A couple of months back, I read this book “Curfewed Nights” by Basharat Peer. The title is inspired by the numerous nights spent indoors by Kashmiris since militancy began in the 1980’s. The book is very well written. It is actually the first book written by a Kashmiri Muslim which describes the lives Kashmiris lead. It truly is an eye opener for most Indians for whom Kashmir is this troubled place, far away, and always in the news for the wrong reasons. But what really goes on there, we do not know.
Everyone in India and Pakistan has an opinion on Kashmir. But, this is written by a person whose life has actually been affected by all those news items and opinions. Basharat describes his own childhood growing up in the Valley, how militancy came in, what did the Kashmiris want, how families across the LOC have not seen or heard from each other over the decades, how military presence , bombing, and frisking is a normal part of their lives, and how living normally is something no one really knows.
It is such a sad account told with a heart. It talks about the high-handedness of the Indian Army where innocent boys and men have paid the price of suspicion with torture or sometimes with their lives. The dichotomy which Basharat describes when he visits Delhi, and the distrust he faced as a Kashmiri Muslim when looking for a rented house in Delhi is very real. He has not swept any issues under the carpet and explores the sadness at the driving away of Kashmiri Pandits and their pathetic existence in refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi. There are many horrifying incidents in the book and a couple of them about women being gangraped, even I was aware of.
The story fills one with sadness for a people who have suffered so much and do not really know if they will ever know peace. Of course, the role of Pakistan is also clearly explained, and so is the culture of Kashmiris. This beautiful, troubled place wants to dictate its own fortune. They want a life devoid of bloodshed. I don’t know what is possible politically, even the author does not know how and in what way the issue can be resolved. What he has managed to do is to create awareness, not as a statistic in a news item but as actual, breathing people living in constant fear and knowing the pain of having lost loved ones. It is a tragically real tale. It left me disturbed after reading it, and for those who want a perspective on Kashmir from a Kashmiri Muslim’s viewpoint, a must read. It does raise some very disturbing questions.
I got around to writing about this book in the background of the tragic death of this teen in Srinagar a few days back. It has now come to light that the teen was shot down on the orders of a BSF officer, who even tried to hide the incident. At least, there is an inquiry initiated. So many such incidents have been outlined in the book, which are so shocking and brutal and almost always involving young teenaged boys. Most of them go unreported. I did not feel that there was an attempt to sensationalize. I felt that Basharat just narrated what he has seen happen in his own life.
There are a few things which baffled me — like why did the Kashmiris always have an anti-India stand as the author has described? Do the Indian Muslims elsewhere in the country feel as alienated from the mainstream, as he has tried to portray? There are many such questions this book raises.
The larger point is the tragedy of Kashmir. Either way, it will be always be a bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Kashmiris continue to live in a war-like situation forever.
Same book diff interpretation. Yes the atrocities make you feel sorry but also it spells out how alienated Kashmiris are ! They don’t have a sense of belonging to India at all. Also that just about everyone across all age groups as well as women are totally involved and support militancy. How do you expect army to maintain restraint all the time. Women and children are conduits to arms and information. Then why do they expect to remain unscathed ! Kashmir is a tragedy for all those involved with no peaceful end in sight.
Hmmm your post has made me craving for more, just have to get hold of this book now
After reading ur views, I decided to read this book whenever I find it in a library.
@Renu – Yes, Kashmiris do not have a sense of belonging with India. But by suppressing them, we are hardly going to gain that feeling. I am not blaming the army, but when one has absolute power then abuse does happen. He has highlighted the good army folks too. But, we in India know how high handed the powerful can be. I just wanted to highlight that every conflict has two sides to it, and we can look at it rationally only, because we are not living it everyday. I think we need to know the other side too, to have more empathy and a more balanced view.
Thank you for giving the book to me to read.
@Bhagyashree and Chandrika – controversial topic, bound to raise tempers but must be read.
Kashmiris are so uneducated, emotional and irrational that they dont know where their true interests lie. A landlocked region like Kashmir can never be a stable independent country (see Afghanistan, Nepal, Bolivia, etc) unless the political neighbourhood is very benign (which it isnt). Merging with Pakistan is like getting on a boat that has a broken keel; you are sure to go down with it. Staying with India is the only sensible option for Kashmiris, but unfortunately they cant see far enough to realise that.
I support Apurva. Or rather I used to have the view that if Kashmir merges with Pakistan it will be for their worse.
But I have had some debates with someone who is from Azad Kashmir(which we call POK). And they are vehement in the support in joining with Pakistan. It’s like a child has a choice between the true parent and a prosperous parent.
Having said that our strategic interests don’t lie in giving away Kashmir. It’ll bring the terror factory i.e. Pakistan only more closer to our borders.
I never used to believe that our good army commanded by personnel coming out of NDA(I could’ve been one but didn’t qualify 😉 ) are capable of such atrocities. But there is surely something happening for them raise such hue and cry. Let’s hope that the situation gets better with so much exposure of the other side. Let’s hope that sense prevails on Kashmiris 🙂
@Apurva – Actually the author says that Kashmiri culture promotes education of their women, and that most of them are well educated. I do agree that you viewpoint is rational. It is the sensible thing to do. But, what I read made me realize that these people hate us so much. The author distinctly refer to anything apart from Kashmir as India. They would support any team in cricket which plays against India. Small incidents which show that the hatred towards India is deep seated and pervasive. That was disturbing, because we have been sacrificing men, money and machinery protecting people who care a damn about us and who openly join militancy movements. Also, they feel their allegiance to Pakistan due to a shared religion.
@GP Kashmir with India is definitely safer for us, and you are right about more views being shared from the other side. I think with media playing a stronger role, human rights violations by the Army will be reduced, and the understanding of Pakistan’s designs by Kashmiris will improve. Hopefully, rationality would prevail.
Basically if you have over half a million soldiers stationed anywhere, then there are bound to be violation of some human and several civil rights of the local population. But the violations are much much lesser than seen in similar trouble spots elsewhere in the world. Also the view of the valley is not the view of the whole of J&K; the valley dwellers may hate us, but the rest of J&K may not. The people in the valley are in way like people in Gaza and West Bank.. they want to blame everyone other than themselves for the situation they find themselves in.
@Apurva This is an unending debate. Yes, human rights violations take place, but they cannot be acceptable surely. As a society, we must condemn these. This is a contentious issue, and a consensus is difficult to evolve anyway. I understand what you are saying, and so let us end it at that. If you read the book, then we can discuss further 🙂