Sports lovers the world over are celebrating Worldcup Football in SouthAfrica busy engaged in weighing the possibilities of which nation this time is going to lift the cup - an all European final with Holland on one side and Spain on the other side. Each team has innumerable followers interestingly many of them were actually the fans of Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Italy( still their hearts beat for them). Now that they have crashed out of the tournament which caused many a heart-break notwithstanding now that Holland and Spain are left in the arena, those football fans have taken sides with teams the two combatants which are of their liking and are impatiently, anxiously awaiting the final outcome which will come out into the open on Sunday, the July 11th.
While the football contests grabbed the headlines for the last one month many other sports which otherwise would have caught the attention of sports lovers, the French Open, Wimbledon, badminton, all turned immaterial to them with the victories of well-known players like Raphael Nadal, Serena Williams and India's pride of late Saina Nehwal, all going irrelevant.
No problem. Wimbledon, French Open, Cricket, Badminton, all will come each year, then the sports lovers around the world will have the precious opportunities of celebrating them again. But Worldcup Football comes once in four years and it being the greatest sport on the planet ever, hogging the lime-light is natural.
In the hustle and bustle excitements, exhilaration and disappointments combined together an Indian State at its Northern tip was burning and still continues burning. 'Kashmir on the boil' headlines in the newspapers and visual media unfortunately which is painful and shocking reading still have not many takers.
Kashmir, since more than six decades to be exact it was caught in the quagmire in 1948, soon after acheiving Independence from the British rule which lasted for centuries. With the colonial yoke though lifted on August 15, 1947 the defining moment should have been a time for celebration, regrettably the developments followed were to the grief and sorrow of Indians. The communal riots, the mass-slaughter unleashed by the Muslims and Hindus, Gandhi's assassination, all our erstwhile leaders got depressed and frustrated.
Adding fuel to the fire, Pakistan which got separated from United India, the invaluable value we paid for the independence of the nation laid claims to the North-Indian State of Kashmir and that nation became a perennial headache to India by fighting overt and covert battles inflicting heavy losses of life and property across Kashmir. Many Jawans perished in three wars launched by them in 1965, 1971 and 1998 for forcible annexation of Jammu&Kashmir eventually tasting defeats in each battle. Their men whom they claimed 'freedom fighters' apparently to liberate J&K sneaked into the hapless State after undergoing training by Pak Army and also provided them with funds and logistical support to wreak maximum havoc in J&K across the whole nation.
In the meanwhile, successive govts of India and Pakistan went on signing agreements and pacts, all violated ultimately by none other than Pakistan. Talking peace on one hand and inflaming communal passions on the other, Pakistan was playing the roles of hero and villain simultaneously.
Now that more than 60 years gone by three wars fought all launched by them the overall situation has turned for the worse. Talks, wide-ranging they were/are held at foreign secretaries level, foreign ministers level, PrimeMinisterial level, still gathering momentum, all hopeful of 'eternal solution' to the perennial headache, the 'core issue' of Kashmir still remains unsettled.
The ones about whom they took pride and called 'freedom fighters' turning terrorists wreaked more havoc in their own country forming separate Jihadist groups under various heads ultimately turning it into the 'hot-bed of terrorism' as is widely known the world over Pakistan rulers themselves are running for cover. Suicide bombings by the hard-core terrorists on day by day basis, killing several hundreds of innocents and leaders of political parties even at landmarks like Mosques, hotels, Army Headquarters, by ramming the bomb-laden vehicles into the crowds and important landmarks with powerful explosives strapped around their bodies and getting themselves killed in violent explosions, the jihadists are on a merry making spree. Benazir Bhutto, former PM and the foremost leader of the Pakistan Peoples' Party while on her polling campaign, was assassinated by those hard-core terrorists who are still at large an unfortunate incident worth recalling here.
Whether the happenings going on in Pakistan have anything to do with the heart-breaking incidents in Pakistan still remains a big question mark.
Some of Ministers like P.Chidambaram finger points Lashkar-e-Taiba , some others not quite sure about still groping in the dark, a few political commentators squarely blaming the police and paramilitary forces, the volatile situation continues to simmer in Srinagar which witnessed 14 killings allegedly by the police and paramilitary forces within 2-3 weeks. The firings which led to the killings of four people including a woman bystander two days ago, and according to Srinagar residents those killed were innocent civilians. The Omar Abdullah government as per the instructions from the Centre has clamped an indefinite curfew in Srinagar and the army brought in. The curfew, as per today's reports is there to stay till total normality is returned in Srinagar.
The Army staged a flag-march in Srinagar the first time since two decades - it is reported - to bring the situation under control. The protestors reportedly still on the rampage even those sheltered in their homes are exhorted by the leaders from inside the mosques to come out and join the protesters through loud-speakers turning Srinagar into a simmering cauldron.
It is reported that while the situation was about to return to normality after days of protests in the aftermath of killing of a youth, the fresh violence broke-out killing four people. The protesters are reportedly chanting anti-India slogans.
In an article by Praveen Swami in 'The Hindu' (Op-Ed Page) yesterday a shocking revelation has been made about the Al-Quaida elements taking charge over the hard-core terrorist group LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) accusing them of being soft towards Pakistan govt. and for keeping a low profile. In the event of such a possibility what awaits India is something hard to imagine.
It is time to remain more vigilant by the authorities concerned in the face of looming threats from Al-Quaida element.
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