By Kay Al for TwoCircles.net
The protest
“B, We have to go a protest today. Do you want to come too?”
“What is this protest, Acha (Dad in Malayalam)?”
“It is about a place called Kashmir. A lot of people have been killed and blinded there by the police and the army.”
“What happened there?”
“Ok, Let me tell you…..”
And so it began in the morning. We try to take our kid to human rights protests in Bengaluru whenever possible. He has attended protests demanding justice for Jisha, for manual scavenging workers who asphyxiated to death, and several others. Every protest becomes an opportunity for him to learn about that particular issue and he typically goes full tilt with his questions till he is satisfied. And no topic is taboo at home. So we are only glad to share whatever know with him. And this is how today’s discussion on Kashmir began.
What’s happening in this photo?
I was about to share some recent photo updates from Kashmir on my FB wall when he came up behind me and saw what I was doing.
“This is so sad. What has happened to him?”, on seeing the pellet ridden face of a young Kashmiri. Shocked, but unable to look away, he got on to my lap and wanted to know more.
For a split second, I was deliberating if I should show him more photos, but then I decided to go right ahead.
“Acha, that is just a little boy! How could they shoot a little boy like that?”
“Why did they beat that Appoopan (grand father in Malayalam)? They should not beat up Appooppans!”
The questions came thick and fast and just wouldn’t stop. Every photo had to be explained. In detail.
“Why do the boys have stones in their hands?”
“Why have they covered their faces while throwing stones?”
“Is that all blood on the road??”
“Acha, do the police kick girls also??”
Sometimes he would even make me revisit an earlier picture to piece together something in his mind. Like a photo of army personnel helping out Kashmiris during last year floods. Something seemed to bother him while seeing some other pic and he insisted we come back to this picture again, and then asked,
“Acha, were the police good before? Have they become bad now?” He seemed a bit puzzled when I told him that even good people do bad things because somebody else might have told them to do it.
Still he wanted to plough on.
“ Acha, show me more photos and videos from Kashmir.”
Azaadi
Soon enough, we came across a video of a young teenager leading a huge group with some impassioned sloganeering.
“Acha, what are they saying now?”
“Hum Kya Chahte, Azaadi”, went my reply.
Sure enough, then,
“What is Azaadi?”
“It means freedom”
“What is freedom?”
“Oh. Ok. Freedom is being able to decide what you want to do and also do it. Without anybody else deciding for you.”
“Oh, like how I don’t eat when I feel I am not hungry, even if you want me to”.
Smile. “Yes. Something like that”…
Fearful. Yet, In Solidarity
“Acha, I support Kashmiris”
“That’s nice. Once the fighting has stopped, do you think we should go to Kashmir so that you can tell them yourself?”
“No Acha, the police will be there. They will shoot me”, he said, with a noticeable shudder.
“Don’t worry, I will be there for you.”
“But then they will die you(sic)…”
“So what should we do then?”
“Idea. We can call them up and tell them that we support them. That our whole family supports them. That will make them really strong and then they can fight even more. Do you know somebody who has their phone numbers?”
“Sure. We can definitely find out some phone numbers. I am sure they will be very happy to know that you are supporting them.”
Nobody should die.
After a while, news filtered in that the Bangalore City Police Commissioner had revoked the permission given to this event, leading to its cancellation. Even after I had told him that the Bengaluru protest was canceled, he wouldn’t stop talking about Kashmir.
Later, when we came across a poster that he recognized to be in Malayalam, he remarked, “Acha, what does it say in Malayalam? Is it also about Kashmir”?
I told him that it was about another protest in solidarity with Kashmir that was going to be held in Kannur. He was soon disappointed to know that we would not be able to go for that one, but that didn’t deter him from asking,
“Will aunt and uncle go then?” (referring to my sister and her husband)
“I’m not sure. Do you think they should?”
“Yes, Acha. They should also go and tell them that they support Kashmir too. Everybody should do it”
“Acha, I support everybody who has died. Everybody who has died in Kashmir. Everybody who has died in man holes. It is so sad. Nobody should die. Illa Acha?
Who do you support, Acha?
P.S – While the protest in Bengaluru was postponed due to police permission being revoked, the Kannur protest saw several peaceful protesters being detained by the police. Subsequently news came in that the Calicut protest has also been canceled due to similar reasons and that the Hyderabad Central University protest was disrupted by ABVP members