Kashmir’s lone rapper Roushan Illahi aka MC Kash on Sunday created waves with his Kashmir centric performance which marked the conclusion of first even youth summit in Valley. The summit named as “One Young Kashmir” drew hundreds of youth from all parts of Kashmir to chalk out their strategy for a brighter future and take leadership to show a pragmatic path. They pledged to work for preservation of culture, awareness of rights and making economy the focus of their future initiatives.
Amidst fear and violence over 2000 young boys and girls from all over Kashmir turned up for the summit opened up last Sunday. Today they turned hysteric as the Rapper MC Kash tapped on the podium with “Kiss the soil and vow, to make our Kashmir better” with his husky voice. All the participants gave a standing ovation to him as he touched the core of sufferings in present day Kashmir. He ended with a Kashmir proverb “Akh Te Akh Gaye Kah” which means one plus one is eleven.
On Saturday, enthusiastic Kashmiri boys and girls reached out to nearly 14,000 people with fliers to tell them “how Kashmir's rich culture can be preserved”. They made people to pledge “I pledge to encourage Kashmiri kids to speak Kashmiri and help them to know more about Kashmiri Heritage”. “The response was encouraging as this was something new for them”, said one of the volunteers who split in groups and toured different localities in Srinagar.
The summit initially started with 700 boys and girls showing keen interest in participating in lively discussions on culture, rights and entrepreneurship. A panel of experts engaged with them to answer their queries. The participants included even those who actively were involved in stone pelting last year. “We have political grievances but these are important issues for our society and we cannot brush them aside,” said Mudasir, an under graduate student.
First of its kind in recent years, the summit attracted more attention for the fact that Mercy Corps, an International NGO, raised the slogan “you are free to express yourself”. “Actually, the freedom of expression is choked here and that is the real cause for unrest,” said another youth.
Mercy Corps’s Srinagar head Usman Ahmad told The Hindu that the objective of the summit was to help the youth get a platform to take over leadership and responsibility. “The difference this event made was that it was led by the youth,” he said, adding that they were exposed to traditional means of cultural expression.
Those who took part were overwhelmed with the new experience. "For the first time, we have got a chance to get express our ideas collectively,” said Sehar Nazir, who just finished her graduation in business administration from Nawakadal College. “For me it was new and learning experience”, she added.
Mohammad Haziq an MBA from Kashmir University said, “it was a great initiative that gives us freedom of expression youth get voice to speak”. Encouraged with the response, Mercy Corps now plans to take the initiative to district level. With everyone keeping fingers crossed over “what will happen in coming summer” this summit comes as a silver lining for a peaceful summer.
