Book Review: Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir: Between India and Pakistan
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Transcript of Book Review: Islam, Women, and Violence in Kashmir: Between India and Pakistan
Nyla Ali Khan's book 'Islam,Women and Violence in
Kashmir between India andPakistan ' adds to the growing literature
in this area, especially by women schol-
ars. That the author is a Kashmiri wom-
an and grand-daughter of Sheikh Mo-
hammad Abdullah endows this work
with special significance and relevance.
Of equal importance is the author's use
of a gendered frame and women's oral
social histories as a means to contest
dominant, patriarchal narratives of the
nation-state , and envision an alterna-
tive future for Kashmir based on Kash-
mir's rich and enduring traditions of
cultural syncretism.
The first chapter provides a histori-
cal and political background to the pres-ent impasse in Kashmir . Khan notesthe "historical distortions and cultural
depletions with which the histories of
independent India and Pakistan arereplete" [p.7]. These distortions and
depletions transformed Kashmir intoa symbol of 'secular ' and'Islamic' iden-
tity for India and Pakistan respectively.The chapter is interspersed with a sense
of loss and grief experienced by a Kash-
miri woman for her once idyllic home-land that subsequently transformed
into a particularly violent war zone that
"resembles a vast concentration camp,
swarming with soldiers" [p. lo].The second chapter uses a select
range of scholarly literature to out-
line the conflicting political discourses
around Kashmir. Most of what Khan
discusses is fairly well known though
there are several important points re-
garding the complexity of the issue
that come up during the discussion,
namely, Sheikh Abdullah 's 1944 Naya
Kashmir manifesto that, among other
things, laid the foundations for a wel-
fare state , elaborated mechanisms for
ensuring social and distributive justice,
advocated (and later implemented)
a programme of land reform , and af-
Photos: Kashmir Reeuch Centre
FAROOQ ABDULLAH DURING A ROADSHOW IN 1984: Nyla Khan
(inset), who is also the grand-daughter of Sheikh Mohammad
Abdullah , indicts Farooq Abdullah for the erosion of the popular base
of the National Conference that came to represent the interests of
Delhi in Kashmir, paving the way for militarization of the state in1990, and decries 'the exposure of Indian democracy as a brutal facade
that has instigated disgruntlement and antipathy towards Inch
democratic procedures and institutions in the state'
firmed the ethical principle of gender
equality-an undoubtedly radical prop-
osition given the time and social con-text in which it was framed. One of the
most illuminating points in this chap-ter pertains to the notion and constructof Kashmiriyat that, as Khan explains,
foregrounds a Kashmiri identity which
"involved culling selected cultural
fragments from an imagined past that
would enfold both the Pandits and the
Muslims" [p.37].
Kashmiriyat, in other words, is not
merely a cultural, but also a political
construct advanced by Sheikh Abdul-
lah's National Conference in order to
forge a unity among Kashmir s multiple
ethnicities and pre-empt encroach-
ments on Kashmiri autonomy thatwere increasingly apparent during the
1950s. Kashmiriyat embodies, amongother things, an equitable social or-
der; distributive justice; the centrality
of Kashmiri aspiration to any political
resolution for Kashmir; the right of
Kashmiris to education, political par-
ticipation and self-governance, and the
preservation of Kashmiri literature and
CONVEYOR November 2009 61
SHEIKH MOHAMMAD ABDULLAH SIGNING THE LAND TO TILLER ORDER IN 1952
cultural identity [p. 371. As an inclusive,cross-cultural construct, Kashmiriyatunsettles that the narrow, competing
nationalisms of India and Pakistan,
forcing them "to confront an alterna-tive epistemology" [p.38].
Taking the argument further, Khanuses the recitable Kaashmiri verse-form
or vaakh epitomised by the poetry of
Lalla Ded-an icon and symbol of Kash-
mir's syncretic ethos-whose passionatepursuit of self-knowledge, spirituality
and humanism was informed by a keen
subjective awareness of patriarchal so-
cial norms and women 's subordinateposition to men in status, rights, pow-
er and freedom in medieval Kashmir
[p.41]. Lalla Ded's spiritual and poetic
legacy combined with Kashmir's Sufitraditions to enrich Kashmiri culture
and literature and preserve a distinctKashmiri ethos informed by diverse re-ligious traditions.
Khan emphasises the political im-port of Lalla Ded whose criticism and
repudiation of patriarchy, feudalism,
and religious hypocrisy was inextri-
cable from her simultaneous rejectionof social hierarchy, conventional con-
cepts of femininity, and gender-based
subordination of women-a philosophy
that "led to her being owned as much by
the Pandits of the Valley, as Lalla Ish-
wari, as by the Muslims of the Valley, as
Lalla Arifa" [p.52]. For non-Kashmiris,
the chapter provides a glimpse into the
penetrating albeit profound verses by
Lalla Ded and, by extension, Kashmir's
eclectic cultural legacy. Disappoint-
ingly, the chapter ends rather abruptly
without outlining the contemporary
relevance between Lalla Ded's vaakhs,
gender inequality and gendered vio-
lence, and alternative non-national
constructs for Kashmir.
Chapters 3 and 4 describe the po-
litical machinations within Kashmir in
The author is justified in her
contention that it is hard to deny
Sheikh Abdullah 's contributions
In carving substantial niche for
the people of J It K , particularly
the Muslims of the Valey...and
his battle against the political
forces of India and Pakistan
the post-1947 period, some of which are
also addressed in the first chapter. Khan
is justified in her contention that It is
hard to deny his [Sheikh Abdullah's]
contributions in carving substantial
niche for the people of J & K, particu-
larly the Muslims of the Valley...and his
battle against the political forces of In-
dia and Pakistan" [p. 68]. She indicts
Farooq Abdullah for the erosion of the
popular base of the National Confer-
ence that came to represent the inter-
ests of Delhi in Kashmir, paving the way
for militarization of the state in 1990,
and decries 'the exposure of Indian de-
mocracy as a brutal facade [that] has in-
stigated disgruntlement and antipathy
towards Indian democratic procedures
and institutions in the state" [p.891.
Kashmir's collective tragedy is familiar
to residents of the Valley vet it is nev-
ertheless important to emphasise that
the 2008 Assembly elections have not
altered India's relentless and ferocious
counter-offensive in the Valley: Bilal
Ahmed Bhat can still die for refusing
to hand over a box of apples to a CRPF
trooper, and Abdul Rashid Mir can still
be killed in cold blood while trying to
protect a female colleague from being
62 CONVEYOR November 2009
molested by army personnel [p.98].
In the final chapter, Khan addressesthe gendered contours of the military's
carte blanche in Kashmir where "over5ooo women have been violated" even
as "mothers wait outside... gloomy cen-
tres to catch a glimpse of their unfor-
tunate sons: "burqa-clad women [live]
in fear of the wrath of fundamentalist
groups as well as paramilitary forcesbent on undercutting their self-respect"
within 'a maseulinsit discourse and
praxis [and] rigidly entrenched hierar-chical relationships between men and
women" [p. loi].
Yet, as Khan goes on to demon-
strate through conversations with
individual women like Parveena Ah-
anger and Hameeda Nayeem, women
constantly breach a conservative and
patriarchal social context to affirm po-
litical agency and resistance. In con-
trast, female-led organisations such
Dukhtaran-e-Millat "advocate the cre-
ation of a homogenous culture devoid
of the freedoms that Kashmiri women
have traditionally enjoyed" [p. 1051.
Khan writes of Mubeena Gani- gang
raped on the eve of her marriage in
1990 and further punished by a patri-
Meh..j Bhat
Kashmir 's collective tragedy is familiar to residents of the Valley yet
it is nevertheless important to emphasise that the 2008 Assembly
elections have not altered India's relentless and ferocious counter-
offensive in the Valley : Bilal Ahmed Bhat can still die for refusing to
hand over a box of apples to a CRPF trooper, and Abdul Rashid Mir can
still be killed in cold blood while trying to protect a female colleague
from being molested by army personnel
archal culture, yet redeemed and res-
cued by the sensitivity and support of
her husband Abdul Rashid. Khan ends
by reminiscing on, and tracing the so-cial histories and active roles of, wom-
en like Begum Akbar Jehan, Zoon Guj-
jari of Nawakadal, and Jana Begum of
Amirakadal-all of whom symbolise
women's empowerment-in contrastto a present situation where Kashmiri
Muslim women are politically margin-
alised and increasingly constrained by
rigid gender hierarchies.Culture, however, is a fluid and
complex space, encompassing a wide
range of experiences which Kashmiri
women can draw upon to assert sub-
jectivity, agency and empowerment.
By way of conclusion Nvla Ali Khan
suggests "decentralised autonomy in
the entire region as ...a feasible solu-
tion to the political upheaval in the
state" [p.1381-a suggestion that may,
possibly, be refuted with passion by
a great number of Kashmiris. Be that
as it may, it nevertheless remains the
case that Kashmir is tragic testament
to the nation-state building projects of
India and Pakistan.
Even as Kashmir resists the cruel-
ties and indignities inflicted by India
and Pakistan, it must not succumb to
the congealed concept of the nation-
state that is the source of its ongo-
ing tragedy, but draw upon its rich
and layered history and culture to
envision a future based on, as Ashis
Nandy suggests, "a culture mediating
between South Asia and Central Asia,
between India and Pakistan, and per-
haps even between Islam, Hinduism
and Buddhism" [p.153].
The conclusion does not integrate
the main arguments of gender. Khan
could perhaps have made her cen-
tral argument more forcefully: that
a future Kashmir informed by, and
premised on, the universal values of
gender equality, tolerance and plural-
itv svmbolised by Lalla Ded's vaakhs
hold much greater promise and hope
for its benighted people than obsolete
forms of the nation-state. The absence
of a combined bibliography for books
and articles is confusing for the reader.
Nonetheless, Nyla Ali Khan's book is
an important contribution by a Kash-
miri woman towards increasing public
understanding of one of the world's
most violent, tragic and complex con-
flicts. I recommend it very warmly. !
Seerna Kazi is the author of `Between
Democracy and Nation: Gender and
Militarisation in Kashmir'
CONVEYOR November 2009 63