Childhood is an innocent period of life. A child behaves naturally, without artifice or pretence. He lives his or her life the way he or she wants to live. There are no political loyalties, no social loyalties, no ethical loyalties. But when this sweet period of life becomes a time of tribulations, the innocence of children could be lost forever. Their minds become prejudiced. They cannot understand the environment around themselves and feel suffocated in it. The scars of playgrounds heal, but the scars on the soul pierce the heart with the cruellest arrows.
This is the case in Jammu and Kashmir, and there must be someone responsible for it. Why is the innocence of our children lost? Why are they what they are? Why are the same things taking place every now and then? If change is the law of nature, why does Kashmir not change? In our garden, spring never comes. Oscar Wilde in his work “The Selfish Giant” wrote of the selfish giant who did not let children play in his garden. He proclaimed on the gate of the garden that no child will be ever allowed to play in his garden. Who stops our children from playing? Our children don’t even know!
I would like to throw some light over the causes responsible for the snatching away of the innocence of childhood. First is that we are gullible people. Any slogan charms us. We don’t think for a moment what is the reality behind the slogan. One day we follow Allah and hate idols; the very next day we prostrate before idols and hate Allah. This shifting of loyalties is not an attribute of any right-thinking society. Until and unless this attitude is erased from our lives, our children will only suffer and suffer. How can children take the society forward? They look at their elders. When their elders fail, they automatically fail as well.
Second is that we have been caught in a dangerous political conflict. Since 1947, the killings have been happening on a large scale. In this atmosphere, any hope of having a peaceful childhood is a fancy. When no day passes without a killing or some other kind of destruction, how can there be any hope on the horizon? Here a child is blinded without any fault of his or her. Here a child often has a narrow escape from death. A child here spends years in jails. How can there be peace and innocence in such a situation? There must be a peaceful solution to the knotty problem of Kashmir. If it persists, it will snatch the childhood of many generations.
A third cause is that our educational system thrusts things upon children. Whether children are capable of these or not, is not the concern of those who thrust them. George Bernard Shaw said that school-going children must never be forced to do anything that is contrary to their desires. Modern primary schools were hated by him because they acted as an obstacle in the natural growth of children. Our children receive education that only hampers their progress. Instead, the first eight or ten years of a child’s life should be utilised in learning for oneself. They will learn naturally and for life.
A fourth reason is that our society is very orthodox in nature. Here the same line of thinking and doing is recommended to everyone. Anyone who goes against this line is isolated. If a child poses questions about the status quo, he or she is rebuked and eventually he or she feels suffocated and engulfed by despair. A child is curious to know about different things. But our society doesn’t accept this. They have been following some mindless customs that are never compatible with different societies.
Fifth is that we compare our children with the children of other regions. Psychology says that in any sphere of life, individual differences should be kept in mind. No two children are the same. They differ in every aspect. However, the same syllabus, the same mindset, is thrust upon them. This is very harmful for the development of personality. If this attitude is shunned, it will help a lot in saving the innocence of children.
We can’t go on losing our future generations. They should be listened to. They should not be hated for being bold. l hope our future generations are left to decide their own future.

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Syed Mustafa Ahmad