A Desolation Called Peace: Voices from Kashmir

by Javaid Iqbal Bhat

Overview

The accession of Kashmir to the Indian Union in 1947 had raised objections both in Kashmir and India, echoes of which continue to be heard even today. At the time, Sheikh Abdullah was the uncrowned king of Kashmir; today, his grave is under security lest it be vandalized. What accounts for this change in attitude? A Desolation Called Peace provides important insights to understand the political aspirations of the people of Kashmir and the change in their perceptions since Independence. Written and edited by Kashmiri authors, this collection of ethnographic essays explores the desire for 'azadi' as a historical and indigenous demand. While the accounts traverse the period from before 1947 to the momentous time of 1989 when militancy began, the essays illustrate how postcolonial politics has impinged on Kashmiri lives and aspirations, thus paving the way for the intractable dispute of today. This anthology of deeply felt essays will enable an understanding of Kashmir beyond the hackneyed tropes that portray the issue reductively as a proxy war, terrorism or a simple law and order situation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789353570057
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers India
Publication date:	08/20/2019
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.46(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ather Zia is a poet and political anthropologist who teaches at University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. She is the author of Resisting Disappearances: Military Occupation and Women's Activism in Kashmir (Washington University Press, 2019) and co-editor of Resisting Occupation in Kashmir (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018). She is the founder editor of Kashmir Lit (www.kashmirlit.org), an ezine that is publishing writings on Kashmir since 2008. In 2010 she helped co-found the Critical Kashmir Studies Collective (www.criticalkashmirstudies.com), an interdisciplinary network of scholars working on the Kashmir region.

Javaid Iqbal Bhat is an assistant professor in the Department of English, University of Kashmir. He specializes in literary theory and criticism, British fiction, South Asian fiction, diaspora literature and romanticism. Among others, he has published essays in Third Text, Springer and Folklore. He is the author of books Scars of Summer, Mourning Memories: Amarnath Row to the Year of Dead Eyes and Covering a Decade: Reflections on Kashmir Cauldron and Global Affairs (2007-2017). He is a regular columnist for Greater Kashmir, Srinagar and Daily Times, Lahore.

Table of Contents

Introduction Ather Zia Javaid Iqbal Bhat 1

1 In the Arms of Fire Prof. G.R. Malik 27

2 The Life Story of Kashmir Zareef Ahmed Zareef 49

3 Fragments from a Diary: Trials and Tribulations of a Kashmiri life Zahir U Din 63

4 Of Rooms and Resistance: Prisons, Protests, and Politics in Kashmir Mona Bhan 85

5 The Calm and Early Signs of Conflict Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal 101

6 In Memory Lake Mirza Waheed 111

7 My Journey towards Political Consciousness Narrative: Khurram Parvez Written by: Haziq Qadri 129

8 To be Kashmiri in the Present: Politics, Ethics, and History in the Work of Akhtar Mohiuddin Mohamad Junaid 149

9 A Childhood to Insurgency Shahnaz Bashir 193

10 From the Torture Chambers and Back Narrative: Abdul Qadeer Dar Written by: Nawaz Gul Qanungo 205

11 The Vernal Interlude 1989 Mir Khalid 227

12 How I became a Kashmiri Rebel in India Syed Zafar Mehdi 255

References 269

Index 277

Acknowledgements 287