Of all the social evils to have destroyed the moral fabric of Kashmir, extra-marital affairs seem to be the latest one. People who were talking about it in calibrated whispers till yesterday are becoming more vocal now as the disease is spreading fast.
There are a lot of people in our rapidly going materialistic society who are not happy with the one they have married and they chose physical and emotional intimacy with another partner as a route to ultimate happiness. This results in domestic discord, suicides, eternal tensions, heart attacks and shame.
Just a few months ago there was this video clip of an about-to-retire man who was having a good time with a woman half of his age on a hilly roadside when the romantic scene was busted by his ageing wife. The man almost dragged his ageing wife alongside road when she refused to let go of the hair of the foppishly dressed woman in the car. The incident sent shock waves and people begun asking each other how could such a man indulge in an extra marital affair.
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The thing is that extra-marital affairs happen because of unhappy marriages. There is a tendency among the parents to marry off their children for status, money and societal image. People never truly ask their children what they truly want. Besides, the financial independence of partners, late marriages and bloated egos are some of the primary reasons for extra-marital affairs.
The clerics and Muhalla committees must organize counseling sessions highlighting the fact that fidelity is a core concept of our society. Any kind of deviation from this norm should be given a punishment that discourages others from indulging in such acts-a social boycott or something like that. It has also been observed in some cases that some married people use their power and status to force a sub-ordinate worker to have an extra-marital affair with them. Such people not only should be socially boycotted but strict punishment should be given to them.
Kashmir is a land of seers and saints. Such a deviation of moral codes in unheard of in Kashmir. We as a society have to come together and discuss it more often. Most importantly, we have to come up with solutions how it can be stopped.
