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Post-Box Kashmir

Lives in Letters

Joydip Ghosal

Post-box Kashmir, Two Lives in Letters by Divya Arya (Publisher Duckbill) is a unique book that provides the readers with a commentary on the political history of Kashmir. Are Kashmiris really invisible to the rest of the country? Why do womenfolk in Kashmir do stone pelting? Try to imagine a situation where you remain confined within four walls with no social media or internet. And most important–“Do only Muslims live in Kashmir?” According to Reya Merhotra this book acts as introductory handbook to others who are outside Kashmir. It unveils the two faces of the country which live in parallel realities.

The participants of the letters were young. Their minds were less rigid and they were more forgiving.

It was a part of a BBC project when two teenagers shared their lives from Srinagar to Delhi and back. Divya Arya asked them to be pen pals. She placed their conversation against the backdrop of violent past and turbulent present realities. This book picks up the cudgel of attempting to portray life in Kashmir from the perspectives of young teenagers of Kashmiri origins.

On the other hand, it broadens the vision of those who live outside the militarised zone. They are given a context of understanding the nuanced socio-cultural history of Kashmir.

Divya Arya is an award-winning journalist. She currently works with BBC. She explores social justice and human rights issues through a gender lens. She has presented the global news programme OS on BBC World Service Radio. She is also associated with a chat show work life in India. She was also a recipient of Knight–Wallace Fellow.

Divya Arya stressed that to capture the impact of geopolitics, people needed to step away from that. people have to cover the whole span from the action on the street to the serenity of home.

In 1990 a long-festering armed struggle gained mass approval. Armed forces were deployed in the valley. The rise of various militant groups also complicated the matter. Armed forces were provided special immunity to tackle the crisis. It led to widespread human rights violations. The 1990s also witnessed minority Kashmiri Hindus being attacked by hardliners. Tens of thousands have been assassinated since then. On the other hand protests for self-rule regularly rocked the city.

The new generation had no memory of turbulent 1990s. Like the two writers of the letters, Duaa in Srinagar was born in 2002 and Saumya was born in Delhi in 2001. But Divya Arya pointed out that it was uneasy calm.

Tufail Ahmed Mattoo was killed by a tear gas shell fired by security in Srinagar. Angry young protestors confronted the security forces. More than hundred youths died in the violent clashes. In 2009 the allegation of rape and murder again rocked the valley.

According to the author Kashmir’s challenges come from within. Anger and discontent against the establishment manifested in the form of stone-pelting.

Divya Arya stressed that we needed to listen to the conversation of the new generation. “Who were they talking to? Who were they talking about?... How much did a young girl growing up in the country’s capital Delhi know about the life of a girl in one of the most militarised zones in the world?” Did adults influence their knowledge? Was it swayed by the knowledge they lived in, offline or online?

The author rightly pointed out that there could be no definitive answer. Instead one should try to get to the bare bones peeling off the layers. These letters were part of a project of BBC between those in Kashmir with those outside it. But there are certain tricky aspects associated with it. The author cited the example of Zaira Wasim who is the famous actress of Bollywood film Dangal, released in January 2016. In January 2017 she returned to her home town Srinagar and got photographed with the then Chief Minister Mehbooba Moofti resulting in a storm on social media. Did she espouse the government? Zaira Wasim issued an open letter of apology on Instagram. She later deleted it. This incident is an indicator of the fact the even teenagers had to tread the fine line cautiously. So before initiating the project, this thing had to be taken into consideration.

Besides these letters the author attempted to present a backdrop, especially the simmering tension after the announcement of CAA. This book is interspersed with the nuggets of contemporary history and events. For instance the author gave the example of Kanhaiya Kumar’s Azadi speech. Popular dub-step artist Dub Sharma remixed the speech with a Punjabi folk tune. In an interview with BBC, he told that the word Azadi was freedom of expression for him. PuspavathyPoypadathu used this slogan also in a creative way. But in Kashmir the word assumed a different hue. The author discussed different aspects associated with it.

These letters turned into a handbook of information for those who want to delve deeper into the nuanced history of Kashmir. The author does a commendable job by weaving present-day facts with history.

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Frontier
Vol 57, No. 14, Sep 29 - Oct 5, 2024