Guest Post By: Imran Muzaffar
The ‘Palestine-imitated’ ubiquitous form of expression – graffiti, which remained the mostpowerful tool of expression for messengers in the Indian Administered Kashmir to assure that their ‘freedom struggle’ memos are conveyed to public directly without any censorship, during the times of unrest and media gag, have now been either rubbed off completely from the walls of the different constructions of Valley or have been overwritten, distorting the ‘original’ messages used by Kashmiris as a means of resistance.
Graffiti writers of Kashmir, who wish to remain anonymous, say that they had used it as a form of true information sharing approach for their Kashmiri brethren, when they were deprived of every other medium.
Shakeel Ahmad, (name changed), a painter, has been scrawling Graffiti for the past eight years. He maintains that, they (Graffiti makers) were serving a duty to educate and inform their people in the times of ‘misleading and wrong information.’
“Mainstream media will never say a word of truth. In 2008 and 2010 when our brothers were falling to the bullets of security forces, people remained uninformed about the real stories. We used graffiti as an alternative channel to the mainstream media, to disseminate the true information, which often was kept back by the latter. Somehow we succeeded”, he says.
“The government is engaged with Graffiti rubbing drive, but it will hardly upset the sense of message. The matter of the fact is that, it is there and will remain ever”, Shakeel says.
Be it the teachers or students, parents or their children, there is no hesitation when it’s about expressing the undercurrents of resentment against the authority through the means of Graffiti. Women also take part when the circumstances demand.
“Everyone among us is a Graffiti writer”, says Rouf Ahmad (name Changed). This form of expression, according to him has been imitated from Gaza, Palestine. “We have imitated it from brave Palestinian brethren who, like us, are also fighting for a true cause”, he says.
In reaction to the rubbing Graffiti drive of authorities on the walls, in a sense to distort the message, they say that graffiti does not either breach the constitution or break any international law.
“There is nothing wrong in this form of protest. Why are they rubbing graffiti off the walls? They bear true messages. The frustration stares obvious in their (authorities) faces. Graffiti does not break any law; it lies under the purview of ‘freedom of expression’”, adds Rouf (name changed).
Writing on the wall being vivid and uncensored, another Graffiti writer says that their focus also remains at tourists and outsiders who might understand their sufferings. “We write them directly our true state of affairs without any hidden discourse. We write from our hearts our true messages. We tell them stories in one line so that they may understand our pain and agony”, says Mohammad Waseem (name changed).
Waseem says that he has no fear of being caught or booked, for writing on the walls gives him internal satisfaction. “I do not fear anybody. I do my duty. I tell truth to my people”. He articulates.
The Sher-e-Khaas of Srinagar City - Nowhatta and its nearby area - Hawal, during the summer unrests of 2008 and 2010, were most popular in graffiti writing, with every wall being painted or sprayed with one-liners.
An amateur graffiti writer in Nowhatta says that he had a deep hatred against those who had killed his friends. “My writing on the walls was resentment against those who mercilessly killed my innocent friends”, says Ishfaq (name changed), a class 11 student.
“Their distorting of messages does not bother us. They are actually insulted by these kinds of writings as they are open. I will write again till our suppressors are brought to book,” he says.
The clique of graffiti writers have even tried to convey the message of resistance to high-profile people, who visit the valley to observe the situation at different times.
“The walls from Airport side are full of messages which are for those high profile people who visit the valley in order to understand problems and aspirations of people here”, says Wahid Gul (name changed), an artist, adding that he will never stop writing on the walls.
Taking a look back at the history of movements, where graffiti had been one of the influential tools of expression, a professor of English says that graffiti has played a significant role in framing and at times changing public opinion.
“We use graffiti in teaching people about the facets of life. It may be a word of resentment or any message which has a vast impact. Students use it for social awareness. University federations across India extensively use graffiti to inform students about the important issues,” says Dr. Mohammad Aslam, professor of English.
He says that it is difficult to rub graffiti and suppress the message it gives. “Nobody can rub the hidden part of graffiti. Even a rubbed graffiti speaks a tale. It makes people curious to understanding that some significant and resentful messages are hidden behind the rubbing stokes”, Says Mohammad Aslam.
A tourist from Rajasthan, who had been on a visit to enjoy picturesque Valley, says that he can perceive the trauma and judge emotions of Kashmiris through writings on the wall. “It is vivid and clear from their writings that they are in a conflict. They speak their heart out”, says Santosh Raina, a software engineer.
Graffiti, according to a research scholar, is a common man’s writing which he writes in order to transform true messages to others in an alternative away, through a different medium which is accessible to all. “It is just an anonymous person’s expression who just writes his state of mind to inform others or for that matter teach them. Its main aim being motivating people”, says a journalism researcher on Graffiti, Arif Bashir.
This new clan of supposedly free writers say that they shall continue with the writings till they properly inform people about the truth. “As this form of writing is purely legal and without censorship, we will never stop informing people about the pros and cons of struggle and peoples’ sufferings. The most unproblematic of the things is that graffiti does not go against any constitution”, says Shakeel.
