“Sialkot is less than an hour and Mirpur only five hours for the goods from Jammu”
Interview with Annil Suri
President, Bari Brahamana Industries Association
D. Suba Chandran
India and Pakistan has agreed to open the LoC for trade. What are the prospects for the Jammu region?
Jammu region for long has been demanding the opening of LoC for trade. Also it has been demanding for the opening of Jammu-Sialkot road. It is important that both the above happens, so that Jammu region also benefits out of cross-LoC interactions.
Sialkot is less than an hour to reach from Jammu and Mirpur is only five hours for the goods from Jammu by road. Whereas other parts of State, for example Srinagar, takes almost ten hours to reach. Opening the LoC for trade and opening Jammu-Sialkot road are the most important issues related to the trading community in Jammu.
The annual turnover of J&K industry in organized sector is 100,000 crores. There will be an increase by fifty percent if this trade takes place. Other industries, for example, transport industry in Jammu is facing a crisis today; this will help reviving it along.
What are the items that could be traded from Jammu region?
Numerous items could be traded from Jammu region, which includes Steel, welding goods, calcium carbide, handicraft items, bed sheets, pillow covers, life saving drugs, package materials, paints and warnishes. Likewise, there could be items that be received from the other side, for example cement. Also, today Mirpur has electricity for 24 hours. Regions close to the LoC can benefit out of transferring power from that side to here.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
“Unless alternative roads are explored, apple industry in Valley will die soon”
“Unless alternative roads are explored, apple industry in Valley will die soon”
Interview with MA Sofi-Apple Grower & Merchant, Kashmir
D. Suba Chandran
India and Pakistan have agreed to open the LoC for trade. What are the expectations of Apple industry in Kashmir Valley?
Opening Uri-Muzaffarabad road for trade is important, especially for the apple industry. Since almost 80 percent of the population is engaged in various sectors of fruit industry, opening this road will improve this sector. Today, fruit industry is heavily dependent on the Jawahar tunnel, which is the only road to outside world. Except cherries, most of the other fruits go through this road, which is prone for natural disasters such as land slide. For this reason, it is important that Uri-Muzaffarabad road is opened. Traditionally, apples were sold through this road.
Opening LoC for trade will give faster access to Kashmir’s apples. Besides, this road is opened all through the year. Apples from Anantnag could reach Rawalpindi faster than it reaches New Delhi or at times, even Jammu.
What is the market potential on the other side of the LoC?
This road, however should not end in Muzaffarabad, for it will not benefit the fruit industry. For example, five trucks of apples from the Valley will flood the Muzaffarabad city. The apples should be allowed to go to Pakistan, where there is a huge market. Though apples are also grown in Pakistan, Kashmiri industry is much better. Today, even apples produced in Himachal Pradesh reach Pakistan.
How will this trade impact on the apple industry inside Kashmir?
The fruit industry in Kashmir, including the apples, is declining today. If this pace continues, the apple industry will die a natural death and the people associated with this industry will subsequently face further problems. Problems of transporting and packaging are two great issues facing the apple industry today. Loading in Valley and unloading in New Delhi takes a huge cost and also the time involved in this process is significant. Trade through LoC will address this important issue.
In the long run, this will address the Kashmiri apples to compete in the international market. There is a need to invest in better varieties of apples, pesticides and fertilizers. This could be done, only if there is bigger and better market, which could be accessed easily and swiftly. Unless alternative roads are explored, apple industry will die soon.
Interview with MA Sofi-Apple Grower & Merchant, Kashmir
D. Suba Chandran
India and Pakistan have agreed to open the LoC for trade. What are the expectations of Apple industry in Kashmir Valley?
Opening Uri-Muzaffarabad road for trade is important, especially for the apple industry. Since almost 80 percent of the population is engaged in various sectors of fruit industry, opening this road will improve this sector. Today, fruit industry is heavily dependent on the Jawahar tunnel, which is the only road to outside world. Except cherries, most of the other fruits go through this road, which is prone for natural disasters such as land slide. For this reason, it is important that Uri-Muzaffarabad road is opened. Traditionally, apples were sold through this road.
Opening LoC for trade will give faster access to Kashmir’s apples. Besides, this road is opened all through the year. Apples from Anantnag could reach Rawalpindi faster than it reaches New Delhi or at times, even Jammu.
What is the market potential on the other side of the LoC?
This road, however should not end in Muzaffarabad, for it will not benefit the fruit industry. For example, five trucks of apples from the Valley will flood the Muzaffarabad city. The apples should be allowed to go to Pakistan, where there is a huge market. Though apples are also grown in Pakistan, Kashmiri industry is much better. Today, even apples produced in Himachal Pradesh reach Pakistan.
How will this trade impact on the apple industry inside Kashmir?
The fruit industry in Kashmir, including the apples, is declining today. If this pace continues, the apple industry will die a natural death and the people associated with this industry will subsequently face further problems. Problems of transporting and packaging are two great issues facing the apple industry today. Loading in Valley and unloading in New Delhi takes a huge cost and also the time involved in this process is significant. Trade through LoC will address this important issue.
In the long run, this will address the Kashmiri apples to compete in the international market. There is a need to invest in better varieties of apples, pesticides and fertilizers. This could be done, only if there is bigger and better market, which could be accessed easily and swiftly. Unless alternative roads are explored, apple industry will die soon.
“J&K should be the conduit for Indo-Pak trade”-Interview with Tariq Hameed Qarra-Minister of Finance, J&K
“J&K should be the conduit for Indo-Pak trade”
Interview with Tariq Hameed Qarra
Minister of Finance, J&K
D. Suba Chandran
What are the major issues in cross-LoC interactions?
There are four major issues related to cross-LoC interactions today. These include measures to simplify procedures of travel to cross the LoC, increase the movement of traffic in goods, expand the people to people contact and finally, to open new routes.
Why is the delay in addressing these issues?
It is a zig-zag process. There cannot be a miracle in one day or a month. The process is long and takes time. Internal security situation in Pakistan has certainly slowed down this process. The Union government should not get deterred by this internal situation inside Pakistan.
On the positive side, however, there is a political will, on both sides to take this process further. There has also been a change of heart amongst all the actors. Major political parties today are in agreement with this process. Though slowly, the mindsets are changing everywhere. It is a long process.
What measures need to be done to expand the people-to-people contacts across the LoC?
To begin with group tourism could be encouraged. The present interaction is limited only to the divided families. This needs to be enlarged. Universities in both sides could be encouraged to be centers of exchange. There could be short courses for students across. There could even be reservations for students from the other side. Cultural and professional exchanges should be the next obvious step in this process.
There could be a joint consultative group, which could address natural calamities. Such a group could act as a disaster management group. For example, if there occurs any calamity such as the Bird Flu in either side of the LoC, the other side will also be affected. Such a group could address these issues.
What needs to be done to facilitate the cross-LoC travel further?
Ever since Uri-Muzaffarabad road has been opened, there is substantial movement across the LoC. But this movement is limited only to the divided families. There is a need to broaden this movement. People in general, in J&K should be allowed to cross the LoC.
People who want to visit religious places also should be allowed. There are security issues, however to begin with group tourism could be allowed. Also people who are in need of medical facilities could be allowed to cross the LoC. Today Srinagar has the State-of-art medical facilities.
Procedure to cross across the LoC need to be simplified further. The present process is long and cumbersome. The Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) could be considered as the basic document required to across. Besides, the process now takes a long time; this should be simplified and processed in two months.
For traders, entry and exit could be made multiple and the permission could be granted at least for a year. There should also be provisions to get special permission on a priority basis in cases of emergency.
There should be more centers to process the applications. Districts like Poonch, Rajouri, Jammu, Anantnag, Srinagar and Baramulla should have centers of processing.
What major measures need to be done on the issue of cross-LoC trade?
To start with, a joint consultative mechanism including officials and representatives of trade and comers from both sides of Kashmir should be formed. This consultative body could then exchange a list of items that could be exported and imported.
It is important the goods are loaded from one point and unloaded directly in the other point in the mandis. There is certain security issues involved in the beginning. In that case, common depots could be developed, that would help transporting goods on a fast track. Checking should be expedited. Perhaps, for the first three years, customs duty could be expedited.
There is an urgent need to build the infrastructure. For example, the Aman Setu between Uri and Muzafarabad will not be able to handle any heavy movement of goods. Roads and bridges need to be built to address the movement of goods.
The ultimate objective should be in terms of establishing a free trade zone in J&K. This could be done in stages and modalities could be worked out. In short, J&K should become a conduit for Indo-Pak trade.
Interview with Tariq Hameed Qarra
Minister of Finance, J&K
D. Suba Chandran
What are the major issues in cross-LoC interactions?
There are four major issues related to cross-LoC interactions today. These include measures to simplify procedures of travel to cross the LoC, increase the movement of traffic in goods, expand the people to people contact and finally, to open new routes.
Why is the delay in addressing these issues?
It is a zig-zag process. There cannot be a miracle in one day or a month. The process is long and takes time. Internal security situation in Pakistan has certainly slowed down this process. The Union government should not get deterred by this internal situation inside Pakistan.
On the positive side, however, there is a political will, on both sides to take this process further. There has also been a change of heart amongst all the actors. Major political parties today are in agreement with this process. Though slowly, the mindsets are changing everywhere. It is a long process.
What measures need to be done to expand the people-to-people contacts across the LoC?
To begin with group tourism could be encouraged. The present interaction is limited only to the divided families. This needs to be enlarged. Universities in both sides could be encouraged to be centers of exchange. There could be short courses for students across. There could even be reservations for students from the other side. Cultural and professional exchanges should be the next obvious step in this process.
There could be a joint consultative group, which could address natural calamities. Such a group could act as a disaster management group. For example, if there occurs any calamity such as the Bird Flu in either side of the LoC, the other side will also be affected. Such a group could address these issues.
What needs to be done to facilitate the cross-LoC travel further?
Ever since Uri-Muzaffarabad road has been opened, there is substantial movement across the LoC. But this movement is limited only to the divided families. There is a need to broaden this movement. People in general, in J&K should be allowed to cross the LoC.
People who want to visit religious places also should be allowed. There are security issues, however to begin with group tourism could be allowed. Also people who are in need of medical facilities could be allowed to cross the LoC. Today Srinagar has the State-of-art medical facilities.
Procedure to cross across the LoC need to be simplified further. The present process is long and cumbersome. The Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) could be considered as the basic document required to across. Besides, the process now takes a long time; this should be simplified and processed in two months.
For traders, entry and exit could be made multiple and the permission could be granted at least for a year. There should also be provisions to get special permission on a priority basis in cases of emergency.
There should be more centers to process the applications. Districts like Poonch, Rajouri, Jammu, Anantnag, Srinagar and Baramulla should have centers of processing.
What major measures need to be done on the issue of cross-LoC trade?
To start with, a joint consultative mechanism including officials and representatives of trade and comers from both sides of Kashmir should be formed. This consultative body could then exchange a list of items that could be exported and imported.
It is important the goods are loaded from one point and unloaded directly in the other point in the mandis. There is certain security issues involved in the beginning. In that case, common depots could be developed, that would help transporting goods on a fast track. Checking should be expedited. Perhaps, for the first three years, customs duty could be expedited.
There is an urgent need to build the infrastructure. For example, the Aman Setu between Uri and Muzafarabad will not be able to handle any heavy movement of goods. Roads and bridges need to be built to address the movement of goods.
The ultimate objective should be in terms of establishing a free trade zone in J&K. This could be done in stages and modalities could be worked out. In short, J&K should become a conduit for Indo-Pak trade.
“Cross-LoC Trade should not be limited only to two Kashmirs. It should go beyond Muzaffarabad”-Interview with Abdul Hamid Punjabi
“Cross-LoC Trade should not be limited only to two Kashmirs. It should go beyond Muzaffarabad”
Interview with Abdul Hamid Punjabi
Secretary General, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)
D. Suba Chandran
The LoC is opened for the divided families more than two years ago. Cross-LoC trade is yet to take place. Why and where is the delay?
The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has been demanding the opening of LoC for trade ever since it is opened. From the Prime Minister to the Chief Minister in J&K, it has met all concerned persons on this vital issue. The road is yet to open. The reason is purely political. Perhaps, India and Pakistan have to settle the formalities of trade.
What potential does the cross-LoC trade has? What would be the volume of trade if the LoC is opened for goods?
There is tremendous potential for cross-LoC trade. From Kashmir Valley, goods that could be traded include the following: Carpets, rugs, paper machie, shawls, wood carvings, furniture, silk and silk products, apples, dry fruits, saffron, wazwan, leather and leather products, readymade packed foods and fabricated items like ornaments of gold.
On the volume of trade, it is difficult to predict today, what would be exact amount. For that it requires meeting of both sides, exchange of lists of items that could be traded and approval by the governments concerned to trade them. None of the above has happened so far. How can one predict the volume of trade now?
What should be the nature of this cross-LoC trade?
The cross-LoC trade should begin as early as possible. And this trade should not be limited only to two Kashmirs. It should go beyond Muzaffarabad to Rawalpindi and other parts of Pakistan. If the goods from this part of Kashmir is allowed to go only up to Muzaffarabad, it will not benefit the traders much.
To start with, Uri-Muzaffarabad road should be given importance, for it is short and an all weather road. Subsequently, other roads should also be opened for trade across the LoC. For example, from Kashmir Valley, goods could be traded through Gurez to Astore and also via Kargil to Skardu.
To support that kind of a trading activity, initiatives also needs to taken inside in terms of improving the infrastructure. Roads need to be built and expanded; there is need for better supply of electricity, which is a big hurdle today in augmenting the manufacture in Valley. If there is better electricity and roads, productivity could be doubled inside Kashmir.
Finally, KCCI should be engaged in this process. For example, KCCI was not a part of the working group on the economic development constituted under Dr Rangarajan. In fact, the KCCI has submitted a memorandum on the submission of this group’s report.
Interview with Abdul Hamid Punjabi
Secretary General, Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI)
D. Suba Chandran
The LoC is opened for the divided families more than two years ago. Cross-LoC trade is yet to take place. Why and where is the delay?
The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has been demanding the opening of LoC for trade ever since it is opened. From the Prime Minister to the Chief Minister in J&K, it has met all concerned persons on this vital issue. The road is yet to open. The reason is purely political. Perhaps, India and Pakistan have to settle the formalities of trade.
What potential does the cross-LoC trade has? What would be the volume of trade if the LoC is opened for goods?
There is tremendous potential for cross-LoC trade. From Kashmir Valley, goods that could be traded include the following: Carpets, rugs, paper machie, shawls, wood carvings, furniture, silk and silk products, apples, dry fruits, saffron, wazwan, leather and leather products, readymade packed foods and fabricated items like ornaments of gold.
On the volume of trade, it is difficult to predict today, what would be exact amount. For that it requires meeting of both sides, exchange of lists of items that could be traded and approval by the governments concerned to trade them. None of the above has happened so far. How can one predict the volume of trade now?
What should be the nature of this cross-LoC trade?
The cross-LoC trade should begin as early as possible. And this trade should not be limited only to two Kashmirs. It should go beyond Muzaffarabad to Rawalpindi and other parts of Pakistan. If the goods from this part of Kashmir is allowed to go only up to Muzaffarabad, it will not benefit the traders much.
To start with, Uri-Muzaffarabad road should be given importance, for it is short and an all weather road. Subsequently, other roads should also be opened for trade across the LoC. For example, from Kashmir Valley, goods could be traded through Gurez to Astore and also via Kargil to Skardu.
To support that kind of a trading activity, initiatives also needs to taken inside in terms of improving the infrastructure. Roads need to be built and expanded; there is need for better supply of electricity, which is a big hurdle today in augmenting the manufacture in Valley. If there is better electricity and roads, productivity could be doubled inside Kashmir.
Finally, KCCI should be engaged in this process. For example, KCCI was not a part of the working group on the economic development constituted under Dr Rangarajan. In fact, the KCCI has submitted a memorandum on the submission of this group’s report.
Book Reviews-A Mission in Kashmir & In Search of a future
One Issue, Many Perspectives. Yet Refreshing
D. Suba Chandran
Assistant Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi
A Mission in Kashmir
Andrew Whitehead
Penguin-Viking, New Delhi, 2007, Rs.495, 285 Pages
In Search of a Future: The Story of Kashmir
David Davidas
Penguin-Viking, New Delhi, 2007, Rs.495, 381 Pages
Andrew Whitehead and David Devadas’s works focus primarily on Kashmir Valley. Whitehead gives an extra-ordinary insight into the infamous raid by the pashtuns backed by Pakistan military on Baramulla. Starting his analysis on his interactions with Sister Emilia Montavani, an Italian nun who witnessed the attackers ransacking the Christian mission in Baramulla, Whitehead constructs the events of one of the most important episode in the contemporary history of Kashmir.
In Sister Emilia’s words, “the Monday after the feast of Christ the King they (the raiders) reach here. Then they started to shoot. They came inside. We were working still. Our dispensary was working still. The hospital had patients. They were on the veranda of the hospital, going from one ward to another. They say: shoot, kill, maro (attack).”
However, she and some of the others were saved, by a Pakistani army officer, who apparently was educated by nuns. Whitehead writes: the arrival of this Pathan officer, Saurab Hyat Khan, put an end to this initial bloodshed. But it was not the end of the mission’s ordeal. All the survivors – nuns, priests, nurses, patients and local non-Muslim refugees – were herded into one small ward of the mission hospital. There were about eighty people in all, including broods of children, and three British boys, one newly born, who had been orphaned in the attack.” Whitehead has also interviewed Khan Shah Afridi, who took part in the raid, who recounted: “We shot whoever we saw in Baramulla. We did not know how many we killed.” All in the name of liberating Muslims from a Hindu ruler!
This raid has left an imprint in Baramulla that anyone visiting the town even today could feel the echoes, silently being reverberated in conversations and discussions with the locals. Once the imposing presence of the security forces is absorbed and the initial emotional barrier of reluctance is broken, one could feel the remorse amongst the local population today for what had happened sixty years ago. Those youth who are playing cricket in the Degree College ground in Baramulla would tell different tales of their aspirations and expectations, but the older generation still remembers the sacking of their town as a decisive event in the history of Kashmir.
Whitehead, while narrating his story, touches upon many vital issues that need larger deliberation; Kashmiriyat and Kashmiri Islam – two most important among them. On Kashmiriyat Whitehead observes: “And it seems the term kashmiriyat was never used before 1947 – it was in part invented as a political rallying cry. Yet its strength has come from a perception that Kashmir has been inclusive in its culture, and that both the Muslim majority and the vastly smaller and more privileged Hindu minority contributed to the language and the culture, respected and honoured the other community’s religious festivals and practices, and so shared a Kashmiri identity which created a bond stronger than the differences of faith and belief.”
Second important issue is what he writes about the Islam in Kashmir. He writes: “There is something quiet distinct about the Kashmiri style of Islam. The traditional, tiered-style mosque architecture has more in common with the Central Asia that with the cupolas of the grand mosques across the plains of north India and Pakistan. The service with its lilting, intoned prayers and responses, has a gentle haunting air and aesthetic appeal which I’ve never found anywhere else.” Clearly Kashmiri Islam is unique in many ways and in fact has shaped the Kashmiryat.
Where does the Kashmiryat stand as a political cry or an emotional and psychological appeal? After almost two decades of violence and victimizations, how much of it is left in the Kashmir Valley? How many use today as a mere political rhetoric and how many really believe and practice it? On the nature of Kashmir Islam, is there a threat to it from a puritanical stream? Undoubtedly, the older generation believes in the Sufi nature of Islam; however does the younger generation also believe in the same? These are important questions that need to be further explored, for they have vital importance to the final resolution of Kashmir conflict.
David Devadas’s In Search of Future: The Story of Kashmir, starts with a mega statement: “Every bit of the book is fact, based on detailed research conducted over the past nine years, although I have used the narrative style of faction to convey the story.” The book is heavy and controversial; one is not sure how factual or the facts, when it makes sweeping generalizations. Consider the following: “Kashmir struggled vigorously to become a modern nation state, but failed to develop a viable model. Kashmiris were hobbled by internecine suspicions as well as the culture of guile and intrigue that grew through centuries of colonial oppression. An even greater weakness is that the aspiration remained stuck in a mindset of contemptuous superiority, one that not only kept it divided within but prompted it to look for a future premised on the oppression of others – a colonist’s model that was out of sync with an age that offered unprecedented opportunities for living together in mutual accommodation.”
The book is likely to remain controversial as this paragraph in the first chapter. But this should not undermine the painful efforts of Devadas to understand the psyche of Kashmir. Given the complexity of the task that he has undertaken, the process needs to be appreciated, though one may not agree with the conclusions. Given the fact that, a simple question posed in Kashmir to the same person is likely to elicit different responses over a period of time, what constitutes the fact becomes questionable. The truth in answer to a question in Kashmir depends on how comfortable the respondent feels to the interviewer. In most cases, there are standard interview answers, which should be probed further and quantified, before making a general assertion.
Devdas’s account of Kashmir’s history starts in 1931 and with 9/11, covering seven decades of political, social and emotional upheaval in three hundred and fifty pages. Herculean task, deftly handled in a journalistic way through certain characters and events from Sheikh Abdullah to AB Vajpayee.
Both the books, though look into an issue that have been widely commented and written about, yet they are refreshing in their own ways.
(By arrangement with the Book Review)
D. Suba Chandran
Assistant Director, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi
A Mission in Kashmir
Andrew Whitehead
Penguin-Viking, New Delhi, 2007, Rs.495, 285 Pages
In Search of a Future: The Story of Kashmir
David Davidas
Penguin-Viking, New Delhi, 2007, Rs.495, 381 Pages
Andrew Whitehead and David Devadas’s works focus primarily on Kashmir Valley. Whitehead gives an extra-ordinary insight into the infamous raid by the pashtuns backed by Pakistan military on Baramulla. Starting his analysis on his interactions with Sister Emilia Montavani, an Italian nun who witnessed the attackers ransacking the Christian mission in Baramulla, Whitehead constructs the events of one of the most important episode in the contemporary history of Kashmir.
In Sister Emilia’s words, “the Monday after the feast of Christ the King they (the raiders) reach here. Then they started to shoot. They came inside. We were working still. Our dispensary was working still. The hospital had patients. They were on the veranda of the hospital, going from one ward to another. They say: shoot, kill, maro (attack).”
However, she and some of the others were saved, by a Pakistani army officer, who apparently was educated by nuns. Whitehead writes: the arrival of this Pathan officer, Saurab Hyat Khan, put an end to this initial bloodshed. But it was not the end of the mission’s ordeal. All the survivors – nuns, priests, nurses, patients and local non-Muslim refugees – were herded into one small ward of the mission hospital. There were about eighty people in all, including broods of children, and three British boys, one newly born, who had been orphaned in the attack.” Whitehead has also interviewed Khan Shah Afridi, who took part in the raid, who recounted: “We shot whoever we saw in Baramulla. We did not know how many we killed.” All in the name of liberating Muslims from a Hindu ruler!
This raid has left an imprint in Baramulla that anyone visiting the town even today could feel the echoes, silently being reverberated in conversations and discussions with the locals. Once the imposing presence of the security forces is absorbed and the initial emotional barrier of reluctance is broken, one could feel the remorse amongst the local population today for what had happened sixty years ago. Those youth who are playing cricket in the Degree College ground in Baramulla would tell different tales of their aspirations and expectations, but the older generation still remembers the sacking of their town as a decisive event in the history of Kashmir.
Whitehead, while narrating his story, touches upon many vital issues that need larger deliberation; Kashmiriyat and Kashmiri Islam – two most important among them. On Kashmiriyat Whitehead observes: “And it seems the term kashmiriyat was never used before 1947 – it was in part invented as a political rallying cry. Yet its strength has come from a perception that Kashmir has been inclusive in its culture, and that both the Muslim majority and the vastly smaller and more privileged Hindu minority contributed to the language and the culture, respected and honoured the other community’s religious festivals and practices, and so shared a Kashmiri identity which created a bond stronger than the differences of faith and belief.”
Second important issue is what he writes about the Islam in Kashmir. He writes: “There is something quiet distinct about the Kashmiri style of Islam. The traditional, tiered-style mosque architecture has more in common with the Central Asia that with the cupolas of the grand mosques across the plains of north India and Pakistan. The service with its lilting, intoned prayers and responses, has a gentle haunting air and aesthetic appeal which I’ve never found anywhere else.” Clearly Kashmiri Islam is unique in many ways and in fact has shaped the Kashmiryat.
Where does the Kashmiryat stand as a political cry or an emotional and psychological appeal? After almost two decades of violence and victimizations, how much of it is left in the Kashmir Valley? How many use today as a mere political rhetoric and how many really believe and practice it? On the nature of Kashmir Islam, is there a threat to it from a puritanical stream? Undoubtedly, the older generation believes in the Sufi nature of Islam; however does the younger generation also believe in the same? These are important questions that need to be further explored, for they have vital importance to the final resolution of Kashmir conflict.
David Devadas’s In Search of Future: The Story of Kashmir, starts with a mega statement: “Every bit of the book is fact, based on detailed research conducted over the past nine years, although I have used the narrative style of faction to convey the story.” The book is heavy and controversial; one is not sure how factual or the facts, when it makes sweeping generalizations. Consider the following: “Kashmir struggled vigorously to become a modern nation state, but failed to develop a viable model. Kashmiris were hobbled by internecine suspicions as well as the culture of guile and intrigue that grew through centuries of colonial oppression. An even greater weakness is that the aspiration remained stuck in a mindset of contemptuous superiority, one that not only kept it divided within but prompted it to look for a future premised on the oppression of others – a colonist’s model that was out of sync with an age that offered unprecedented opportunities for living together in mutual accommodation.”
The book is likely to remain controversial as this paragraph in the first chapter. But this should not undermine the painful efforts of Devadas to understand the psyche of Kashmir. Given the complexity of the task that he has undertaken, the process needs to be appreciated, though one may not agree with the conclusions. Given the fact that, a simple question posed in Kashmir to the same person is likely to elicit different responses over a period of time, what constitutes the fact becomes questionable. The truth in answer to a question in Kashmir depends on how comfortable the respondent feels to the interviewer. In most cases, there are standard interview answers, which should be probed further and quantified, before making a general assertion.
Devdas’s account of Kashmir’s history starts in 1931 and with 9/11, covering seven decades of political, social and emotional upheaval in three hundred and fifty pages. Herculean task, deftly handled in a journalistic way through certain characters and events from Sheikh Abdullah to AB Vajpayee.
Both the books, though look into an issue that have been widely commented and written about, yet they are refreshing in their own ways.
(By arrangement with the Book Review)
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