Ansh Choudhari
Book : Kashmir Narratives
Publisher: Sabre and Quill
Price: 399 INR
Author: Col Ajay K Raina, SM
Chinua Achebe once said “If you only hear one side of the story, you have no understanding at all.” and this doesn’t get manifested more vividly as in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. In this respect, a recently published book titled ‘Kashmir Narratives: Myths vs Realities of Jammu and Kashmir’ by a seasoned military historian Col Ajay K Raina has tried to upend these prevailing narratives with his factual analysis of this discipline. In J&K, for the last seven decades, a selective narrative, which unobtrusively has received the official patronage is ruling the roost and its counterpoise, if any, subtle or otherwise, gets rubbished under the claim of being communal, which ironically matches what Pakistani state has been doing to push its official narrative down the minds of its population. That’s why this importance of this book can’t be over emphasized. The author has mentioned in the preface that “there are so many falsities in both recorded history and popular folklore (of J&K) that the truth seems to have been vanquished from the belief system of Kashmiris in particular and rest of the world in general”.
At the outset, I must clarify that, despite the rigorous research involved, this book has not been written for an academic purpose and should not be treated like one. This tome appears exceptional the way it’s designed and presented, for the clarity involved makes the reader hitched to the content effectively. The author has meticulously chosen some ‘narratives’ which have strategically been fed to a very large section in Kashmir and abroad and has then analysed them comprehensively. To name a few, they are
* Kashmir was bought by Maharaja Gulab Singh through a sale deed
* Maharaja Hari Singh was a rogue
* Maqbool Sherwani saved Kashmir’
* Muslims were massacred in Jammu district under Maharaja’s vigil etc
It appears that the author has used the Hegelian method of dialectics to reach his conclusions. For every topic, he has proffered an assumption or the stated narrative and has then factually countered (Fact Check and Analysis) it with his acute analysis and a conclusion at the end (End note) in 7-8 pages at max . The plus point of Col Raina’s work is that he has not locked up his arguments within the confines of four walls but has extended it to the broader levels linking the contours of the broader geo-political events with that of the domestic dynamics. He’s also using many primary references who have witnessed those events or had written about them first hand, thus obviating the need for the data that was ‘manufactured’ lately.
The book delves deep into the hitherto less known graphic details of the gory murders that accompanied the mass raping and looting south of Pir Panjal in Mirpur, Bhimber, Poonch and Rajouri with the active collusion of the Pakistani Army. The author says that in Rajouri only, the toll of the dead was somewhere between 15000-30000 and “committing suicides and resorting to brutal honour killings of women and children was, in the minds of the minority community- a fate better than falling into the hands of the raiders”. It appears strange that many national and international theorists, writers and historians have completely glossed over this facet of the conflict, perhaps because of the Kashmir centricity that Sheikh established after the Maharaja slid into the oblivion post-accession. This narrative was deliberately pushed to ensure that a lopsided version remains in vogue to placate a section of anti-Pakistanis in the valley.
Another interesting incident that the book uncovers is the role of Maqbool Sherwani, which overtime has been overly romanticized. The author has systematically proved that as an amateur fighter that Sherwani was militarily, neither could he have led the tribals astray in Baramulla, for he left Baramulla soon after its fall on 27th October, nor could he have worked behind the enemy lines. Chronologically, the author has proved that it was the Indian Army whose successive tactical withdrawals to ultimately secure a vantage location near Shalateng prevented the tribals from reaching the airport. Sherwani’s genius only lies in the fact that he “stood up against Jinnah and Pakistan ideology” and “his refusal to bow to the Pakistani invaders”. So, to call him a “”Savoir of Kashmir” while ignoring the relentless push that the JAK Forces gave to the invading armies and bought time for the Maharaja to sign the accession shall be an exaggeration, if not an outright lie.
Likewise, one can read about all these skewed narratives and their factual rebuttal in this book in a very comprehensive manner. By virtue of his military antecedents, the author has interwoven an interestiing mixture of military and political histories where one complements the other smoothly. The author has not shied away from dealing with some of the controversial subjects which many scholars don’t dare touch otherwise, lest it opens a pandora’s box against them. While dealing with the debates, the author has concluded with an opinion but, he apparently has no intention of eliciting any fixed inferences from the reader. The reader is still quite free to navigate and can easily station himself on any side of the fence.
The only shortcomings for me in this book are the absence of an index and lack of citations for some of the quoted material. There are some inadvertent but inconsequential printing errors as well which can easily be overlooked. So, if you are interested in the modern history of Jammu and Kashmir along with the cataclysmic events that surrounded the uproarious conditions of the state in 1947 and thereafter, then this book is tailor made for you, for the lucid language, style, nuance, structure and actual presentation is coherent and to the point, without any predisposition to any party. The book runs for 198 pages and specifically aims at the readers who are already well versed with the historical churnings of that time, south and north of Pir Panjal. In otherwords, this book is a brief sequel to what Col Raina has already written about in his J&K’s five part military history books of 1947-48. This is a book about altered narratives, the misuse of power, the consequences of choices, the inevitability of failure, and an optmistic way forward.
Overall, a bold and daring attempt by the author to challenge the status quo. I recommend this to every person of J&K, who is eager to have his/her ‘susceptible’ belief system shattered.
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