DHARWAD : “We feel more at liberty in places other than our home state (UT),” said a Kashmiri youth at the ongoing National Youth Festival (NYF) in Dharwad on Friday. He said there is a wrong notion that majority of people in the country think that people in Kashmir are struggling for liberty.
Such misconceptions are being spread by a few political leaders belonging to different political parties. The real struggle back home is to get basic facilities and development work. Another youth from the Valley said things have changed in the last decade and people from other parts of India are accepting people of all religions from Kashmir.
They are showing affection and ample support which was not the case in the past. Some anti-social elements are creating discord between different communities.
“Earlier people used to look at us differently when we claimed that we are from Pulwama in Kashmir. They treated us as substandard. But platforms like National Youth Festival (NYF) have helped in clearing misunderstandings about us. We, the people in Kashmir, are also looking forward to see our UT like any other UT/state in the nation”, he added.
‘National Youth Festival is uniting the nation’
Another youth said they are looking for separate roads for the armed forces and the public. During emergencies, ambulances have to wait for a long time. He also said that they have made good friends throughout the nation and expressed his gratitude to Dharwad youth and administration for taking good care of them at the event.
“We are not complaining
but requesting the authorities concerned to provide facilities. We are in need of good transportation facilities and industries,” he added. Irfan Rashid, another youth from the Valley, expressed his joy and said that the National Youth Festival is uniting the entire nation. “People from different states have shown a lot of affection to us which we will take back with us when we return,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we are judged on the basis of our religion because of what is being spread on social media. The positive things are not presented. We are hopeful that events like NYF will go a long way in fighting the negative propaganda against us,” he added.