Discussion

Congrats Basharat for narrating the story of pain and agony of Kashmir!This time when no body hears our cries,media is gagged,repression and oppression of the worst sort is the oreder of the day in kashmir,it is a relief to see such pieces in the international media.A grand narrative of kashmir that is representative in the real sense is badly needed though your Curfewed Nights has done a great service to the cause of kashmiris.However,i fail to understand why stereotypes cannot be shunned about Islamists!

A great insight into the struggle of Kashmiri freedom. Even though I'm a Pakistani, I didn't quite understand the conflict until now. I was saddened to hear about the atrocities Kashmiris are facing at the moment...and only pray that insh'Allah one day Kashmiris will be able to live freely without the intruding Indian Army.

A remarkably one sided perspective on the Kashmir issue that leaves out the silent majority and significantly understates the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri pundits. Also left out is any mention of the unfortunately few unbiased polls of Kashmiris on the issue. For instance, a 2002 poll by MORI, a British opinion poll firm, found that out of 850 Kashmiris interviewed, 65% believed that foreign militants are damaging the Kashmir cause but more importantly, nine Kashmiris in ten oppose the state of Jammu and Kashmir being divided on the basis of religion. Further, the poll also found that a majority of Kashmiris prefer the option of democratic elections to resolve the conflict.

The fact that Kashmir is actually a very small part of Jammu and Kashmir has other ramifications too. Since Jammu and Ladakh are happy being part of India, it makes no sense to impose so called “azadi” on them. Now that leaves Kashmir with its 15000 sq km area as one of world’s smallest land locked countries – bigger than only Vatican City, Luxembourg and couple of other non-countries. How valid and how long-lived will this “independence” driven by Islamic fanaticism be? Obviously, since they will have just divorced India, they will be absorbed into Pakistan in no time. This is what some of the Kashmiri leaders want in the first place, but is that what most Kashmiris are bargaining for? Will they get a special status like Article 370 in Pakistan? Does such a small land area have enough resources to sustain itself as a country?

Now, why is this distinction between Kashmir and J&K always fudged and why is this distinction important? It is this small part of the state that is a pain in the neck for India, because it is this Muslim majority portion that is holding the whole state and region to ransom. It is this Muslim majority portion of 7% of the state that cannot see itself fitting in a non-Muslim India. Jammu in the South of the state has a Hindu majority population, ethnically similar to neighboring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh; Ladakh in the North of the state has predominantly Buddhist and Muslim population, ethnically similar to neighboring Tibet.

The inability of Kashmiri Muslims to get along with their Hindu neighbors (exemplified in the horrific ethnic cleansing of the Kashmiri Pundits) makes me utterly unsympathetic to their "plight." As an American, I would advise my Indian friends to consider counter-tactics such as allowing Hindus to move to the Kashmir valley and deporting the stone-throwers to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Jai Hind!

'Granta 112: Pakistan' is a disappointment. The fiction is passable, but the other sections are so weak it's an embarrassment to any reader used to Granta's general standard. What to talk of Kashmir? Where are all the major writers of Pakistan? Not here, in this issue, which must be called 'a lost opportunity'. What's the point of picking stuff from a Southall flea market and loading it on to a Khyber Pass painted truck called 'Pakistan'? For diagonal parking in the middle of Addison Avenue it should be given a ticket. Want to read the best Pakistani writers of our time, or the best writing relating to Pakistan? Not here today. Maybe Granta will do another (likely well thought out and worthwhile) issue on 'Pakistan' rather than engaging in such journalism in a hurry.

i am not in such position to analysis such a wonder full narration of Kashmir pain and atrocities.but one thing is undoubtedly that BASHARAT PEER has a grift over Kashmir present and past,
this reportage is excellent.