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Writer's pictureCivil Services Forum

'A Postcard from the City of Saints'



Hello! My name is Sayed Sayam Ul Rehman and I am a student of St. Stephen's College, Delhi. I come from Jammu and Kashmir, and it's Poonch district is what I call home...

The first image that pops out of anyone's mind on hearing the name of this area is something astonishing to me. "Oh! the border prone area near the LOC which suffers a lot of shelling from Pakistan side?..", they say. With just a subtle smile my usual reply is this, "Yes it is!." In conversing with friends, I am asked a lot of questions.."how do the people manage to live in such a disturbed area?", "How do you all go about your daily activities during the ceasefire ?", "Have you ever been a victim of a shelling? " These are all usually some introductory questions that I'm bound to address when I meet someone. Answering their queries and listening to my response never does take much effort but being thousands miles away they can not feel and experience first- hand what I experience daily. I have seen and watched everything unfold with my keen eyes but in the whole process of dictation there is loss of the physical presence that I have been the victim of. What I'm trying to bring out is the much needed emphasis of the feelings of the people , the kind of problems they are going through and not merely the arbitrary imposition of rules.

I would drag myself to ask and what the need of the hour is." The crumbling down of the democratic institutions in India and its protection". For my part, the issues in my village and district are not as severe compared to what has been happening in the other parts of the country. Its been 73 years since our India has liberated itself from the chains of the Britishers.

But the question we are faced with is whether we are really free from all the chaos and disorder? "

Alas! it does not seem so. Its not my answer but the perception of a larger majority. You can ask the same question to an illiterate , and his or her response might be same. In the whole cosmos philosophers and great political thinkers employed India's democracy as a yardstick in order to compare it with other sections of society because our founding fathers worked very hard in framing the Constitution [ Booklet of laws , rule and regulations] so that each individual of the country would exercise equal rights and will get what is best for them in the society. Today however, it all appears to be a mere dream of a Utopian world and the dream of our founding fathers is limited within the four walls of the constitution as the ground level situation is quite disappointing.

Allow me to explain this proposition: People in our country think that by managing 3 meals a day, having a government job, getting salary from the govt at the end of every month and sending their children in the best elite school; they are living in a peaceful democratic country . What actual happening around them is seemingly none of their business.When these people hear any news of lynching minorities they just remark " Media Valun Ko To Kuch Milta Nahi News Kalia " . When they hear any rape news rather than supporting they criticize the victim. Even a failing economy is a boring issue for them. But on the other hand, news on matters of religion would create an uproar that could last days on end. People just waste their whole time in these types of impregnable issues and get indulge in proving who is right and who is wrong .This is the situation of our present India. What I'm much more concerned about is " Who will think and talk about the real issues which India is facing right now?" Who will fight for the rights of poor and their freedom?Who will focus their attention towards the failing economy and the deteriorated situation of the country? All these questions are to be on every citizens mind. And finding the answer of all these must not be so difficult . I don't mean to say that every citizen is selfish and only caring about themselves, fortunately there are people who are aware and well aware of these issues which India is countering right now.

In the 90's a famous Urdu poet Dr. Allama Iqbal said: "Na Samjo Gay To Mit Gaoo Gay Ae Hindustaan Valoo Tumhari Dastaan Tak Na Raheghee Dastanun Mai." His message to the youth of the country is that it is time when we have to unite and stand together without any Caste and racial differences and to salvage people from distress.We have to come out and do something to rejuvenate the conscience of democracy among the citizens and to make them aware of the direction that India is moving towards day by day . Its a collective effort only that will make people to open the blind cuffs that they are wearing right now and we should ensure our effective participation in decision the making process in order to check the government from working in an authoritarian manner.

An article by, Sayed Sayam UI Rehman

Student at St.Stephen's College,

BA Programme (Batch of 2021)

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