BIBLIOGRAPHY

It is not easy to portray the darker side of life, more so, if one has lived the reality in fear. Yet it is important to document one's experience of conflicts so that the horrors of history are not repeated. Books on Kashmir — about the Valley's residents and their sufferings, of peace time to terrorism, of exodus and militancy — have collectively given a voice to the place.

Rumours of Spring by Farah Bashir won the AutHer Award 2022 last week. Writings like Bashir's, a former Reuters photo journalist born and raised in Kashmir, sensitively recount her generation's childhood days in Srinagar under constant siege. It helps to put a finger on the pulse given the hype about the recent Bollywood flick The Kashmir Files. Her memories of growing up in the Kashmir of the 1990s is bold and heartbreaking. The delicate content of her book gives a gender perspective to a Kashmiri Muslim's view as the Indian Army and militants fought many battles across the cityscape. It shows how families like Bashir's lived in perpetual trauma and how ordinary tasks of their daily lives turned into a turmoil.

Other Kashmiri memoirists, Basharat Peer ( Curfewed Night) and Mir Khalid ( Jaffna Street: Tales of Life, Death, Betrayal and Survival in Kashmir), also spent their adolescent years in the Valley. They share their experiences combining anecdotes and personal memories made under the spell of the separatist movement. Their works also highlight the history of peoples' sufferings during the tumultuous years of the insurgency.

Delhi-based writer-columnist Humra Quraishi has authored Kashmir-The Untold Story and The Unending Tragedy- Reports From The Frontlines. In both, she reminds readers that Kashmir is burdened with unending tragedy while awaiting a peaceful settlement. The once paradise-on-earth is fraught with strife and violence and has lost the erstwhile harmony among its people. The suspicion-charged atmosphere has seen an entire generation of Kashmiris grow up with no concept of security. Quraishi brings forth heartrending stories from her extensive travels in the Valley and interactions with the ordinary citizens there.

Journalist Rahul Pandita was 14 when he was forced to leave his home in Srinagar along with his family. His book, Our Moon Has Blood Clots, is the story of peoples' lost homes and dignity when Kashmiri Pandits were tortured and killed by militants. About 3,50,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced out of the State, and into a life of exile in their own country.

Constitutional expert and lawyer, AG Noorani, indulged in extensive research and compiled detailed accounts of the miseries of Kashmiris in his book The Kashmir Dispute, published in 2014. His no holds barred account blamed Pakistani and Indian administrators as well as the British for the political, legal and diplomatic plight of Kashmiris.

Coming-of-age memoirs have also been written by non-Kashmiris that depict the fallout of territorial conflicts. Based on true events, The Tree with a Thousand Apples by Sanchit Gupta poignantly traces the lives of three childhood friends who grew up in an atmosphere of peace and amity in Srinagar until the injustices against Kashmiri Pandits were committed post-January 1990. The wounds have remained unhealed ever since.

Books by foreign authors also explore Kashmir's dilemma. British historians, Alastair Lamb ( Kashmir- A Disputed Legacy) and Victoria Schofield ( Kashmir in Conflict- India, Pakistan and the Unending War) explore the history of the Kashmir conflict and how it remains a major flashpoint after decades; Josef Korbel, the Czech-American diplomat authored a first-hand narrative ( Danger in Kashmir) of the many complex factors; in The Untold Story of The People of Azad Kashmir, Australian political scientist, Christopher Snedden, provides information about the least known area of J&K — “Pakistan occupied Kashmir”, a narrow strip of Kashmir populated by Muslims amidst India’s ongoing ownership claims and Pakistan's oversight. No matter the number of books written or films made, Kashmir will remain a haunting melancholy. For, when you talk about Kashmir, there are perhaps millions of stories still waiting to be told.