I too want
to cast my vote. I wonder though what shall I vote for. I am too
determined thus far not to cast my vote not because I have to prove my
loyalty to someone or some cause. Not because I don't believe in the
power of democracy. I simply won't exercise my franchise because I am
not convinced to the least that it does matter. Moreover, the more I
think over the issue, the more distant I go from the ballot.
Why should I be concerned who's going to
become the next chief minister of the state as long as this change does
not translate into the empowerment of an impoverished common man?
Picking up from the available bunch of politicians I don't see any sort
of promise to be found in anyone of them to bring about the change my
people and land cry for. My casting a vote wouldn't change anything. Or
would it?
Why should I waste, then, my power of
choice to choose among a few men, who are out there vying for the chair
of power, which is their main and only concern?
The life of the common
man post-elections will continue the way it used to be ere these
elections: broken, humiliated, full of agony and anguish, wounded and
deprived. I will continue be a mute and helpless witness to the same
life and miserable lifestyle all around. Electricity, roads and water!
Why should these form an election manifesto? Are these not the basic and
essential civic amenities which every citizen, irrespective of his/her
social or political affiliations, is entitled to notwithstanding the
fact which political party comes to power? What my voting or not voting
has to do with the efficiency of the departments whose chief
responsibility is to provide to the state and her people these essential
services?
Would my vote wipe the tears off any
widow whose innocent husband fell to the merciless and unjustifiable
bullets of khaki men who surround us wheresoever we turn to, then
definitely and happily I'll vote! If my vote helps bring the justice to
any one of the countless Kashmiri boys getting killed on one pretext or
the other, I'll come forward and cast my vote? I too want to be the
party of this process and celebrate and dance on the streets cheering
for my favorite candidate or party if I see hope that any one of the
political party or leader is going to bring real joy onto the faces of
the people.
I can live without "bijli", "sadak" and
"pani" as we are used to surviving without these essentials since time
immemorial. What fun is in having them sans self respect and dignity!
What good is any sort of development if it's not there with due value to
human life and aspirations!
Kashmir is become a land of tragedy. It's
an appropriate convas for Visual Bhardwaj's Shakespearean tragedy,
Hamlet adaptation, Haider. It's no more a colourful and cheerful spot to
picturise the Bollywood's refreshing and romantic movies. Would my
voting bring this part of the world back to its bygone days of glory? I
see orphanages, graveyards, depressed souls, all around. What would a
vote do? Till I don't see the collective conscience and the common
aspirations of the masses being honored, for which they experienced too
much and suffered so much, I will hold the exercise to vote.
Suhail Deen is a teacher
by profession having concern like any other sensitive mind about many
issues prevalent on our earth like environment, violence, greed,
inequality, corruption and injustice. May the good sense prevail and the
mankind discover the ways to live in harmony and peace with utmost
respect towards the human life and values!
Communities right across the world live in subjugation at one level or another within the non-democratic capitalist system. Whilst expressing empathy with the writer above SOYMB recommends voting for socialism at every opportunity - either where a socialist party candidate is standing or by writing SOCIALISM across the voting form. It goes without saying that this must be in tandem with working relentlessly to spread the message of what socialism is all about to the best of our individual ability.
JS
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