Former Bollywood actor Zaira Wasim from Kashmir bemoans ‘Oppression’ in Kashmir
Caravan News
NEW DELHI — Bollywood fame Zaira Wasim from Kashmir, who quit the showbiz last year to work full-time for faith and religion, took to Instagram and wrote a long caption under a photo of a flower, expressing her anguish and questioning the silence that is forced upon the Kashmiris.
This was her first public response to the situation in Kashmir in the months after central government revoked Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and enforced an unprecedented lockdown and communication restrictions in August last.
“Kashmir continues to suffer and … there is a see-saw between hope and frustration,” her Instagram post says, “There’s a false and uneasy semblance of calmness in place of escalating despair and sorrow. Kashmiris continue to exist and suffer in a world where it is so easy to place restrictions on our liberty.”
The 19-year-old, who attained fame after she played a child wrestler in the Dangal movie asked several question over restriction on Kashmiris: “Why do we have to live in a world where our lives and wills are controlled, dictated to and bent? Why is it so easy to have our voices silenced? Why is it so easy to curtail our freedom of expression? Why aren’t we ever allowed to voice our opinions, let alone our disapprovals of decisions that are made contrary to our wishes?”
She adds: “Why is it that instead of trying to see the cause of our view, our view is just condemned ruthlessly? What is it so easy to curb our voices, and so severely? Why can’t we not live simple lives without always having to wrestle with and remind the world of our existence? Why is that life of a Kashmiri is just about experiencing a lifetime of crisis, blockade and disturbance so abundantly that it has taken away the recognition of normalcy and harmony from the hearts and minds?”
After the Supreme Court’s intervention last month, the state lifted some restrictions on internet, allowing people limited access to the web. Though social media continues to remain blocked officially, Kashmiris have subverted the ban by resorting to VPN, thus allowing them considerable access to utilities like Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter and Instagram.
She said that the unanswered questions are a cause of frustration and slammed the authority for making no effort. “Hundreds of questions like these remain unanswered; leaving us bewildered and frustrated; but our frustrations find no outlet. The authority doesn’t make the slightest effort to put a stop to our doubts and speculations but stubbornly tend to go their own way to confine our existence mired in a confused, conflicted and paralysed world.”
POSER TO THE WORLD
She also raised a poser to the world as Kashmiris kept suffering “oppression”. “But I ask the world, what has altered your acceptance of the misery and oppression we’re being subjected to? Do not believe the unfair representation of the facts and details or the rosy hue that the media has cast on the reality of the situation. Ask questions, re-examine the biased assumptions. Ask questions. For, our voices have been silenced- and for how long …none of us really know!”
The former actor starred in three Bollywood movies and won many awards and accolades before giving up her career in showbiz.
