It is amazing to see that Kashmiri community, despite having such articulated people, who write in fancy public school English and who in their own way try to intellectually bring forth their well written views on why Kashmir should get “freedom” in some of the most prestigious international newspapers and journals and yet very few among Kashmir’s English proficient pro freedom upper caste Muslims ever talk about the rotten to the core social, economic ground realities and rapidly plunging intellectual atmosphere in the cursed valley of the so called “pirs and rishis”.

The vernacular Koshur speaking Muslims, whether they belong to huge number of extremely poor upper caste Muslim families or those Koshur Muslims, who belong to poor OBC / Dalit Muslim families have over last two decades been shrunk into a “critical mass”over whom “contrasting ideologies / state policies or state actions” gets played over and over again. This “critical mass” has now been reduced to as what I would call, “the trampled grass” of so many “ideology pushing ELEPHANTS”, that are currently in operation in Kashmir valley. Whether it is political ideologies ( “resistance movement”); foreign religious influences ( rise of middle eastern Salafism ) or ineffective, disastrous and uncaring official and state policies of central government in Delhi, this vast “critical mass” of poor, impoverished, semi-literate or illiterate Kashmiri Muslims, whether they live in downtown Srinagar or congested and crowded localities of cities like Varmul, Sopore, Islamabad (Anantnag) or in villages and towns of Kashmir valley, this “critical mass” that comprises of an overwhelming majority of Kashmir valley’s nearly 7 million Koshur Muslim population is now a literally “play tool” that get’s either coerced into following political and religious ideologies or gets “controlled and contained” for following the same. This “critical mass” of Kashmir’s hopeless and helpless poverty ridden, mentally and physically scarred population is the one, which faced ( and still faces) the major brunt of violence from Indian security forces that killed their menfolk, raped their women, orphaned their children, maimed and disabled them in what can be described as gross violation of human rights and mass scale indiscipline and misjudgment exercised by Indian security forces in post independence India. This “critical mass” also became victim of huge number of Kashmiri Muslim as well as non-Kashmiri Muslim jihadis pushed by Pakistan for the so called “Kashmir jihad”, who indulged in an equal and matching orgy of death and destruction upon this “critical mass” by indulging in the same kind of killing of menfolk, rape of women, orphaning of children and maiming and disabling that the Indian security forces indulged in. If ONE was not indulging in its own version of orgy of death and destruction of Kashmir, the OTHER was doing the same and vice versa and sadly, most of the times, this ONE and the OTHER would indulge in their own respective orgies of death and destruction SIMULTANEOUSLY, such was (and is) the misery of my terribly unfortunate motherland.

And, while all this was happening to Kashmir’s miserable “critical mass”, Kashmir’s small but influential section of rich and affluent or upper middle class ( upper caste) Muslims just dumped Kashmir valley en mass, leaving her hopeless, vernacular speaking miserable people to the whims and fancies of guns and violence of undisciplined Indian security forces, ruthless Kashmiri, foreign and renegade Muslim militants. While this “fortunate” section of the “creamy layer” of upper caste Kashmiri Muslims kept their nice and good looking fair complexioned wives and kids away from the harms way in secular, cosmopolitan environment of Indian cities like Delhi and Mumbai or foreign locations like middle east and for super luckiest ones, the UK, Australia and the USA, all this while, the badkismat section of Kashmir’s “critical mass” was left to lick its societal wounds ALL ALONE. The Kashmir valley, which this “creamy layer” of Anglo (English speaking ) or affluent section of Kashmiri Muslims left behind ( only to visit during extreme summer season of North Indian plains when the schools of north India, where their children studied, would have extended two month long holidays ), the same Kashmir during all these years, slowly but surely degenerated into a hell of pessimism and hopelessness, where the resultant economic and social misery, vagaries of extremist Salafi and Wahabi versions of Islam and overall social breakdown turned a once upon a time witty and articulate Koshur people into a mentally depressed and degraded society, devoid of any iota of intellectualism and hope and where young members of this “critical mass” were (and are) wasting away their lives as undisciplined, promiscuous, uninspiring, violent and drug addict directionless youth. With so much going wrong, one would think that what more could go wrong, which has not already gone wrong.

Well, Kashmir seems to have proven that WRONG can also be WRONGed.

The continuing mass burning of ( already dilapidated ) government schools of Kashmir valley and the dirty, filthy, rotten and shameless politics played over the already ruined future of the children of this “critical mass” is the last nail in the coffin of a society that is now socially depraved of all ethics and norms of a modern human civilization.

At no time has the deafening silence of the members of Kashmir’s creamy layer of well articulated English speaking pro freedom “intelligentsia” been so glaring and criminal, as it is today. A lot of Anglo upper caste Kashmiri Muslim pro freedom ideologues are products of the same Indian public schools ( where children of largely upper caste Hindus also study) or are products of their elite counterparts in Kashmir valley, where children are taught fancy Queen’s English, something poor vernacular “critical mass” of Kashmiri Muslims cannot even dream of. I personally admire the passion and conviction with which this pro-freedom intelligentsia write about what they describe as “atrocities of occupation forces” ( human right violations by Indian security forces), but their selective silence or playing down of the impact of Islamic radicalism, lawlessness and indiscipline of young Kashmiri Muslim men from the “critical mass”, the prevalence of near total social anarchy, breakdown of control of elders over the younger generation of BOTH young Koshur Muslim men and women and most IMPORTANTLY over the continuing destabilizing role of PAKISTAN and the immense power that has been unofficially vested in the intellectually devoid, regressive, extremist and uninspiring leadership of the so called “resistance movement” has now heralded Kashmir in the direction, where there is nothing but darkness, whether Kashmir gets “freedom” or remains in its present state of “occupation”.

It is surprising and at the same time intellectually very amateurish that the Anglo upper caste pro freedom Kashmiri Muslim ideologues in their virtual mad obsession with uprooting “occupational forces” is ready to sacrifice the very essence of modern human civilization and Kashmir’s very own thousands of years old distinct and unique secular and moderate Islamic way of life for a destructive and perhaps irreversible social and societal ruin to obtain that one elusive “freedom”. That is indeed not the price worth paying for the “freedom”.

Having said all the above, it is also a fact that the “creamy layer” of pro freedom Anglo upper caste Muslims is best suited for the true salvation of Kashmir’s unfortunate “critical mass”. Even though, there is a section of anti-freedom upper caste Kashmiri Muslims, who are secular, progressive and enlightened and who, from time to time try to point out the fallacies of the “free Kashmir” in its current intellectually deficient, regressive and socially inward looking mental state through their articles, blogs and posts on social sites, but their reach is rather restricted and with the condition of internet services in doldrums in Kashmir, their views won’t even have limited takers inside Kashmir valley. Also, this section of anti-freedom Koshur Muslims doesn’t have the same kind of envious audience that Kashmir’s “resistance movement” or its ” gun or stone trotting” rebellious youth enjoys and which is collectively pushing Kashmir valley’s “critical mass” into self destructive activities like burning of schools and other institutions of modernity in Kashmir valley.

The “creamy layer” of pro freedom Anglo upper caste Muslims can become that BRIDGE among various contrasting ideologies that are pulling Kashmir and its “critical mass” in different directions with disastrous results. It is high time that this section of pro freedom Anglo upper caste intelligentsia demonstrate their honesty and their true and authentic dedication towards “maaij -e- Kashmir” by criticizing every thing that should be criticized, be it the rise of radicalism in Kashmiri society; decline of majority community’s tolerance for religious minorities, Shias, non-Kashmiris like Ladakhis, Gujjar Bakarwals, secularists, atheists etc. etc. A lot of pro freedom upper caste Muslims are themselves far more articulated and progressive than the so called “leaders” of Kashmir’s “resistance movement”and it is disappointing that they choose to play second fiddle to a far more intellectually inferior set of people.

I understand that the fear of gun is all pervasive in Kashmir valley. Whether it is the gun of Indian security forces or “tehreeki tanzims”. But silence is not an option anymore. The continuing mass burning of government schools of the poor, miserable and future less “critical mass” of Kashmir’s proletarian masses is the ultimate and last warning that Kashmir is perhaps sinking in a bottomless pit of what can described as “collapsing and failing society”. Let the pro freedom Anglo upper caste Kashmiri Muslims be on the right side of the history.