Rapper MC Kash creates storm as “ One Young Kashmir” summit ends

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.

by:er abid rashid shah.