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Written by: ZAHID AHMAD

Category: ENVIRONMENT

Published: 06 December 2018

SRINAGAR: Strelitzia called “BIRDS OF PARADISE” awesome blossoms, creamy colour, crane flowers, are being destroyed from a long time, “Why so?” From decades its’ being practiced by numerous methods to cut down these precious flowers (birds of paradise), I wonder! Tears in my eyes, every day, every night, every moment, I am trying to get the answer why these flowers are being destroyed, to acquire new land? To assemble new garden? To mould tall buildings? Or I can say to fashion hell? Actually it was a garden full of these flowers, and had been called by the name “Paradise (KASHMIR)”. Is it garden or paradise now? Of course, everyone will answer me a big NO, because it is gradually taking the form of hell. 

Full of Sterlitzia garden (K) is changing into the infernal region (hell) and I am relishing like a play. In this plot some blossoms are blind, some are dead and some are but actually they are not. In every garden, there are some gardeners to take care of the plot. But in my garden (k), the gardners’ (Sabakdosh) are being the crusader of these flower-cleaver (I). They believe that they are the owner of this garden (K), but they are not. Then what they are? Can I say that

they are paid servants! They may have their own flowers in this garden but no, they grew their flowers in another garden where they don’t have any threat of been cleaved down. The birds of Paradise are raising their voices’, they are crying. BUT who is listening to them. Nobody, don’t we have ears? Or we are being dumb. Sometimes I attend;

“Let us live, let us have our lives

We want to grow up, don’t cleave us by knives

We are helpless, but we can say

Oh ALLAH! Help us, Oh ALLAH! Help us

We are innocents, we are needy

We are candles, we want to enlighten

Oh ALLAH! Help us, Oh ALLAH! Help us

Oh murderer!

You will be burnt, you will be destroyed

Then you will cry, then you will die

When ALLAH will help us, when ALLAH will help us

Its’ our Paradise, its’ our Land

Leave us alone, don’t make it Hell

Oh ALLAH! Help us, Oh ALLAH! Help us

I am saying that, leave this garden (K), we (birds) will look after ourselves. INSHALLAH we

will make it new Paradise, we will nourish (STERLITZIA). We will be the gardners’ of our

land (garden), and the flowers’ who are already dead will be always in our hearts and prayers

because they came forward to save our lives “REST IN PEACE”. 

 The writer can be reached at zahidghazali4@gmail.com