Srinagar, Dec. 22 -- Kashmir is intensely opinionated - about everything except itself. From Nitish Kumar's political manoeuvres to Gaza's ruins, from Israel - Palestine to faraway ideological battles, the Valley's drawing rooms, WhatsApp groups, and social media timelines overflow with outrage. Yet, when it comes to Kashmir's own collapsing springs, choking rivers, vanishing snow, drug-ravaged youth, land encroachments, garbage-strewn streets, and administrative paralysis, the same voices fall inexplicably silent.

This is not awareness. This is avoidance.

Kashmir has perfected the art of emotional outsourcing - exporting its moral energy to distant causes so it never has to spend it at home. Global outrage is safe; local accountability...