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www.freepresskashmir.news VOL 10 ISSUE 17 SRINAGAR APRIL 26, 2021 PAGES 16 15.00
FREEPRESS
REGISTERED: JKENG/2011/36414
DWINDLING
NUMBERS
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
HUMAN RIGHTS
WILDLIFE DEVOURING DARKNESS
By Marila Latif
POLICY
ENDLESS EMBARGO
By Bisma Bhat
DWINDLING
NUMBERS By Nasir Yousufi
/INTERVIEW
CUPS AND
CHRONICLES
By Rounak Bhat
Owned, Printed and Published by: Qazi Zaid | Published from: Second Floor, Aqsa Mall, Jehangir Chowk, Srinagar | Printed at: Khidmat Offset Printing Press, The Bund, Srinagar
Registered: JKENG/2011/36414 | Features Editor: Bilal Handoo | Layout & Graphics: Suhail Sultan | Contact at: +0194-2475633 | E-Mails: newsdesk@freepresskashmir.com | admin@freepresskashmir.comWEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
/Human Rights
DEVOURING DARKNESS
As a mother dies devouring the fear of disappearance and loss for her young son, the unfortunate family
couldn’t discern the cause, reason and who was who.
By Marila Latif
F
ollowing a sudden storming, lament over her lost shade and shadow Police Station and not the Zakura Po- midnight raid turned terminal.
a distrait daughter—stuck in — her mother. lice Station.” Earlier, in a tweet, police had said:
sightlessness since her birth— While grievers around her discuss Concerned officials in the Nigeen “On basis of an input, a joint CASO of
could only hear a thud as her the midnight raid rendering her orphan, Police Station told FPK that they can- Police & CRPF was launched in Meer-
mother’s midnight farewell sound. the daughter with her plaintive face not comment on the matter. ak Shah Colony last night. Search was
Her mother collapsed on a cold and wonders about the raid party and her Another police officer in the Zakura conducted. The search parties left af-
cemented porch of her home and made sibling’s cellphone. Police Station immediately hung up ter completing the search. In the morn-
the daughter wail all around her life- “During that raid they told my broth- the call on hearing the query. ing it was learnt that one lady, Mst
less body. er to visit Zakura Police Station next SP Hazratbal, Irshad Rather, named Khatija Putoo, resident of same local-
With that nocturnal demise, dirges morning to collect his phone,” says SSP Srinagar as “the authorized person ity, died because of a heart attack.
erupted from yet another strife-struck visibly-impaired Rubeena. in District to speak on such issues with Police is looking into the matter.”
home of Kashmir. “But now, after taking my mother’s media fraternity”. But Srinagar police But in absence of clear answers,
Days later, Rubeena struggles to give life, they’re saying that Habak area chief, Sandeep Chaudhary did not re- Rubeena is endlessly thinking about
voice to her grief, as she continues to comes under the jurisdiction of Nigeen spond to repeated calls related to the the third night of Ramzan when sheWEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
became an orphan.
Around 2:30 am that night, nearly a
dozen masked men in fatigues carrying
firearms showed up in Mirakshah
Colony of Srinagar’s Habak area.
The raid party was searching for
Rubeena’s brother, Javaid Ahmad Putu,
a 33-year-old glass designer.
Though Javaid was sleeping on the
third floor of his house, his mother
Khajida, 60, father Ghulam Mohammad
Putu, 66, and sister Rubeena, 30, were
sleeping on the ground floor.
“I heard the knock,” says headman
Ghulam Mohammad in a room full of
“On basis of an mourning faces.
“Before I could even unlock the gate,
input, a joint two men jumped and barged into the
house. They said they want to interrogate
CASO of Police my son.”
Upon hearing this – Khadijah – asked
& CRPF was questions in a slurred speech: “My son
is innocent? What happened? Why do
launched in you want to take him? Where would you
take him?”
Meerak Shah Ghulam Mohammad didn’t want the
raid party to take his only son.
Colony last night. “Wherever you take my son I will
come along,” he confronted the cops.
Search was In Kashmir, thousands of young men
have faced disappearances, intermit-
conducted. The tent curfews, midnight raids thus,
creating psychosis – literally and
search parties left metaphorically – in preponderance
with loss and fear.
after completing “As I stepped outside the gate, they
asked me to hand over the phone first,”
the search. In the recalls Javaid, while grieving in his
room.
morning it was “And within 3 minutes, I heard a cry,
so did the police.”
learnt that one Numbed by the situation, Javaid
couldn’t comprehend who they were.
lady, Mst Khatija “Some spoke pure Kashmiri but others
were talking in Hindi in a non-local
Putoo, resident of accent,” he says.
A few of them were inside the prem-
same locality, died ises, says Haleema, a 40-year-old relative.
“They saw her [Khadijah] collapsing
because of a heart and told me to take care of her.”
After falling on the verandah, Javaid’s
attack. Police is mother started frothing from her mouth.
She took a gulp of water and closed her
looking into the eyes forever.
As Khadijah lost her shadow in min-
matter.” utes, Javaid was still talking to police
along with his father outside the gate.
The father and son were unaware of
the loss. night crisis is now making Rubeena the raid in the first place.
“In a bizarre swiftness, they told me wonder: “Can this be still a dream?” Now in absence of any woman in her
to visit Zakura Police Station in the Barging into homes and marching house, Rubeena fears—how a visually
morning and left,” Javaid said. with tarred boots in the middle of the impaired woman can stay home all
Upon reentering the gate, Javaid saw nights are familiar situations in Kash- alone when her brother and father leave
his mother lifeless. mir, she says. for work tomorrow.
“Bai trovhas yeali, Mouji! Thoud “We understand the criteria very well, “Who will ensure my safety? Anything
wat’tieye (They let me go, mother! Please but if my brother had committed any can happen here,” she says.
wake up),” Javaid informed his numb mistake, they could have come during “A woman always needs her mother
mother. the day.” and I being blind needed her the most.
The dramatic break-in wherein the And despite losing the mother, the I cannot even go to the toilet without
raid party left after creating the mid- family is yet to fathom why they faced assistance.” FP KWEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
By Bisma Bhat
/Policy
ENDLESS
Behind the current tourism
façade, the unaddressed
issue of fading boats is
EMBARGO
distressing Dal Lake
dwellers. Part of the
problem is said to be last
year’s draft and decree
of years — pushing the
‘anchorless’ community to
obscurity now.
O
n the deck of his float- repairs and renovation—toothed with nment has time and again imposed save his family and some important
ing house, Yaqoob Duno the last summer’s controversial draft— draconian laws to curtail the growth documents, he sought help from his
laments over his tribe’s make Duno anxious about his water- of houseboat tourism in Kashmir.” sleepy neighbours.
identity loss in the ‘wa- borne community’s future. Much of this anguish stems from “I tried to block water for around
ter graveyard’. “That draft read like a last nail in the Draft House Boat Policy issued three hours with my bare hands and
Ever since the pan- the coffin,” the worried houseboat on June 27, 2020 — proscribing new logs,” Shafi recalls the horror hours
demic created another phase of pathos owner says. “Even before that, efforts houseboat construction and seeking of his life with rapt clarity. “All my
in the “world-famous Dal Lake”, it were being made to destroy the house- renewal of existing ones. clothes socked wet and my hands froze
has consumed an ace swimmer and boat culture in Kashmir.” “Once the draft was declared,” Duno with cold icy water.”
a near dozen houseboats. As they remain marooned in water, continues, “most of us knew that it When he couldn’t hold it further,
Some of the iconic vessels of yore— houseboats need a binding bottom was just a matter of time now.” he left his boat and stood on the wood-
graced by the likes of Jim Morrison repairing every year. “But due to the Living with the same fears, Duno’s en bridge to watch his floating home
and VS Naipaul during their “nir- ban, we’re not able to fix it, and are tribe member, Mohammad Shafi’s sinking in front of his eyes. Even his
vana years” in the on the verge of destruction,” Duno sleep ended on January 6, 2021, when frenetic calls to the cops couldn’t
mountains—are re- says. his New Shimla got rattled by the come to his rescue.
duced to a sunken “We’ve been already struggling due season’s first snowfall. After New Shimla—a home of ten
glory now. to the unprecedented situation in Years of restriction had rendered members—wrecked in the frozen wa-
Years Kashmir. To make matters his houseboat base hollow. And when ters of Dal Lake amid snowfall, Shafi
of gag on worse, the gov- those early morning jolts shook shifted his family to a small hut behind
er- him, the boatman was stunned the boat.
to see seepage in his water “If today it was mine, tomorrow it
abode. To would be someone else’s houseboat,”
says the houseboat owner, now driv-
ing a three-wheeler to put food
on the table of his family.WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021 Within spitting distance of Shafi’s the ten houseboats to have sunken in ber has drastically declined to 950 today. “The court has been misguided that ‘sunken ship’, Bulzimer met the same the troubled waters of the valley in For tourists visiting Kashmir, stay- the houseboats are the main con- fate in that snowy morning. the last six months. “This much of ing in a houseboat for a few days and tributor of pollution when they con- The houseboat owner, Mushtaq Sop- houseboat death count was never wit- exploring Dal Lake in a Shikara is tribute only 3 per cent of the total ori, along with his three siblings, was nessed in Kashmir before,” says Ab- the main part of their travel package. sewage poured in Dal Lake,” Duno sleeping in a shanty behind their boat dul Hamid Wangnoo, president of Houseboat interiors are designed with says. when gushing water woke him up. Kashmir Houseboat Owners Asso- wood-carved walls, with Kashmiri “The main pollutants are the small “When I opened the door of my hut, ciation (KHOA). woven carpets giving a cultural touch communities living around the lake. I saw my houseboat tilting and sink- “Due to the blanket ban on recon- to the whole ambience. Rooms are While they go scot-free, we’re being ing,” Sopori recounts his life’s dev- struction, repair and renovation, upgraded with high-class furniture, made scapegoats.” astating scene. “I called my brothers, Kashmir’s iconic houseboats may with the latest facilities available for The government should come for- but none of them could prevent the barely survive for a decade or so, un- tourists. ward and make it clear to the house- inevitable.” less things won’t change for the better.” However, this mesmerising picture boat owners about their real motives, Bulzimer was a 35-year-old house- The ban was first imposed in 1980 got distorted in March 2009, when the says Duno, standing on his decaying boat, originally owned by Mushtaq “to restrict the number” of floating J&K High Court completely banned deck. Sopori’s late father, Ghulam Nabi houses — considered as the main repairs and renovation of houseboats— “If we’re supposed to keep house- Sopori. His sons would do small main- source of pollution. keeping “deteriorating condition” of boats, then we should be allowed to tenance yearly, but could not fix the Back then, there were around 1,500 water bodies in view. Since then, around repair and renovate them. But if that’s houseboat bottom—becoming its houseboats in the four water bodies: 200 cases seeking permission for not the motive, then give us the cost Achilles heel this snow-laden winter. Dal Lake, Nigeen Lake, Chinar Bagh, houseboat repair are pending with of our boats and shift us to some oth- New Shimla and Bulzimer are among and River Jhelum. However, the num- the Tourism Department. er places.” FP K
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
DWINDLING
NUMBERS /Wildlife
/COVER STORY BY
MIR NASIR YOUSUFIWEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
CAUGHT BETWEEN MILITARISATION OF HABITAT AND APATHY,
AS THE WORLD COMMUNITY IS OBSERVING THE WILDLIFE DAY,
RISK OF EXTINCTION FOR THE HANGUL LOOMS LARGE.WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
Once widely distributed in the
mountains of Kashmir, with a
small population outside J&K in the
Chamba district of Himachal Pardesh,
the Hangul distribution range has
drastically declined, confining the
animal to the 141 sq Km Dachigam
national park.
P
assing fingers gently over the
pointed and branched antlers,
put at a display on the entrance
of their grandparent’s home, two
siblings Muafiq and Faizan cher-
ish the majesty of the unseen
red deer.
Septuagenarian Mohammad
Yousuf Wani, their grandfather
recalls how occasionally, ‘Kash-
mir’s prized animal’ used to stray close to their premises,
while turning nostalgic on the mention of the animal.
A spectre, Muafiq and Faizan in their early twenties
have never been able to witness, unlike their grandfather,
at their ancestral house in Barji Harwan, a small hamlet
situated at a stone’s throw from Dachigam National Park,
harbouring the endangered species of this Himalayan
red deer.
The Hangul or Kashmir Stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu)
is the only subspecies of European red deer found here.
Its limited distribution and small population makes it a
‘critically endangered specie’.
With drastic decline in the numbers over the years, the
population of Hangul is minimal.
IUCN Red Data Book, which records the list of species
facing the risk of extinction, has declared this state ani-
mal of J&K as a critically endangered species.
Red Data List released in 2018 at Rio+20 Earth Summit,
held at Rio de Jenario in Brazil, has placed the animal
among the ‘most threatened species’ in the world.
Dwindling numbers
Pegged at around 5,000 in 1900 A.D, the population of
Hangul has seen a constant fall over the decades.
According to the census report released by the Depart-
ment of Wild life and Protection (counting carried out on
24, 25 and 26 of March 2017 by experts and trained officials)
the number of Himalayan Red Deer is as low as 182 now.
From the census reports available with the department,
Annual Hangul Counting started in 2004 estimates the
population at 197 (2004), 153 (2006), 127 (2008), 175 (2009),
218 (2011), 186 (2015) and 197 (2017). This ratio dwindled between 21 males per 100 fe-
Although the last two decades have shown some stabil- males in 2006, 22 males in 2008, 26 males in 2009, 29
ity in the population, the low numbers put the state animal males in 2011, 22 males in 2015, to 16 males per 100
of J&K at constant risk of extinction. females in 2017.
Fragmented habitat due to militarisation, barbed wires Fragmented habitat and inbreeding depression
and sealing of migratory routes, inbreeding issues, poach- Once widely distributed in the mountains of
ing and poor female-fawn ratio are the main concerns Kashmir, with a small population outside J&K in
faced by this unique species of Himalayan Red Deer. the Chamba district of Himachal Pardesh, the
Data available from the census report 2017 suggests Hangul distribution range has drastically declined,
that, in 2004, sex ratio of the animal was 19 males per 100 confining the animal to the 141 sq Km Dachigam
females. national park.WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
“Hangul is a long ranging animal. “Disconnectivity among the main set of
Earlier, its traditional habitat stretched population in Dachigam and the adjoining
between Kishtwar to Gurez. Unfortu- protected areas like Wangat, Shikargarh etc
nately this corridor connectivity has leaves chances of genetic spread at ebb. Iso-
been lost to many factors, leading to the lated population leads to the lack of population
inbreeding depression,” says Dr Khurs- progression,” adds Dr Khursheed.
heed Ahmad, Scientist and Head Divi- Female-fawn ratio and predation
sion of Wild Life Sciences SKAUST In 2004, the female-fawn ratio was 23
Kashmir, while deliberating on the emi- fawns per 100 females. There were 9 fawns
nent causes of the decline in Hangul per 100 females in 2006, which remained
population. unchanged in 2008.WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
Then, the ratio swung from 27 fawns in 2009, “Proper feeding of the animals during
25 fawns in 2011, 14 fawns in 2015, to 19 fawns winters in the form of dried Salix leaves and
in 2017, reveals the annual census exercise salt licks, when the prized species normally
2017 carried by the Department of Wild Life face scarcity of the fodder, has also helped
Protection, Jammu and Kashmir. in maintaining the numbers for last few
‘Very low’ fawn survival is attributed as decades,” claims the employee.
“In addition, biotic factors, ‘fairly the main cause of poor fawn-female ratio. Establishment of 5 acre breeding centre
“In addition, biotic factors, ‘fairly good’ in Shikargarh Tral is another big project
good’ population of local dogs and population of local dogs and those belonging for improving the population of Hangul
to the armed forces camped in the area, through In-Situ breeding.
those belonging to the armed forces harsh winters, natural predation by leopard However, there is still a long way to go, Dr
camped in the area, harsh winters, and fox and the coinciding of movement of Khursheed says.
livestock with the fawning season are other “Establishment of corridor connectivity
natural predation by leopard and fox major factors affecting the fawn survival,” between mainland Dachigam and adjoining
explains Dr Khursheed. relic protected areas, conservative breeding
and the coinciding of movement of Conservation measures and some hope programme, re-introduction programme and
livestock with the fawning season are Wildlife conservationist, M.K Ranjitsinh elaborate research are needed to increase the
in her book ‘A life with wild life’, writes that population of Hangul,” opines Dr Khusheed.
other major factors affecting the fawn Dachigam national park is the only hope for As the fate of world precious Kashmir stag
the critically endangered Hangul. still hangs in balance, Kashmir’s top wild life
survival,” “Shifting of the sheep breeding farm from officer, Rashid Yahya Naqash, Regional Wild
the national park has a been a big step in Life Warden Kashmir, seeks cooperation.
conserving the whatever population has “The department needs support from pub-
been left now,” says the expert in her book. lic at large to save and conserve the wild life,
“Shifting the sheep farm would also result especially the priced Hangul,” appeals Rashid.
in more natural fodder for the animal,” says Amidst the efforts and appeal, the likes of
a Wildlife Department employee who has Muafiq and Faizan long for the survival of
been serving for the past 20 years. ‘Kashmir’s pride’, the Hangul. FP KWEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
Cups and /Interview
Chronicles By Rounak Bhat
Cups of Nun Chai (2020), published by Yarbal Books, is an archive of stories that give a glance into the extraordinary lives of ordinary people affected by
the Kashmir conflict.
Led by the 2010 civilian uprising in the valley post the killing of 17 year-old-boy Tufail Mattoo, the book attests to the loss of lives, power dynamics in
politics, influence of the nation-state on the commonfolk, leaping into the normalization of political violence and death in the region: all taking place in
the social realm, with real experiences and conversations over cups of nun chai, a popular salt tea beverage in Kashmir.
The book, episodically published in the Kashmir Reader newspaper in the beginning and shown in multiple exhibitions, strings together tiny but crucial
moments marking the suffering and catastrophe of people involved in the Kashmir conflict over 118 cups or stories of people from varied walks of life,
unfolding over a decade – with stories that explore the framework and repercussions of the politics, society and milieu of Kashmir and the conflict.
In a conversation with Free Press Kashmir, Alana Hunt – author of the book, answers questions about the expositional value of political art today, nor-
malization of violence, dealing with the intricacies of documentation, the process of chronicling colossal conflicts, the need for Kashmiri solidarity, and
much more.
Free Press Kashmir: If you could talk a bit I never thought about making work around Kash- (2010-ongoing) grew in that space of indifference,
about your first visit to Kashmir in 2009 as an mir until I got news of the 2009 ban on prepaid though this time from the context of Sydney.
intern with an NGO – how did it alter your mobile phones. As someone so new to Kashmir it A key undercurrent in Cups of nun chai asks,
perspective about Kashmir and what exactly seemed utterly absurd. This was only compounded when a nation’s armed forces kill unarmed civil-
kindled the zest to attempt to chronicle the by the fact that no one around me in Delhi seemed ians in a place distant to where you are, what might
conflict? to think twice about their government disabling be an appropriate response? Though the degree of
phones across an entire population of people it was distance is different, this is a question with the
Alana Hunt: Prior to actually visiting Kashmir claiming as their own citizens. In response, I made capacity to resonate in Sydney as much as in New
I had caught glimpses of the place through discus- Paper txt msgs from Kashmir (2009-11). Delhi.
sions with friends in Delhi, and particular texts. In that sense, it has always been particular events In a sense, Cups of nun chai tries to confront and
Most notably the book 13 December: The Strange that have kindled my work. scratch at the shallow nature of western empathy,
Case of the Attack on the Indian Parliament (Pen- to examine and wrestle with it. But not in an ac-
guin, 2006) and Sanjay Kak’s documentary Jashn- FPK: A riveting aspect you touch in the book cusatory way. I mean, we all have limits. None of
e-Azadi (2007). is that of the ‘shallow nature of western empa- us has the capacity to know and act on everything
I never considered the possibility of going to thy’. Please elaborate on the same, all of the time. But there are consequences to this
Kashmir until, during the summer break particularly with context too.
from university, there was an opportu- to South-Asian conflicts. Conversely, people in South Asia are not com-
nity to work as an intern with an monly aware of the political and social struggles
NGO. For a month I lived with AH: Just as facing people in Australia. But how do we
and worked alongside social Paper txt build more connections across these
workers and their families msgs spaces, rather than less? I think this is
in Kupwara, Sopore, and from important.
near Uri. This sud- Kash- I still don’t have any concrete answers.
denly rendered mir But I think we need to pay attention.
Kashmir per- was To think and feel. And to move from
sonal and there.
m at e -
FPK: How was the experience and even
spurred the response of writing about Kashmir, as
rial, no longer ab- on by the a non-Kashmiri?
stract or theoretical. On that fact no one
first trip, I travelled light. I carried around me AH: As someone not from Kashmir, it is undoubt-
no camera and took with me only in Delhi was edly complex working with and about Kashmir.
one book: a bound photocopy of Agha taking note, so too This is not something I ever thought about lightly,
Shahid Ali’s writing. Cups of nun chai and it needs careful and constant consideration.WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021 Though I don’t feel doing nothing is the particular moments in time the artists to seek an almost universal by collecting the written material an adequate response either. My voice work was encountering and being approval from that community, and from prior blogs/magazine pieces, is one small part of a much larger shaped by. to consequently produce work that writing, to eventually generating chorus. I paid attention and learnt a lot from plays it “safe”. I am not interested in the first draft. I think it helps that the work emerged writers and academics and journalists that. I don’t expect everyone in Kash- in response to specific events, and from Kashmir, trying to always respect mir to have some unifying consensus AH: It has always been really im- from the context of personal relation- the implications of language and rep- of appreciation and approval of my portant to me that my work is acces- ships. It is not the product of an “art- resentation. work; Kashmir is diverse. Responses sible to people in Kashmir, as well as ist residency” in that sense where the I listened carefully to the respons- to any artists work should similarly those outside. Yet Cups of nun chai is artist arrives for a particular amount es to my work in Kashmir. There are be diverse. And as artists, we need to a difficult work to package—having of time to produce a particular thing particular people who I respect be comfortable with that and trust the arisen from the social space between with a particular community. I had deeply, and if they were telling me authenticity of our practices and those people, accumulating progressively none of those external constraints or my work was terrible, I would not we respect. online, and circulating in the news- expectations. persist with it. paper Kashmir Reader. My work unfolded gradually over But more broadly, within the spheres FPK: How did the packaging of the I was drawn to the book format be- time. Bound up in a sense of urgen- of socially or community-engaged art entire book come about? Please cause of its capacity to hold the numer- cy, I also learnt to trust the slower there are tendencies to homogenise take us through the process of bring- ous threads of the work together— pace of the work. To trust time and what is seen as the “community”, for ing the loose ends of diverse shores textual, visual, and temporal. Books
WEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
taken from issues of Kashmir Reader this period in Kashmir, some of which alone. I wrote about this in A mere
in the months when the work was has been captured in Sanjay Kak’s drop in the sea of what is, about how
serialised in its pages between 2016-17. edited volume Until My Freedom Comes: there is a danger that, as has been the
We spent a lot of time building the The New Intifada in Kashmir (Penguin, case with Palestine, Kashmir may be
balance and rhythm between these 2011). offered the illusory consolation of the
components. But by 2012 people in Kashmir were latter while the land continues to be
We carefully selected newspaper saying loud and clear, and with great taken.
fragments that subtly spoke to the concern, that if their aspirations are Art and cultural expression are
texts while providing their own in- not heard, if the state’s violence per- vital. I believe that. But it need not
sights into Kashmir. I wanted the work sists, then the armed struggle will only exist in prescribed art or literary
to draw out connections over time return with a force not seen before, worlds. I am interested in the move-
from 2010 and 2016, and the present driven by a new generation who has ment of cultural practice in the world.
moment in which the book is read. known little but violence and injustice. In this sense, it is important to keep
Parvaiz Bukhari’s writing appears The lid that has been placed on Kash- your audience in mind. Work towards
at the moment in the book and in time, mir since 5 August 2019, has never ways of reaching them, of engaging
when Kashmir Reader was banned. been wholly sealed. Even at the worst them, of touching them. Recognise
Uzma Falak’s writing closes the book, of times, the information found a way where and how you want the work to
bringing the work into the present by to get out. We just need to keep work- move.
drawing upon her experiences in Kash- ing in whatever capacity we have to I’ve always been quite conscious of
mir after 5 August 2019. And Arif Ayaz render these expressions non-violent the dynamics of beauty and war that
Parrey’s piece, Storm in a Teacup dissent audible. characterise representations of Kash-
appears on the website as a sharp mir, with all the potential to be easily
prelude to Cups of nun chai and to FPK: What hurdles did you face in fetishised. I didn’t feel it was my place
Kashmir. the prevalence of the ‘standardisa- as an outsider to point a lens; many
tion process’ wherein institution- Kashmiris are doing this very well.
FPK: At a time when “atavistic” al violence in Kashmir is rendered As a result, my work has engaged with
violence itself is indicative of a into an ordinary thing – and did Kashmir in a more lateral way, skirt-
liberal brand of innovation in vio- the essence itself become too in- ing around direct modes of represen-
lence, should religion and resourc- tense, if at all? tation to find other means of expression
es be seen in the context of war and and communication.
capitalism as mutually exclusive AH: My work in Kashmir has at-
entities? If yes/no, why? tempted to move against the normal- FPK: What were some cross-border
isation of state violence, whether via and cross-continental inferences
AH: I refer to this in the book, but Paper txt msgs from Kashmir, Cups you could draw from talking to
I think in the context of war and cap- of nun chai or the essay A mere drop people from various walks of con-
italism, religion has the capacity to in the sea of what is (4A Papers, 2016). flict – for instance, the mention of
become a dangerous political resource. Part of this has been shaped, no doubt, Palestine, Thailand, East Timor,
Although conversely, even the extrac- by the fact I am an outsider, and there- Ireland and Somali migrants – as
tion of resources comes to be something fore not as familiar with the conditions mentioned in the book?
pursued with the same single-minded of everyday life in Kashmir under
intensity as some forms of religious military occupation. AH: Speaking with people over the
conviction. Over the years, however, I have be- course of Cups of nun chai reminded
I am still learning, but I suspect that come somewhat more familiar with me that Kashmir is not alone or dis-
in the current moment, as Kashmir these conditions. So much so that the tinctly unique. No doubt Kashmir has
is experiencing the force of settler- complete communications blackout its own story. But many people have
colonisation through attempts at de- in Kashmir that preceded August 5 overcome forms of oppression that
mographic change and the control 2019, was less of a shock to me than seemed to endure once upon a time.
and extraction of resources, any pre- the 2009 ban on pre-paid phones. Over Sometimes when I feel dismal, I think
vious sense of separation between the the intervening decade, I had become of this and remember that empires
two may be collapsing before us. accustomed to phone and internet crumble.
FPK: What is your perception of access being intermittently cut in
the state driving a civil society not Kashmir. FPK: Despite the physical and cul-
hold a space that is intimate yet they only to commit violence but also One of the biggest hurdles is con- tural subluxation involved, the
are also public and have the ability to to believe in it? How do you think tinually reminding myself not to see book is at an equally personal, as
move into homes, across national bor- the recurrence of aggression im- these as ordinary things, but with the well as a historical juncture. When
ders, and between friends, in a way pacts the unheard-of expressions full absurdity, violence and injustice narrativizing a widespread conflict
that conventional art exhibitions can- of non-violent dissent? that they truly are. of such complexities as Kashmir,
not. Photographer Dayanita Singh how did you deal with the inherent
recently said, a book is a conversation AH: No doubt it is tragic when the FPK: What according to you is the intricacies?
with a stranger in the future. state’s corner civil society into vio- expositional value of political art
I wanted this book to be special but lence. But I am not sure it is an aber- today – specifically with context AH: The intricacies that I hope this
not at all precious. Much more akin ration, or instead something inher- to documenting a politically vola- work has been able to convey have
to a novel in terms of its form and ent to nation-states. Albeit experienced tile region like Kashmir – where emerged through personal encounters.
circulation, as opposed to a glossy art with different intensities in different grief and conflict are highly prone This is because of the nuance conver-
or photo-book. When we were produc- places. to being fetishised, exotified and sation affords, and because it is the
ing the book with Itu Chaudhuri Design, When I first began to visit Kashmir over-aestheticised? big political narratives that shape our
Lisa Rath described it as a novel-form. in 2009 the people I met, of my gen- personal worlds. So by engaging with
Primarily the book consists of three eration, often told me proudly that the AH: A few years ago a friend from seemingly smaller, everyday experi-
components: the texts, the nun chai pen was their weapon of choice. There Kashmir reminded me that Kashmir ences we actually get a clearer view
images, and the newspaper fragments was powerful work produced during needs azadi in reality, and not via art of the bigger scene at play. FP KWEEKLY NEWS MAGAZINE APRIL 26 – MAY 02, 2021
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