Kashmir News Bureau
Srinagar 20 Feb (KNB): Entertainment has been defined as the cornerstone of the progressive societies. Owing to heart-wrenching, sad episodes that have defined life in kashmir due to turmoil of past 30 years has lead to near extinction of entertainment facilities. The results have been disastrous as this has lead youth to negative activities.
Pertinently, Cinemas in Kashmir, including seven in Srinagar, were closed due to the 1989 since the beginning of armed conflict.
Reflecting on the situation, Majid War, a Filmmaker states – “The life in the valley of Kashmir is full of depression owing to uncertain situations and made worse by absence of the basic amenities like electricity. But owing to resilience showed by number of kashmiri youth the entertainment forms such as festivals, events, theatres etc are making a comeback and even in South Kashmir were the situation is politically turbulent new entertainment platforms are being established.
The sad part is that the Government support for the entertainment and its related paradigms is quite abysmal which is acting as great impediment. The Media should also cover the entertainment events more often. Whenever the entertainment facilities are curtailed we have seen in our society the negative tendencies among youth such as drug menace is growing. In nutshell, the entertainment facilities and their promotion is needed if we want to flourish and take right direction as the society.”
On the otherhand of the spectrum, Youth are the worst sufferers of the absence of the entertainment facilities and this clearly has been demonstrated in kashmir over the past thirty years of turbulence. “
Tanzeela Baig, a young law student states – “The entertainment facilities and sources of education which define entertainment are completely absent in Kashmir. We have been reduced to a level that we just take Mass media course as entertainment while as it is not. The academic courses of real entertainment- acting, theatre, production and institutions related to them are not existing here thus adding to the overall chaos. “
She believes life coming to grinding halt in Kashmir just after six or seven PM is big mental block. “We have to allow the civilized forms of entertainment to exist and grow and shun the tag of being negative society if we really believe in being counted as progressive and sane society,” adds Tanzeela Baig.
In December, Saudi Arabia, seen as head of Muslim world lifted a 35-year ban on commercial theaters, and last month the first movie screenings were opened to the public and there was renewed debate if Saudi Arabia can open cinemas why cant Kashmir.
Azhar Hajini, prominent Anchor and youth icon states -” Over the past few years, more and more people have been speaking out about mental health and the topic has had increasing coverage in the media. A major factor for mind related issues is the busy lifestyle of today’s man. We hardly give time to ourselves and this thing has badly effected our mental health. Entertainment is the cornerstone of any concerned society and it plays a pivotal role in managing and maintaining mind related stress and fatigue .We cannot exist as a civillized society without different forms of recreation and entertainment .The art forms, films, theatres all define the basic realms of the society to exist .We in Kashmir need definitely the entertainment facilities so that we get some sort of relief from as we have been facing very tough times since a long .”
In nutshell, the desire for entertainment facilities is being direly felt on ground zero in Kashmir so that smiles, creativity replace tears and pain.(KNB)