A Letter from USA!

Greater Kashmir
Perspective
28th May 2009

VIEW POINT

I have been in the US for just over a month now and I can only describe my initial observations and experiences of this great country in two words - awe inspiring! The purpose of my visit here, as Americans would describe it, is to "seek out a little silence" . I am very grateful to the US embassy for making the visa process easy for young Kashmiris like myself, unlike some other countries whose visa process in itself is a nerve wrecking experience. I am certain that the more interaction there is between young people of Kashmir and other westerners when they visit countries such as America, the more hope there is that we can learn from their success and replicate it back home. All human civilizations and peoples around the world have the potential and capabilities of defeating fundamentalism, poverty, chaos, hatred and corruption, and also possess the means to cooperate together so that their neighbourhoods, villages, towns, and cities have some semblance of belonging to the 21st century. Yet why is it that democracy in its true sense is only exercised in western countries? and why is a strong community spirit and civic sense only present in citizens of those western countries and not among fellow citizens back home in Kashmir?
I am not for one second implying that Indian democracy is not genuine or that it is flawed. What I am suggesting is that democratic values and morals have yet to permeate the deepest psyche of Indians . I am linking democratic values with civic sense because I believe they are strongly interlinked. Some readers will perhaps disagree with me even before reading this full article and argue that my initial assertion is inherently flawed because I am comparing oranges with apples. They will note the difference in population between India and EU and North American countries and use this to attempt a justification for the slow pace of development in India. They will finally make the case that India has only had 60 years since gaining independence while most western countries were once colonisers who robbed their colonies of wealth, or some others, like the US, who themselves were colonies but have had a good head start of over 150 years. While this is true, India has only been an independent country for just over sixty years and the infrastructural development has been taking place in leaps and bounds during this time, I somehow feel that the malls and flyovers are a mere facade that hides the real problem that is holding India back. In my opinion, the problem lay with our society as a whole and not just with a gargantuan population or bad governance.
In my opinion, democracy should not only run top-down, which means that the government espouses democratic values, as well as bottom-up, which means that people can freely elect and choose their law makers, but democracy should also run sideways or horizontal, which means that people should be respectful of the rights of their fellow citizens. What I mean by this is that practising democracy should not simply end when citizens cast their votes to elect their representatives, but rather, democratic values should encompass each and every interaction that a person has with their fellow citizens. This is one of the biggest differences that I have observed during my stay in America. Everything that is different in America has to do with how people treat their fellow citizens, their public places, and other amenities that they have to share with their community. In other words, people are respectful of others and follow common sense so as not to infringe upon the democratic rights of their fellow citizens.
Some readers might be perplexed about what I mean by infringing upon a fellow citizens democratic rights; after all, no one in India is holding a gun to someone's head in broad day light to do something they do not want to - at least not regularly, because I am not referring to crime here. The democratic rights of fellow citizens that I am referring to has to do with common everyday interaction with a person's neighbours, community and fellow countrymen and women. I believe that a person's democratic right to a clean environment is trampled every time they have to walk through someone else's trash that people are careless enough to just dump out on public roads. I also believe that a person's democratic right to safe roads is trampled when rash drivers ignore traffic laws, and cause traffic chaos and traffic jams. Most important of all, I believe that a person's democratic right to liberty is trampled when their fellow citizens discriminate against them because of their ethnicity, religion, or caste.
Sadly, our Indian society as a whole still has yet to come out of its self imposed shell to treat our fellow citizens with respect regardless of our ethnic backgrounds. In contrast, I find Americans very law abiding and mind their own business. Many readers will probably cite various stories of institutionalized racism and discrimination in America that we hear every now and then. But the common theme and conclusion in stories like those is that something is done about those incidents by the authorities. The law takes its course, and the guilty are brought to justice no matter how high up the position they occupy in government. Can we, in India, truly claim that accusations of torture or harassment by Kashmiris against police or Hindutva radicals in other parts of India are investigated by the authorities, and the guilty brought to justice ? Sadly, these events are simply reported in the local papers one day and that is the last we hear of these cases. The victims never see justice. This is totally in contrast to how incidents similar to these are treated in the US, where all claims of excessive force by the police are treated very seriously.
I hope that we all realize that each and every interaction we have with our fellow citizens is an opportunity to exercise democracy. The opportunity to treat others like we would ourselves like to be treated. Something to think about the next time we dump garbage in front of our neighbour's house or on sidewalks, or when we disobey traffic laws to make our way through traffic, or when we vandalise public property, or when we speak poorly of other religions or sects, or when we witness our fellow citizens become victims of injustice and choose not to speak up. Yes these are indeed examples of how democracy has yet to permeate our society and how the Americans practice them daily and is a part of their life
And Finally, I guess most of Indians are stubborn enough and will never concede that we can learn a lot from the Americans. After all, if they were mature enough to overwhelmingly elect President Obama, a black man, to the highest office, we can at least agree that a majority of Americans are not racists. On the other hand, can we in India claim that most Indian citizens are able to look beyond their preconceived notions about Kashmiris and hypothetically elect him or her as Prime Minister or President of India? President Obama gave all Americans hope that every one of them can realize their dreams in this "land of opportunities". The day our fellow Indians from other states stand up and speak up if they witness a Kashmiri being a victim of harassment is when I will truly believe that the "Yes We Can" slogan that President Obama uses in America can also be used by all Kashmiris in other states of India. Until that day, I will continue to believe that democracy has yet to permeate and trickle down to the common masses of India.

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