Kashmiris send their children away from Valley

Jammu: When death and terror strikes become a part of life for people, the simple joys of life take a backseat. However, the cherished dream still keeps burning deep within the heart for a better life ahead, away from the tension and bloodshed, if not for themselves, then at least for their children.

Perhaps this is the reason why ordinary Kashmiris have been sending their children away from the Valley to study and aspire for a better living. Three months of curfew and harthals, schools and colleges shut, exams postponed and life cloistered behind closed doors. Hence, it’s not just the ordinary Kashmiris who have been sending their children out of the Valley to the study, even separatist leaders have been resorting to that option and ensured that their children stay away from the turbulence at home.

Gh Md Sumzi, the Hurriyat general secretary's son is completing his MBA in Delhi. Another general secretary, Mohd Ashraf Sehrai's son is studying computer engineering in Dubai.

Ayaz Akbar, spokesperson for the Gilani faction, has a son studying business management in Pune. Abdul Aziz Dar alias Gen Musa has two sons studying computers and medicine in Pakistan. Md Shafi Reshi, Executive Member of the Gilani faction, has a son studying business administration in Delhi.

Ghulam Md Bhat's daughter is studying law at Delhi's Jamia Milia and son engineering.

However, separatist leader Dukhtaran E Millat's Asiya Andrabi has not been so lucky. Her attempts at getting a passport for her son to study in Malaysia was rebuffed last month. It is a practice that’s now being criticised by the state's leadership.

J-K chief minister Omar Abdullah said, “There is a difference in what they say and what they do.”

But now no less then the grand mufti of Kashmir has condemned the trend. Islam and education go hand in hand he says. He said, “I want to tell Gilani, Mirwaiz, education is important, azadi is alright but not at the cost of education.”

Though most of these students have shifted much before the agitation began, separatist leaders feel it’s a small price to pay for the Kashmir cause but not a cause they would rather discuss on camera.