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