Indian Kashmir violence claims Education as another Victim

Thousands of teenagers in Indian Kashmir have been involved in violent, often deadly, pro-independence protests for months -- and Ali Raza's friends expected him to be in the middle of the mob.

But instead of throwing stones at security forces, Raza, 17, and his three cousins slipped away in September at the height of the unrest that engulfed Kashmir for much of the summer.

"My parents booked our air tickets to New Delhi, arranged for our stay and instructed us to apply to a college for the next academic year," said Raza, who is now in the Indian capital studying for the college's entrance exam.

Raza says he topped his class in Srinagar, the main town in Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir, and he is keen to pursue a career in banking.

"The recent violence made it clear that if I want to do something meaningful with my life then I needed to get out of Kashmir and maybe never return," he said.

"My old school friends back there now call me 'an infidel living in the enemy state of India'."

Young men wearing masks and chanting slogans against India have been at the forefront of furious separatist rallies in Indian Kashmir, pelting police and paramilitary troops with stones and rocks.

The security forces often opened fire in return, and 111 civilians were shot dead between June and October, most of them teenage students.

The rallies have declined in recent weeks after New Delhi released 50 jailed protesters, removed some security bunkers in Srinagar, and pledged to seek justice for families of victims.

Reflecting the climate of fear in the region, Raza and his cousins declined to be photographed by AFP in case their families still living in Kashmir were targeted by hardline separatists who disapprove of people leaving.

Life has often been at a standstill in Kashmir as groups campaigning for independence from India called repeated strikes and as the state government imposed curfews that trapped people indoors for days or even weeks at a time.

As a part of their ongoing "Quit Kashmir Campaign", separatist leaders have issued calendars every ten days declaring when strikes would be held.

"Nobody looks at the regular calendar, we check the strike calendar to see whether it is another day in the house," Muslim Jan, a lecturer in mass communication at the state-owned Kashmir University, told AFP by telephone.

"The violence has meant that the few students who can afford to, leave. Education is a major casualty of the violence."

All schools and colleges, government offices, banks, businesses and shops have remained closed for much of the last four months due to strikes and curfews.

Residents confined inside their homes become increasingly angry and frustrated.

"There is a huge sense of disillusionment. During my lectures, students shout and urge me to stop promoting peace or equality," said Mirza Rangrej, a teacher of sociology.

"My school was open just ten days out of 90 this summer. Some schools email their pupils but there are many students who do not have computers at home.

"They just sit idle, watch television all day and listen about the violence and bloodshed from their parents."

Exam timetables have also been wrecked, with no testing to decide who has graduated.

Syed Ali Geelani, a veteran separatist politician who has been organising the strikes and protests, justifies the disruption "as a petty sacrifice in the war of freedom waged against India."

"We want freedom and in this battle people of Kashmir will have to sacrifice education, property and even life," he told AFP.

Kashmir was the first Indian state to declare free and compulsory education in 1951 but the damage to education today threatens further problems for the region in the future.

"The government thinks unemployment is the biggest problem but they cannot tell us how youths will get jobs if they do not study and get qualifications," said a senior staff member at the Jammu and Kashmir state-run bank in Srinagar.

"My two teenage boys are not being allowed to study today, no one will give them a job tomorrow."

Source-http://thisismyindia.com