we or state is not responsible for it, but continued restrictions on high speed internet has again thrown us deep down the gorge. Again our education is in shambles. Though world has geared-up for e-learning, home schooling, online classes and the like, all that is only a dream for us. Once we were studying normally, now we are left with almost nothing. The system claims to have provided us with sky but has chained our wings. Though children are the future of any society and education the torch of enlightenment but for us the future seems dark and the dawn far away. Are we the children of lesser God?
Aruba is student of class 12 at Government Higher Secondary School, Sherabad, Baramulla.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 | |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |