Kashmir on Facebook, a View from outside…….

BY: Rebecca Mary Trachsel
Asalamu Alaikum

May you and your families be blessed with safety courage and endurance always….

A question that arises again and again : what difference does activism in social networking make on ground level? Is there any? Does it help? Why does Kashmir need it despite all the groundlevel work that has to be done as it is being done by people who are not even in here and are invisible to most of us.
Well, I will give you what I see and any mistakes or misconceptions are mine and I want to hear from you. I want critisism, suggestions, ideas .. all that belongs to an understanding and the possiblity to go the root of it all. To once and for all get Kashmir out of a very trying time of sacrifices of pain and loss and yes the anger too, the sense of guilt, of shame and feeling abandonend by the world at large.
Social networking if done in the right way makes a huge difference. It helps to connect to learn to listen and share information and stay connected no matter what. Kashmir in this time has been able to connect to people outside, private and public, who care and are doing what they can to help bring along true freedom true independence for Kashmir and it’s people. For this we need pages who update who challenge who question who don’t stop even after being hacked ( and hack right back ). We haveAalaw,Hoshaar Jamaath,Frontline Kashmir,Awaaz, LookKashmir, insideKASHMIR. we have individuals likeKasheer Koshur,Koshur Mazloom,Mark Adonis, Ayaan Hassan, Irfan Kashmiri, IBN Kashmir, Davood Kashmiri, Born Stone Pelterand many more, the list is too long to ever be complete, who are giving all the hours of the day and weeks to contribute to act and activate.
Over the months I have seen a great change .. from desparation and doubt , that we are here and we will not give up. Sosometimes everybody gets tired, it’s normal. Sometimes all we feel like doing is taking out a gun a bomb and blast away in total fury and anger. Sometimes we feel like we are going to crash for sure, that all was for nought. And then one of us stands up again and yells really loud and it works. It can be anyone and that is the beauty of this. Instead of waiting for a rather lopsided gov to tell us what to do we are acting using our brains and our hearts. We are learning about using decent language (gosh the language I used to see in the beginning, am I am not fainthearted but oh wow) we are learning how to constructively critisize and listen to each other. Yes it’s not all rosy and wonderful by far but there is a change. I’ll go with that change, nurture it and try to not let the past dictate us but teach us where we we went wrong and correct the mistake.
What does this do on ground level? Well that is for you to say and I want to hear about it. How has it affected you and the area you are living in? Has there been true support of the families who lost all,who have wounded ones who need constant help now? Are the families of the Shaheeds being honoured and respected not in words only but in deeds?
Ultimately any idea any concept is only going to work if it is practiced in real life. Facebook and all the other mediums are exactly that, mediums. It is we who are the actors the creators not the medium. One of my sons sometimes goes nearly bananas with all this virtuality, he is a physical being. Well that is what he can do and does do. Each of us has a place in this, each of us has a strength an ability that does make a difference. MC Kash with his music, Mark Adonis with his heartripping poetry, Shahid Ikbal with his stream of consciousness are as vital as is Koshur Mazloom with his articles that sometimes go booom and all are rudely awakened. Again the list is endless you know who you are and each of you counts. Keep working keep creating keep using those brilliant minds of yours and know that only by being honest by being critical will we get out and through this tunnel.
As a healer let me add this. When it gets really dark the doors open inside us to come back and grow beyond what we were before it got dark. Let yourselves be guided by your intuition and your faith in Allah. Don’t ever let India and all the other elements tell you who you are and what you are supposed to believe in or do. This is about more than freedom from terrorism, it’s about your own personal discovery of what freedom truly means. Feel it live it and dare to go where your mind and heart kept interfering and crosswiring before.
I am blessed to know such an amazing people. Sometimes you drive me crazy with your bouncing back and forth, your heavy handedness when mistakes come to the surface. But what hits me again and again is your heart your courage and your willingness to give it all. Truly when Azaadi comes into actual being we will all look back on this time and think holy canolly we did it. We ensured the future of our beloved Kashmir. It will take more time than we dare admit but that is a good thing. We want a stable foundation and no more skeletons in the closet. That takes time. Let us make the most of it and dare to amaze ourselves and the world. One day Insha Allah we will!
Allah Nigehbaaan

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