I remember once my children bought a parrot from an old man who had succeeded in convincing them that the parrot would imitate every word uttered by the people around. Moreover he assured them that the parrot didn’t know how to fly; so it won’t be able to escape even if the door of the cage remained open, intentionally or mistakenly. All these characteristics were no doubt very appealing to the inexperienced ‘buyers’ so they were overjoyed by their purchase. More than a week passed away; the children tried all their best but the parrot uttered not even a single sound. They thought that this silence was because of the change of place and the change of surroundings. So it was unanimously decided that the parrot must be given an opportunity of strolling in the lush green garden in the backyard. They were very much confident that the parrot won’t be able to fly away as it was born in the cage and never had an experience of using his wings. So the door of the cage was left open but the parrot seemed unwilling to step out.
The children kept on observing it sitting in a hidden corner thinking that the parrot didn’t even know how to walk in the open area as it was born in a cage. Astonishingly, just after the delay of a few moments, looking cautiously hither and thither, it stepped out of the cage, then pushed itself to a hanging branch of a plant, then jumped on to another a little higher one and then in blinking of an eye, it was soaring above and above into the open sky, screaming joyously, celebrating its freedom and liberty. I told my disappointed children; you could never suppress the natural instincts; a bird is made to fly; it never needs any experience or training for the purpose.
According to a report prepared by the World Population Census, in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, in 2011 the total population there was 1.25 Crores. The number reached 1.51 Crores in 2021 and 1.54 Crores in 2022. Last year 2023, it was 1.56 Crores (15,620,000). During all these years, the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir witnessed the birth of millions of ‘new-borns’— who were in the true sense of the phrase ‘born in the cage’. The authorities there are misguided by the notion that the Kashmiris ‘born in the cage’ could never have a desire for freedom and liberty as they never have tasted it. That is the miscalculation which is leading the authorities to a blind alley of misunderstanding resulting in human rights violations and atrocities. Be it a parrot or a human being born in a cage, it is simply against his instinct to remain in shackles without any desire of getting freed. We see in the Indian Illegally Occupied states of Jammu & Kashmir, the Kashmiris born in the last three decades are playing a more effervescent and more active role in the freedom movement though they were ‘born in the cage’.
Recently when on 20th of June 2024, Narendra Modi commenced his first two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir after taking charge as the prime minister for the third time, the Kashmiri youth ‘welcomed’ him with pro-freedom slogans like ‘Killer, killer, Modi, killer’, and ‘Go Modi, go back’. These anti-Modi demonstrations were participated by a large number of citizens and most of the protestors belonged to the youth. At some places the sculptures of Narendra Modi were also set on fire. Talking to the media, some leaders of the Kashmiri youth said, “We consider Modi as the killer of thousands of Kashmiri citizens. If Narendra Modi has moral courage, he should come forward for Plebiscite in Jammu & Kashmir.” They were of the opinion that Narendra Modi’s visit to Srinagar under the guard of soldiers is a moral defeat for him.
Indian Illegally Occupied states of Jammu and Kashmir are simply ‘disputed territories’ from every angle. The people of these states are in no way ready to accept this illegal occupation of India and no one could create any hurdle in their way to independence. Though the visit of Mr. Modi has ended, the protest is still going on. There is still a complete shutdown in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir in protest against the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Addressing the protestors in Srinagar, the leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference said that Modi’s visit was nothing but an attempt to mislead the international community about the real situation in the occupied territory. They invited the attention of the international community to take immediate action to resolve the Kashmir dispute as this dispute has become a grave threat to the regional peace. International media has reported the killing of two Kashmiri youngsters by the Indian security forces during the protest. This brutality of the Indian security forces has added a lot to the enormity of the situation in Srinagar and adjoining areas.
The most important point to be noted here is that in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, wherever a protest is staged, most of the protestors, most of the speakers, most of the people holding placards and banners and most of the strikers chanting anti-Modi slogans belong to the youth ranging from eighteen to thirty years of age. They are all those who were born in the Cage but no one has yet succeeded in suppressing their innate desire of freedom and crushing their natural instinct of struggling for the Liberation of their motherland.
—The writer is Principal of a Government College and senior columnist, based in Multan.
