Slow internet speed represents a severe impediment to online education in J&K

Due to the continued restrictions on the high-speed internet in Jammu and Kashmir, online teaching and learning in the Union Territory – in the age of COVID-19 – has become more difficult than it is elsewhere in the country.

Touseef Raina

The world’s political and economic history is witness to the continuous transition in power and paradigms. What was once seen as the lever of absolute power – the physical might or the ‘muscle’ – has steadily lost its leverage and appeal over the ‘money’ and, subsequently, ‘mind’ as the world evolved towards advanced civilization.

Whether it is the first-wave notion of muscle or the second-wave belief in money or for that matter the third-wave conviction of mind being the ultimate source of power, the fact remains that only one thing allows access and command over all the levers of power. Education, that is. It has the ability to master these potential levers which, in the ultimate scheme of things, determine the power and influence of a nation. Unfortunately, the people, as well as the government in Jammu and Kashmir, don’t seem to have realized this.

The pandemic and impediment to fast Internet access in Jammu and Kashmir

The COVID-19 is affecting every one of us in every sphere of life as the pandemic has posed significant challenges to the public health systems and education services all over the world. The global health emergency has radically transformed the teaching and learning processes by replacing the teacher-student classroom face-to-face interactions with online learning. However, due to the continued restrictions on the high-speed internet in Jammu and Kashmir, online teaching and learning in the age of COVID-19 has become more difficult than it is elsewhere in the country. Indeed, the slow internet speed represents a severe impediment to online education, but the psychological impact of not being able to fully access the information worldwide is much more profound. This feeling is a frustration that will eventually lead to anger.

The difference between the right word and the almost-right word, Mark Twain said “is the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug”. Without questioning the reasons being cited to support a continuous ban on high-speed internet, one hopes that the situation, wherein the government remains oblivious to the “pressing concerns” of the violence-exposed people in Jammu and Kashmir, does not give rise to fresh anger and despondency because similar situations have played out in the past when the people responded in the same way.

Preferring politics over education

Of the many tragedies of Kashmir, what strikes me the most is that we have never been able to give the level of importance and respect to the education that it deserves. The successive elected governments, as well as the people in the separatist camp, can be squarely blamed for following a political agenda that couldn’t care less about the educational losses suffered by the Kashmiri students during various bouts of political unrest. While the separatists would call for frequent strikes to force the closure of educational institutions for months together, it appeared like, the elected government felt (subtly) compelled as it did nothing much to break the jinx.

Both sides used the situation to their own advantage and further their respective personal and political benefits. These lines will not go down well with a certain political class here, but given that the future of the entire society is at stake, one certainly can’t afford the risk of inaction. How can anyone become a silent spectator to the brazen duplicity of political thought and action, which despite being self-inflicting, was clothed in the wraps of morality and sold as the panacea of all ills? If education with its proven capacity of being the greatest emancipator and ultimate liberator was haggled for an unarticulated but ‘mystified dream’ in the recent past, somebody from among the puppeteers of yesteryears’ chaos must come forward and explain their failures to the people. And, perhaps also seek forgiveness for having misled the sons and daughters of the Kashmir’s wretched lot, in whose hands they had so conveniently replaced the pen and pencil with stones and bricks, while making sure that their own children received the best education.

All that’s being said here is not intended to degrade or ridicule anybody, but to present the tactics that were used to fool people and cause a lot of problems in our region. Basic political science teaches us that “a good tactic is one that your people enjoy”. Now let’s ask ourselves: who are the ones who enjoyed the game of tactics that ensured the closure of schools and colleges for months together during each academic calendar? Barring the entrepreneurs of conflict, whose vested interest in keeping the pot boiling needs no further elaborations, who else was happy with the confusion that has ruled Kashmir’s hill and dale, its roads and streets for over thirty years?

One can say with absolute surety that every Kashmiri today has the experience and ability to read through political designs and deceit. They have had a very intimate, up-close-and-personal experience of how the inflammatory political rhetoric that was marketed and sold as a source of their salvation and the common good was bartered away for the “common greed”, and ultimately robbing the people of all the political and economic freedoms they had enjoyed in the past.

Tailpiece

The only permanent thing about politics is its impermanence. Political realities of J&K have changed, but unfortunately not much seems to have changed for the have-nots even more than a year after huge political changes were made here with some big promises of bringing political and financial empowerment in the region. The unprecedented participation of people in the District Development Council (DDC) election shows us that the have-nots were fed up with politics sans development. The people’s participation in the DDC election has also made it clear: Jammu and Kashmir needs development and progress.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of JKPI