Erasing The Past: Kashmiri Youth Flock To Remove Tattoos For A Fresh Start

Thousands of Kashmiris choose to remove tattoos for several religious reasons and get rid of their past or meet job requirements.

Transcript

00:00Wajid Nassar got his first tattoo when he was just a teenager in Ilahi Baag.

00:12A decade later, the 25-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir started the removal process which

00:18he says gives him a sense of satisfaction. Raised in a religious household, Wajid now

00:23feels guilty as Islam forbids permanent marking on the body. So he has begun laser removal,

00:28a painful but spiritual journey to reclaim his identity.

00:53Like this, across Kashmir, hundreds are choosing faith and fresh stars over inked

00:58past. Many remove tattoos for religious reasons, job requirements or simply to shed old versions

01:04of themselves.

01:05Basit Bashir, owner of Valley Care Clinic, says that the free initiative he started in 2022

01:13has now become a movement. What began as a free service has now become a full-time clinic

01:19seeing hundreds daily. From rifles to romantic names, tattoos of all sorts are now being erased.

01:25As long as I have seen, Dad was AK-47, they also got to see him. Or we will see

01:33Mom and Dad, or there was a friend that was Bohemia, that was also written. Or we will see

01:40If you look at the age of 7-8-6, you can see the name of the girl.

01:50After the love failure, they remove the love.

01:53They also remove the love.

01:58The reason is that they are our Islam.

02:01Bashir says they no longer reflect who they are.

02:05Our youths are going to go to the army and police.

02:10They reject them due to the death of death.

02:14Sometimes they come to 100, sometimes 40, sometimes 50, sometimes 20.

02:18In the district, I have covered everyone.

02:21There are also states, Delhi, Assam, Chandigarh, Jammu, Aspergard, Kerala.

02:34I don't know if they were tourists.

02:36But they come and stingers.

02:39Doctors warn about the simple but sensitive procedure of tattoo removal as it involves some health risks as well.