The slogan of azadi reveberates throughout the valley once again. The struggle for seperation from India once again is there up and strong. Its curfew today. The Indian armed forces are everywhere. People break the curfew and in unision say out loud and clear “Hum kya chahtay azadi”. Everyone is on the streets. Kashmir is…
Tag: Azadi
Muslim Nationalist!
Can a Muslim be a nationalist? Can a Muslim harbor a certain pride in being born in a particular place? Is it possible that a Muslim thinks that he is superior to another just on account of his/her color, language, nationality? Look back at the definition of a Muslim (that is defined very clearly by…
Kashmir, 1990: Islamic Revolt or Kashmiri Nationalism
The central question we wish to address is whether the contemporary Kashmiri expression of independence in 1990 is part of a global Islamic pattern or yet another temporary reaction to some local provocation?2 If the former, is it linked to the uprisings in Israel and the Muslim Central Asian Republics of the USSR? We look for a link, not a direct political one but a conceptual one. What are the similarities, what identical patterns, what unifying principle may be identified, common to these movements? Numerous related questions arise. Is this a Kashmiri intifada? If the latter, what are the sources of disaffection, what are the objectives and what affect will they have—and arc having—on the fate of other Muslims in India? Also, how has the Kashmiri uprising fed communal feelings among the majority Hindus and thus reinforced parties like the BJP?
Hum Kya Chahtay — Azadi!
The slogan that has fuelled the Kashmiri struggle for ‘freedom’ – continues to elude us even after years of bloodshed, agony and pain. We – ‘hum’ refers to all who happen to live in Kashmir and cry out for… ‘Azadi’ – Freedom. As ironical as it sounds each person who lives in Kashmir or identifies…