To the valley and back, with love

Says Bharati Mamani who has now settled in Pune, “We are not making any lofty claims of settling the problem of Kashmir or even changing the scenario out there. We just want to reach out and listen to them. Perhaps it is time we did so.”

Interestingly, the duo went on their own with the help of the local NGO `Sarhad’ which has already made major inroads into Punjab. As Kamini recollects,“We preferred to be on our own. Not for a minute were we scared of being alone. Even Sanjay Nahar who runs Sarhad kept asking us almost everyday, if we were still keen on going to Kashmir. But we managed to convince him.”

However, the two admit that it has not been quite easy convincing folks at home. “We gave our parents the impression that we were going in a large group. It was only after we almost boarded the train on February 13 that we called them up and gave them the picture,” remembers Bharati.

Jammu, according to the girls, is quite normal. However, any attempt to speak to the locals is met with suspicion. “Some of them told us that if they spoke to us and their pictures were flashed across the media, the militants would get them. So tension continues to prevail, but the people seemed to be tired of it all. They want peace,” Kamini points out. Even as they were free to tap the army to reach Srinagar, the girls preferred being on their own. This, they believed, would make it easier to reach out to the locals.

“We reached Srinagar on February 21. From here at every given opportunity, we contacted the local residents. We met Yaseem Malik, JKLF leader who has now laid down his guns. We spoke to him for a hour or so at his residence. He wants an independent Kashmir but promised to support us to set up a career guidance clinic in Kashmir,” says Bharati.

The response from Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party leader Sabir Shah also seemed to be positive. “He wants Kashmir to become the bridge between Pakistan and India and hoped that we would support his efforts,” recalls Kamini.

“They are a confused lot. The youth especially seem to be misguided,” Bharati says, talking of her plans to set up a guidance clinic in Srinagar to counsel the disturb youth. Her friend Kamini intends giving the whole concept another two years before settling down. The next immediate step is to organise a peace rally both in Kashmir and Punjab which will be flagged off by leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar on July 1 from Dehu Alandi. Around 50 youths are expected to participate in the motorcycle rally which will traverse Leh, Ladakh, Cargil and Srinagar while a second group will start from Amritsar, covering Punjab. A youth festival has been planned for youth of Punjab, North East and Kashmir in the city next year to acquaint them with the rest of India and give them a feel of normalcy.

Perhaps the only regret among the two is the fact that they could not go to the interiors and reach out to those who have been caught into the mire of militancy. The next step will be to reach out to them and two young girls with little else but a simple message of peace may succeed in their mission – bringing back normalcy to the crisis-ridden state.