Young boys and girls made everyone tearful as they sang a moving song at a bustling roundabout here on Friday at the conclusion of a rally they staged to condemn incessant human rights abuses particularly the use of bullets and pellets on innocent people in Kashmir amid ‘criminal silence’ of the international community.
“Humai’n zinda rehne do, humai’n hansta rehne do (let us live, let us laugh),” chorused the members of Kashmir Children Assembly at Azadi Chowk just outside the press club Muzaffarabad.
The lyrics depicting the quest of Kashmiri children facing torturous conditions in Kashmir for peace bedewed the eyes of every listener.
The children were holding dozens of placards inscribed with heart-rending slogans and pictures of their caged and injured brethren across the unmarked Line of Control (LoC).
“Bullets are killing us, pellets are blinding us. Why the world conscience is asleep?” read one placard.
Another placard was inscribed with a question for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. “How many more dead you want (to see) in Kashmir?
Of many demonstrations staged by people from different walks of life in Muzaffarabad over the past two months, in the aftermath of the killing of young militant commander Burhan Wani, the protest organized by Kashmir Children Assembly, a brainchild of militant leader turned peace activist Tanvir ul Islam, was the most impressive one.
The demonstration had another unique feature as well.
Students of Sawera Model School, an educational project launched by Islam some two decades ago for the children of the victims of Kashmir conflict, dropped their lunch boxes at a table on the premises of the press club, in a symbolic gesture of solidarity with children across the divide.
The colorful boxes were filled with the food students had brought from their homes to consume during midday break.
“No lunch today in solidarity with our brethren across the Line of Control,” read a banner they displayed behind the table.
Two students, both belonging to divided Kashmiri families, also spoke to media on the occasion.
“Children are innocent like angles, but it’s ironical that they are facing nightmarish conditions at the hands of forces in Kashmir,” said Fazeelat Fatima, an 8th grade student in Sawera Model School.
“For the last 62 days the children of Kashmir are virtually caged, in their own homeland, which was once a paradise on earth but now a living hell,” she added.
Mashayem Shoaib, a 10th grade student, said that the demonstration was held to express solidarity not just with the children, but also with all those suffering in any way in Kashmir.
“We are here to tell them that they are not alone, we stand by them,” he said.
Making an appeal to the international community on behalf of Kashmiri children, he stressed that the world should not remain silent on the gruesome situation in Kashmir because the very silence had been encouraging India to continue its killing spree.
“You should come forward and pool your sincere and dedicated efforts to resolve the lingering Kashmir problem at the earliest not only to establish the long cherished peace in our motherland but also ensure a promising future for us,” Shoaib said to the world community.
Islam and renowned columnist Syed Arif Bahar also spoke on the occasion, urging the UN and international community to hear the voice of Kashmiri children in the interest of global peace.