Kashmir The Case for Freedom
Kashmir The Case for Freedom
Kashmir is one of the greatest unfinished struggles of a modern age. The book, Kashmir: The Case for Freedom, is an attempt to collate the voices expressing what sounds like a tower in the soundproof room of politics, media and global apathy. While reading the book, one cannot get rid of the main truth of Kashmiris desire to be free, and their demand is denied during decades.
Pankaj Mishra lays the scene under the introductory part. He defines base of the valley as a place of unnatural beauty which has turned out to be a haven of unspeakable cruelty.
Tens of thousands are dead and hundreds of thousands have lived under military occupation.
This is since he reckons that the battle is not concealed by the absence of evidence but by the unwillingness of the world to notice. The silence is tactical. India is camouflage due to its image as a democratic country and the usefulness of the country as the counterbalance of China. Therefore, Western governments tend to turn away. Mishra reminds us that is complicity with such silence.
Tariq Ali then gives historical backgrounding as the cornerstone of the Pakistani government. He follows the history of Kashmir as a land of rich culture under the influence of Sufism to the sale of the land by the British East India Company to the Dogra dynasty. The ruling of Dogra reduced the Muslim majority to the poor and voiceless. The war of 1947 did not help the situation. When India became partitioned, the Hindu ruler came into India under compulsion, whereas the leaders of the state offered it that the Kashmiris would get a chance of plebiscite. That was never followed though. Instead, India established firm roots, Pakistan got involved with its politics, and the population had to sit somewhere in the middle. The betrayal described by Ali indicates that the act of betrayal is not new. It is an engraved part of the modern history of Kashmir.
The sense of urgency is added by Arundhati Roy essay. She believes that the only thing that all Kashmiris can get together on is a demand of azadi (freedom). She criticizes the Indian state in rejecting this demand as being terrorism or foreign assistance. Roy also disapproves Indian liberals who have put Kashmir as a side issue. She refers to the readiness of the young Kashmiri people to go against armed force with nothing but stones.
She says this is not the action of manipulated people by outsiders. It is the uprising of a people who feel committed to exercise their right to determine the destiny of their own people.
The female poetic contribution of Habbah Khatun in the sixteenth century as a queen is very strong. Her poems are about desire and loss, around treason and perseverance. The book titled, Voices of Kashmir, reminds us that the history of Kashmir is not just one centred round war and diplomacy through the placing of her voice, alongside political essays in the book. It is also concerning a culture of resilience. Poetry is used as part of resistance and a remembrance.
The story written by Hilal Bhatt reflects the normal militarization. Through his narration, it is evident that occupation is beyond wars or genocides. It is also about checkpoints, curfew and everyday humiliations of the life under the round the clock surveillance. He demonstrates how even such routine things like returning home or participating in a demonstration can be the matter of life and death. Additionally, his testimony depicts that the occupation is experienced and lived moment by moment.
A systematic analysis is presented by Angana P. Chatterji. She characterizes Kashmir as militarized area where such laws as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act provide protection to soldiers.
She reports torture, rape and extrajudicial killings. Her essay is horrifying since such abuses are not unique. They are integrated into some systematic mechanism of maintaining Indian control.
She believes that the kind of activities that take place in Kashmiri life not only undermine the life itself, but also the concept of India as a democracy.
The second writing of Roy revisits what Jawaharlal Nehru has promised. She demonstrates how his initial self-determination to self-determination period led to pragmatism. The image of Nehru as a saviour of democracy completely breaks down when counterbalanced against the truth displayed in Kashmir. Roy believes that India must deal with this history truthfully. Failing to do this it cannot claim any moral authority both in the United States or overseas.
Tariq Ali provides the afterword to the book. He points out that Kashmiris have not given up their quest to freedom. No matter how many decades of violence they are faced with, they still resist. What has been fallen, is not defeat but carelessness. So, Ali claims that so long as Kashmiris are not given the right to determine their future, the dispute will continue. One can plug ears but not the promise of azadi.
Collectively the essays and the poems are very compelling. They demonstrate the fact that Kashmir is not an India–Pakistan issue. It is the fight of the nation denied self-determination. The contributors spell out that not only is it unjustifiable to neglect their voices, but it is hazardous. The issue cannot be ignored because of the persistence of struggles, the endurance of culture and the moral purity of the call to be free.
Significantly, Kashmir: The Case for Freedom, is not an objective text. In fact, it’s a form of advocacy. It challenges the reader to present the paradox of democratic facade and colonial actions of India in Kashmir. It brings out the hypocrisy of the global powers who are supporting freedom in other countries but not here. Above all, it continuously reminds us that states do not offer freedom to people, but people use it to take it. People of Kashmir have staked their claim on the land time and again. Sadly, the world has been deaf.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article are exclusively those of the author and do not reflect the official stance, policies, or perspectives of the Platform.
