Pharaohs Always Drown in Aqua Hubris!
By Mohajer Ansari
US
When the famous 13th century mystic poet Amīr Khusro penned this couplet, he never revealed which earthly ‘paradise’ he was referring to:
Gar firdaus bar roo-e-zameen ast If there is a paradise on the face of this earth
Hameen ast, o hameen ast, o hameen ast. This is the one, this very one, yes this very one.
Two centuries later, the Mughal emperor Jahangir sees the flawless beauty of Kashmir. He is captivated by this natural Siren and involuntarily utters the same couplet, thus immortalizing the heavenly valley of Kashmir and its splendor. Beauty of Kashmir still mesmerizes. The snowy peaks hugging the valley are as young as ever. Tourists still love to be haunted and absorbed by its lush forests. The Dal Lake is as beautiful and romantic as ever. The simple Kashmiris rowing their shikaras still win strangers’ hearts. The word guest does not exist: when you are in Kashmir, you are home. Most Kashmiris are poor but even Pamir Plateau envies the expanse of their hospitality! Modi mob intends to change all that.
Now, one can see the blood of innocents streaking the snow and tears of mothers muddying the Dal. And, who can forget the forests reverberating with the helpless shrieks of 12-year old Faizan Fayaz Dar, whom Indian paramilitary forces shot dead on April 14, 2017?
On Monday, August 5, Modi revoked the special status of Muslim-dominated Kashmir without any rhyme or reason. He justified this as an election promise to his zealot base – the base that now regards Mahatma Gandhi as a traitor, his assassin Nathuram a national hero and Taj Mahal a creation of Ashoka (or is it Ram, now)? Kashmir is under round-the-clock curfew with heavy presence of army and paramilitary personnel. Prominent regional and state level politicians and leaders are under house arrest. The unprecedented communication block on landlines, mobile and internet is reminiscent of the bygone Soviet era. This unconstitutional thuggery by narcissist Modi and his BJP cohorts is another political maneuvering to humiliate a select minority.
For the past seven decades, the barbaric onslaught of Indian army has been incessantly robbing Kashmir’s innocence, character, life and ultimately its soul. What began as a slow and imperceptible attack in mid-twentieth century, turned by the end of 20th and early 21st century into a calculated, vicious and extremely vindictive spasm of sheer hatred. Modi usurped Kashmir, but has anyone heard any protest from the self-righteous Arundhati Roy or her ‘conscious’ comrades against this unconstitutional overture?
What the world is witnessing is a well-choreographed blueprint of extermination: Kashmir just happens to be enroute that rendezvous. Anthropologists and historians are busy analyzing the bouts of ‘Aryan’ and ‘European’ zealotry, which has ultimately morphed into ‘White’ supremacy globally. They have failed to register the steady rise of ‘Brown’ fundamentalism: a diabolical tool of self-superiorized and self-grandiosed Indian majority.
Every facet of India is rife with deep-rooted racism, be it the political corridors, journalistic columns or alleys of Mumbai, Kolkota or Delhi! This disposition is not new. Historically, it started with the arrival of Moghuls in the subcontinent. They ruled India for several centuries. By all counts, they treated their subjects with great tolerance, respect and dignity. But the animosity that non-Muslims nursed towards the rulers (and their co-religionists by proxy), never diminished. If anything, it only intensified. Ironically though, Moghuls were mere namesake Muslims. The harm done by Akbar the Great (sic) in particular, through his twisted ideas and neurotic idiosyncrasy, was irreparable. Many might disagree.
Here are the facts. Kashmir and her people are the victim of ‘Brown’ Indian supremacy. During seven decades of captivity, Kashmir has been assaulted, mauled and even raped multiple times. Dissenting voices have either been muzzled by political bribes or muffled by bullets. And now, betrayal of the highest degree has been committed by BJP against the Kashmiris.
Atrocities in Kashmir remind you of Pharaoh. Pharaoh is not ‘a’ person: it is a phenomenon, synonymous with subjugation, oppression and humiliation of one human being by another. Pharaohs have lived since ancient times. Nimrod was a Pharaoh to the nation of Abraham, as Ramesses II to the Children of Israel. Since times unknown, Pharaohs have used the tools of power and intimidation to deprive masses of their dignity and control of their destiny. Pharaohs still abound in the 21st century. Their psychotic alter ego makes them imagine that they have become god. In their hubris, they pretend to be god-like. Accountability is deemed the business of their subjects alone. But, when the will of people becomes unified, it personifies and acts like a prophet. It does not need Moses’ staff to part the sea of discrimination and prejudice. In the end, every Pharaoh drowns, because, every human being is precious and deserves to be free.
What is happening in Kashmir is akin to the genocidal extermination of Native Americans by Christopher Columbus. Make no mistake. Today it is Kashmir; soon it will engulf the entire country. Lynching of Muslims under the bogus pretext of ‘mother cow’ eating is already a daily event.
Kashmiris do not look towards Pakistan expectantly. Pakistan is not your deliverer: never was, will never be. Kashmir’s deliverance is in the hands of Kashmiris alone. You are your own Moses. You alone ought to muster the courage to part the sea of terror and violence that the oppressor has unleashed on your land, your people, your women, your children, and, on the freedom and prosperity that has eluded you for what seems like an eternity.
Do not allow the stifled celebration of Eid Al Adh’ha under the imposed lockdown, make you forget the greater message of this historical day. More often than not, oppressed people have turned the pages of history, simply because of their conviction that they have nothing more to lose. When honor and self-esteem in at the throw of a dice, life by comparison becomes miniscule. Purpose and resolve take the shape of a lightning rod.
(The author Mohajer Ansari, is a Muslim-American, who deems being born in India a major sin)
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