It is a story of ten-year-old boy whose father asked him to accompany for Friday prayers at Hazratbal but found himself sloganeering in favour of Sonia Gandhi and ‘some’ Azad at State Congress headquarters.
Baba Umar
As the Minister of State for Power, Babu Singh and the Minister for Social Welfare, Abdul Gani Vakil were addressing the party workers in the Congress headquarter, a little boy of ten-years-old was observing the whole seen from a corner of the lawn where the Congress workers had gathered.
Standing against the wall, the red cheeked, Rouf Ahmad seemed not interested in the affair. He was fetched by his father (a loyal congress worker) from home on the pretext that it was Friday and the duo would offer prayers in Hazratbal Shrine.
“I was conned by my father, and here he wanted me to raise pro-Congress slogans to appease the visiting ministers,” says Rouf, who was in his reading room when father asked him to come alongside him. “Come with me, we will go to Dargah”, my father insisted.
His father is a priest and among the top workers of the Congress party. Though Rouf has no interest in politics, he has been unreasonably, according to him, brought to a place against his wishes. In the crowd he doesn’t wish to join other party workers in sloganeering and clapping before the Congress party leaders. But coming here was against his wishes which he couldn’t resist due to the intense pressure from father.
“I do not know Sonia Ghandi, yet I raised slogans in her favour!” he says. “I even chanted few slogans in some Azad Sahib’s favour, but I have never seen him!”
While the Minister for power speaks at length on the power crisis he is going to overcome during his tenure, the kid keeps on thinking about the line of work and dreams he has knit. Like the Minister he does wish to solve Kashmir’s electricity problems, but he doesn’t want to be a politician. He has thought of becoming something else.
“I want to become an Electric Engineer,” say Rouf. “And then there won’t be any power cuts in my locality.”
Ask about his presence that has made him the youngest sloganeer among the crowd, he says, he wished to do winter homework rather than joining this congregation, where everyone is alien to him.
“Em khute chu gari parun behtar (It is better to study at home),” he says.
And as the party leaders finish their speech; Rouf scuds into the crowd to locate his father who is in the front row near the podium; hoping that his father might take him home before evening so that he can finish his winter work.
“Bye—Do pray for me,” he smiles and waves at me before he finally disappears into the swarm of party loyals’.
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