Invisible Chains of Valley

Debt, unsafe food, and a broken education system are shaping our lives. The question is simple: who really controls us?

- Mahfooz Ahmad Bakshi

I have spent two years studying English literature in college, but the lessons I keep noticing have little to do with books or poems.

The more I look around, the more I feel trapped.

We are living in a world where our choices are controlled by invisible forces: debt, corporations, and systems that decide what we eat and study, and how we work.

I am losing hope fast.

Most of what we buy in stores is packed, seedless, and ready-made. It may seem convenient, but it is a trap.

Seedless and hybrid commercial seeds dominate our food systems, and farmers cannot save or exchange seeds for the next season. They must buy new seeds every year.

Just four multinational corporations, including Bayer, Corteva, Syngenta, and BASF, control more than half of the global proprietary seed market.

Intellectual property laws and patents stop farmers from doing what they have done for thousands of years: saving and replanting seeds.

Hybrid seeds cannot be reused, and the system forces farmers to stay dependent on big corporations.

Meanwhile, food safety is deteriorating.

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir seized more than 12 tonnes of rotten, unlabelled meat in a single crackdown. Between July 31, 2025, and recent months, over 11,600 kilograms of adulterated meat were destroyed.