One Day Of Flowers Can't Fix A Year Of Disrespect In Kashmir

By Nowsheen Mushtaq

Teacher's Day is over. The flowers are drying, the handmade cards are tucked away, the speeches and greetings have faded. Everything is back to normal.

And normal, for a teacher today, means humiliation, blame, and being treated as if their presence hardly matters.

One day of celebration cannot hide the reality that teachers are no longer respected in the way they once were.

Look around at what is happening nowadays. Teachers are monitored more than trusted. Instead of being allowed to teach freely, they are tied up with endless paperwork, online reports, and administrative orders. Their energy is drained in filling forms, updating apps, and attending meetings that add little to a child's growth.

The classroom has become less of a place for imagination and more of a stage where teachers must constantly prove themselves under the sharp gaze of management and parents.

Parents, too, no longer see teachers as partners in shaping their child but as service providers. The moment a child falters, the teacher is blamed. If a student misbehaves, the teacher is questioned. If marks are low, the teacher is humiliated.

Even basic discipline, which was once a teacher's tool to guide, is now seen as cruelty. Students have absorbed this attitude. They know their teachers have no real authority, so the respect in their eyes is slowly fading. A teacher raising their voice is branded harsh, a teacher showing strictness is called insensitive, and a teacher expecting sincerity is considered unreasonable.

Teachers are now nothing more than puppets. They bow to administration, parents, and even to the moods of students. Their eyes are lowered, because they are no longer allowed to stand tall. They live in fear of complaints, transfers, and the constant threat of being labeled incompetent.

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