Hi folks,
Hope all doing great!we should be thankful to God almighty that we are all safe and sound.
I have been to Kashmir,May last week to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Hubby wanted to visit Spain or Georgia but he was travelling alot and couldnt give passport for Spanish visa procedures. And Georgia ,I was not that interested to visit..for I was scared to fly on a fly dubai flight after their flight crash etc. Not only that last October while on our return flight from Qatar Fly dubai flight struggled in air pockets and I really got scared with the crew running and people crying etc. Since then I am too scared to fly often and I keep on praying till I or my hubby reach our destination. Since then I have decided to fly on bigger flights compared to budget airlines. And only flydubai and air arabia fly to Georgia so I was not that keen to visit Georgia. I told hubby lets go our very own Kashmir,when we have the heaven on earth why would we go to the balcony of Europe and its our country we do not need visa as well. Thus we decided on Kashmir
There is no direct flight to Srinagar. We went to Delhi and by domestic air to Srinagar. We had booked hotels and a cab with a driver for our tour. Our driver Bilal was waiting outside the airport. He was very friendly and a great companion for us. Whenever I thought about visitting Kashmir our jawans came to my mind and I have always respected them. Whenever I see an army man or army vehicle I salute them..I have always wanted to join army and am very patriotic..not only when I watch cricket! So I have been telling hubby that if we get to see army I wanna salute them and take photographs with them.
On our way from airport to house boat,(hubby arranged first night stay at a house boat in Dal lake) we could see many army check points and army men guarding places with rifles and guns..Bilal took us to our house boat through the sensitive areas of Srinagar,everywhere army men were present. I felt pity for them and was thinking where they would be eating how long they would stand still etc and my respect grew immense for them. Bilal told us how bad was the 2014 Kashmir floods and told us the roads we travelled in car were all under water and shikara rides were operated there.
The night stay at house boat and shikara ride was nice. Those house boats are stationed there unlike our Aleppy house boats. The next day we were off to Gulmarg and enroute Gulmarg I spoke to Bilal about their life. Srinagar never had movie theatres and they have not seen any movies based on Kashmir. Mostly in movies Manali is shown as Kashmir. Bilal got upset whenever he had to stop for check posts. I asked him its their duty na and its for your own security. He said what security mam..uniform pehana hai tho sab sala nikaltha hei! That was quite surprising for me I understood the respect we have for army or police in Kashmir are not applicable to Kashmiris. He said they are torturing us whether police or army. Now that the social media usage is increasing so they are under control now..or else wo ladkiyon or aurath ko ched the hai. In my concept army men were the ones to guard the chastity of Kashmiri women from terrorists. Police wanted bribe and army men were irritating them. I told him about the movie "Hyder" which left me so desperate and heart broken and Bilal said its all true about us mam..our life is miserable here. Government hume apna mantha hi nahi. More than enough power is produced in Kashmir and central government sell it to all other states of India, but we always have power cuts every day in between. They have restricted internet facilities, restricted power supply and we never felt we are a part of India. No prepaid mobiles work there you have to have a postpaid mobile number and that too signals are very weak. My hubby and me felt very disconnected from the world without internet. Even the 4 star hotel wifi were poor and many were shouting at the reception.
Next day we were off to Pahelgam. Kashmir was God's masterpiece. Wherever you look its all beauty. Bilal arranged another driver and cab for our Pahelgam sight seing. His name was Nisar and enroute to Betab valley he showed us his home stays and other properties. His driver was on leave so he himself came with us that day. Every where we went,we were asked our relegion( though obvious with my head scarf they wanted to make sure we are muslims). And when confirmed we are muslims they said "aap musalman hai ye to mubarak ki bath hai" aap musalman bhai hai isliye aapko discount kar ke detha hoon". May be those were their business tricks but it hurt me rather than pleasing me. I was startled to think if they shower so much love to their Muslim tourists wouldnt they have so much hatred towards Hindus or Christians!? I wanted to visit the famous temples at Amarnath etc but was scared to go there as I felt how will the people react there for me being a Muslim!
On our way back from Betab valley,Nisar took us to his house treated us very well and we were served home made Kashmiri kawa and breads. His neice spoke Hindi where as his wife spoke only Kashmiri. His neice stopped her studies after 12th as she had to travel long way to join a college. Nisar asked us "aap logon ke lagtha hai kya yahan jo bhi ho raha hai wo sab Pakisthan karthe hai? Aap log yahan ka pahad dekho borders dekho insan ko bahuth mushkil hai wo sab par kar ke Hindusthan mein aana..or border me sab fouji bhi hain. Ye sab andhar ka khel hai..kaun kartha hai or kyon wo Allah ko maloom" .
That night we got late after dinner and there was no cab or horse available to get back to our hotel. As we were asking the restraunt owner how to get a cab, a man aged 27 asked hubby's name when said Mohammed Rafeeque he said aap tho apna musalman bhai hai chalo mein aapko chod detha hoon. When asked he was an engineer and his name was Farhan. He said there were only Muslims in Kashmir Hindus are settled in Jammu. They ran away from Kashmir. Kashmir and her people exist only because of Pakisthan..Pakisthan ke darr ke mare Hindusthan army ko bhej the hai yahan. Nahi tho hum log kab ka Pakisthan mein rah gaya. Hindusthan ko nahi chahiye hume..ye prestige issue hai isliye hume torture karthe hain. Power nahi, kuch bhi nahi humare liye. Koyi bhi government kuch nahi kartha humare liye!!
I went to Kashmir with so much respect for Indian army and Indian government for protecting Kashmir and her people,but came back hurt disappointed and shattered. I did not salute any army man I saw in Kashmir and did not take photograph as well. They are doing their duty,they get paid for that and their family also benefit from that. Once their Kashmir duty is over they leave to other parts of India. But the miserable life of Kashmiris continue the same. I am not against Indian army or Indian government,but do consider them as our own people. The recent riots in Kashmir hurt me. I messaged Bilal when I saw the news he has not responded yet. Hope he and his family is safe. Not only him all the faces I saw on Kashmir haunted me those nights.
Kashmir is a prestige issue to India and Pakisthan. But has anyone thought about the miserable life of Kashmiris? Many of them are wounded, arrested and not seen again..and the wounds in their heart will never ever heal. Its high time we do something for them. Now I know why no government is ready to ask their choice.
Kashmir was the heaven on earth, please do not make a hell out of it..even if we cant make it heaven any more. I support and pray for Kashmir.
Hope all doing great!we should be thankful to God almighty that we are all safe and sound.
I have been to Kashmir,May last week to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Hubby wanted to visit Spain or Georgia but he was travelling alot and couldnt give passport for Spanish visa procedures. And Georgia ,I was not that interested to visit..for I was scared to fly on a fly dubai flight after their flight crash etc. Not only that last October while on our return flight from Qatar Fly dubai flight struggled in air pockets and I really got scared with the crew running and people crying etc. Since then I am too scared to fly often and I keep on praying till I or my hubby reach our destination. Since then I have decided to fly on bigger flights compared to budget airlines. And only flydubai and air arabia fly to Georgia so I was not that keen to visit Georgia. I told hubby lets go our very own Kashmir,when we have the heaven on earth why would we go to the balcony of Europe and its our country we do not need visa as well. Thus we decided on Kashmir
There is no direct flight to Srinagar. We went to Delhi and by domestic air to Srinagar. We had booked hotels and a cab with a driver for our tour. Our driver Bilal was waiting outside the airport. He was very friendly and a great companion for us. Whenever I thought about visitting Kashmir our jawans came to my mind and I have always respected them. Whenever I see an army man or army vehicle I salute them..I have always wanted to join army and am very patriotic..not only when I watch cricket! So I have been telling hubby that if we get to see army I wanna salute them and take photographs with them.
On our way from airport to house boat,(hubby arranged first night stay at a house boat in Dal lake) we could see many army check points and army men guarding places with rifles and guns..Bilal took us to our house boat through the sensitive areas of Srinagar,everywhere army men were present. I felt pity for them and was thinking where they would be eating how long they would stand still etc and my respect grew immense for them. Bilal told us how bad was the 2014 Kashmir floods and told us the roads we travelled in car were all under water and shikara rides were operated there.
The night stay at house boat and shikara ride was nice. Those house boats are stationed there unlike our Aleppy house boats. The next day we were off to Gulmarg and enroute Gulmarg I spoke to Bilal about their life. Srinagar never had movie theatres and they have not seen any movies based on Kashmir. Mostly in movies Manali is shown as Kashmir. Bilal got upset whenever he had to stop for check posts. I asked him its their duty na and its for your own security. He said what security mam..uniform pehana hai tho sab sala nikaltha hei! That was quite surprising for me I understood the respect we have for army or police in Kashmir are not applicable to Kashmiris. He said they are torturing us whether police or army. Now that the social media usage is increasing so they are under control now..or else wo ladkiyon or aurath ko ched the hai. In my concept army men were the ones to guard the chastity of Kashmiri women from terrorists. Police wanted bribe and army men were irritating them. I told him about the movie "Hyder" which left me so desperate and heart broken and Bilal said its all true about us mam..our life is miserable here. Government hume apna mantha hi nahi. More than enough power is produced in Kashmir and central government sell it to all other states of India, but we always have power cuts every day in between. They have restricted internet facilities, restricted power supply and we never felt we are a part of India. No prepaid mobiles work there you have to have a postpaid mobile number and that too signals are very weak. My hubby and me felt very disconnected from the world without internet. Even the 4 star hotel wifi were poor and many were shouting at the reception.
Next day we were off to Pahelgam. Kashmir was God's masterpiece. Wherever you look its all beauty. Bilal arranged another driver and cab for our Pahelgam sight seing. His name was Nisar and enroute to Betab valley he showed us his home stays and other properties. His driver was on leave so he himself came with us that day. Every where we went,we were asked our relegion( though obvious with my head scarf they wanted to make sure we are muslims). And when confirmed we are muslims they said "aap musalman hai ye to mubarak ki bath hai" aap musalman bhai hai isliye aapko discount kar ke detha hoon". May be those were their business tricks but it hurt me rather than pleasing me. I was startled to think if they shower so much love to their Muslim tourists wouldnt they have so much hatred towards Hindus or Christians!? I wanted to visit the famous temples at Amarnath etc but was scared to go there as I felt how will the people react there for me being a Muslim!
On our way back from Betab valley,Nisar took us to his house treated us very well and we were served home made Kashmiri kawa and breads. His neice spoke Hindi where as his wife spoke only Kashmiri. His neice stopped her studies after 12th as she had to travel long way to join a college. Nisar asked us "aap logon ke lagtha hai kya yahan jo bhi ho raha hai wo sab Pakisthan karthe hai? Aap log yahan ka pahad dekho borders dekho insan ko bahuth mushkil hai wo sab par kar ke Hindusthan mein aana..or border me sab fouji bhi hain. Ye sab andhar ka khel hai..kaun kartha hai or kyon wo Allah ko maloom" .
That night we got late after dinner and there was no cab or horse available to get back to our hotel. As we were asking the restraunt owner how to get a cab, a man aged 27 asked hubby's name when said Mohammed Rafeeque he said aap tho apna musalman bhai hai chalo mein aapko chod detha hoon. When asked he was an engineer and his name was Farhan. He said there were only Muslims in Kashmir Hindus are settled in Jammu. They ran away from Kashmir. Kashmir and her people exist only because of Pakisthan..Pakisthan ke darr ke mare Hindusthan army ko bhej the hai yahan. Nahi tho hum log kab ka Pakisthan mein rah gaya. Hindusthan ko nahi chahiye hume..ye prestige issue hai isliye hume torture karthe hain. Power nahi, kuch bhi nahi humare liye. Koyi bhi government kuch nahi kartha humare liye!!
I went to Kashmir with so much respect for Indian army and Indian government for protecting Kashmir and her people,but came back hurt disappointed and shattered. I did not salute any army man I saw in Kashmir and did not take photograph as well. They are doing their duty,they get paid for that and their family also benefit from that. Once their Kashmir duty is over they leave to other parts of India. But the miserable life of Kashmiris continue the same. I am not against Indian army or Indian government,but do consider them as our own people. The recent riots in Kashmir hurt me. I messaged Bilal when I saw the news he has not responded yet. Hope he and his family is safe. Not only him all the faces I saw on Kashmir haunted me those nights.
Kashmir is a prestige issue to India and Pakisthan. But has anyone thought about the miserable life of Kashmiris? Many of them are wounded, arrested and not seen again..and the wounds in their heart will never ever heal. Its high time we do something for them. Now I know why no government is ready to ask their choice.
Kashmir was the heaven on earth, please do not make a hell out of it..even if we cant make it heaven any more. I support and pray for Kashmir.
No comments:
Post a Comment