South Asian History and Culture

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Kashmir in the aftermath of partition

Priya Bose & Haroon Rashid

To cite this article: Priya Bose & Haroon Rashid (2022): Kashmir in the aftermath of partition,
South Asian History and Culture, DOI: 10.1080/19472498.2022.2135192

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19472498.2022.2135192

Published online: 18 Oct 2022.

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SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

BOOK REVIEW

Kashmir in the aftermath of partition, by Shahla Hussain, New Delhi, Cambridge

University Press, 2021, 403 pp., 819 INR (hardback), ISBN: 978-1-108-49046-7.

Among the various writings on Kashmir, Shahla Hussain’s Kashmir in the Aftermath of Partition is
potentially the first historically grounded academic work on post-partition Kashmir. Most writings
on this period are predominantly by political scientists, social anthropologists, or journalists with
diverse ideological orientations. At the heart of the book lies the multiple meanings of azaadi or
freedom as it emerged across various historical epochs; the book thus brings to the fore the local
voices of Kashmir. Hussain highlights that these voices are not one but many and are deeply
fragmented; however, they have most often come together to echo a singular voice of the
Kashmiris independent of the two nations that seek authority and control over this region.
In the first chapter of the book, Hussain reflects on the different meanings of pre-partition
Kashmir, which informs us about the changing connotation of the word ‘freedom’ among
Kashmiris, ranging from social-economic to political independence. She explains that during
Mughal, Afghan and Sikh rules, Kashmiris always wished freedom from exorbitant taxation,
injustice, social discrimination, and other oppressive measures. However, the miseries of
Kashmiris, especially the Muslims who were in the majority, were intensified by the communal
attitude of Dogra rulers. Consequently, the Kashmiri Muslims saw political freedom as the only
alternative to change their destiny. This chapter also throws light on the communal governance,
policies, and attitude of Dogra rulers vis-a-vis the Muslim majority – something that triggered
severe dissent from the Muslims and started a movement to uproot the Dogra rule. The first chapter
also highlights the failure of the national conference’s secular claim, i.e., a wish to include people
from all communities in its fold. However, the conference failed to maintain its secular character
when it opposed the introduction of Devanagari script. The chapter ends with a Pakistan-sponsored
tribal raid and Kashmir’s subsequent signing of a temporary instrument of accession with India in
1947.
The second chapter of the book starts with the post-partition history of Kashmir and talks about
the social and economic disaster brought to Kashmir by the partition. The author discusses the
dismal condition of Kashmiris on both sides of the ceasefire line, especially how Kashmiris living in
Pakistan administered Kashmir wrote letters to friends in India administered Kashmir about their
deteriorated conditions and harsh treatment. Disaster was brought to Kashmir’s economy due to
the closure of the Jhelum-Valley Road. The road had earlier led Kashmir’s trade with regions in west
Punjab such as Rawalpindi and other overlying areas. Trade and commerce were thus highly
affected by the road closure. The closure of the Jhelum-Valley Road and the subsequent economic
crisis led to Kashmir’s economic dependence on Indian aid. This dependence eventually created
a situation for the Kashmir nationalist government to think about Kashmir’s integration with the
Indian state. This chapter also highlights the changing vision of Sheikh Abdullah about the political
future of Kashmir from an integrated Indian Kashmir to independent Kashmir. Following his
assumption of power, Sheikh Abdullah was a firm advocate of Kashmir’s better future with a secular
India and suppressed all the voices that countered Kashmir’s integration to India; however, the
chapter argues, the failure of Indian secularism and the concomitant subjugation of Kashmiri
Muslims and the unwillingness of the Indian state to provide autonomy to Kashmir led Abdullah to
rethink the calls for Independent Kashmir leading to his arrest in 1953.
The third chapter deals with the history of Kashmir post-Abdullah’s arrest in 1953. In this
chapter, the author underscores how all political regimes followed by Sheikh’s arrest were
2 BOOK REVIEW

collaborators of the Indian National Congress and were firm advocators and supporters of
Kashmir’s integration with India. During the reign of Bakshi, Kashmir became heavily dependent
on aids and grants from India and gradually lost its economic dependence, leading to the economic
integration of Kashmir with India in 1954. During the tenure of G.M. Sadiq, Kashmir lost internal
autonomy when, in 1965, Article 356 was applied to Jammu and Kashmir. In 1975, Kashmir was
fully integrated with India when Sheikh Abdullah signed an accord with then Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi, popularly known as the Abdullah-Indira accord. This chapter also underlines the corrup-
tion prevalent during these collaborative regimes. Economic benefits, employment, and land were
made available to those who supported the regimes; the rest faced economic problems, torture,
violence, and exile. The chapter further highlights the Indianization of education in Kashmir,
wherein the Indian government introduced those topics and themes in the educational curriculum
that endeavoured to imbibe the spirit of secularism, pride in Indian culture, and tradition. Many
themes in textbooks, which were perceived to inculcate anti-India narrative or feelings, were thus
removed. Finally, the chapter shows the rise of religious organizations, especially the Jamat-i-Islami,
which attained a vast support base among rural elites and played a dominant role in Kashmir’s
future politics by propagating Kashmir’s integration with Pakistan.
In chapter four, Hussain highlights the ‘idea of plebiscite’ that caught the attention of the
Kashmir Muslims in the 1950s–1960s. As a result, they organized a plebiscite movement against
the hegemonic powers of the Indian state, thus challenging the tacit nationalist narratives of India’s
control over the territory of Kashmir. The plebiscite movement asserted that a long-term solution
for Kashmir was not possible without acknowledging the local Kashmiri voices. Most importantly,
the plebiscite underlined one of the central demands of the movement, i.e., Kashmir’s ‘natural road
links’, which connected the mountainous valley with the rest of the subcontinent. These roads were
vital to the promotion of trade and were central to the revival of Kashmiri self-sufficiency. At the
same time, the Plebiscite Front refused to accept the decision of the Kashmir constituent assembly
on accession because the assembly failed to consult representatives from Pakistan-administered
Kashmir; these representatives crucially formed a third of the population of Jammu and Kashmir.
This is a particularly significant chapter in the book as it discusses the politics surrounding the
resources of the region.
The fifth chapter opens with a poem written by Maqbool Butt, who was branded as a traitor by
both Pakistan and India as both nations saw him as a citizen of the enemy state. However, Hussain
underscores the significance of this complex figure in postcolonial history as one who refused to
perceive the ceasefire line as permanent. In this chapter and across the book, Hussain has shown
that cross-border activities were always prominent in this region even though it was deemed illegal
and unauthorized. For Butt, freedom entailed not in the promise of a plebiscite in which the
Kashmiris would be free to choose either of the nations, but rather in the complete unification of
divided Kashmir that had led to the loss of land, trade, and other resources; these resources were at
the disposal of the Kashmiris before the ceasefire line was drawn. This chapter, therefore, acknowl-
edges the resistance movement rising from both sides of the border, as even the region administered
by Pakistan, known as Azad Kashmir, was not as aazad or free as people might be led to believe.
Azad Kashmir was limited in terms of its resources, and the blockage created by the ceasefire line
debilitated significant trade routes of the region. This line further stunted the region’s economic
growth, leading to many Kashmiris of the region migrating to Britain’s Manchester, and other
Western cities, to find jobs; however, they maintained close alliances with their land and hoped to
return to Azad Kashmir. The people of this region hoped for a better future with better state policies
that would foster modernization of the economy and generation of new jobs. However, the
Pakistani state refrained from any such enterprise over questions of security and its struggle to
handle the continuous influx of Muslim refugees. The neglect of this region led to the deepening of
poverty, inequality, and stagnation. The author also highlights that another prime reason for the
lack of development of the region was the inability of the Pakistani state to integrate Azad Kashmir
completely. Evident from this chapter is Hussain’s own political position that owes its allegiance to
 SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE 3

the tehreek-i-aazadi or movement for freedom. For the author, as she remarkably embarks through
all the chapters, Kashmir does not belong to India or Pakistan but rightfully belongs to the people of
the region. She also asserts the role of Kashmiris in the transnational community who took the lead
in influencing the attitudes of international bodies towards the political exclusion experienced by
Kashmiris on both sides of the border.
The final and potentially the most interesting chapter of the book shows the politics of
compromise practiced by the political leaders of Kashmir. They allied with the Indian state for
their political gain and positions, which in turn created the space for a political Islam to dominate
the public sphere of Kashmir. This led to new Islamic frames which assisted in the construction and
internalization of political identity. The violence faced by Kashmiris and the inability of the political
leaders to represent the voice of the Kashmiri Muslims led to the birth of a political identity and
movement. This identity and movement were rooted in religious identity as a mark of protest
against the denial of human rights. From the 1990s, the Kashmiri youth brought up in one of the
most heavily militarized zones of the world found relief in popular art forms and digital spaces. It is
here that they engaged with questions of ‘freedom’ and ‘self-determination.’ This chapter also
highlights the meaning of Aazadi in terms of the idea of ‘honour’ that was closely intertwined with
the sentiment of freedom. As Kashmir was a contested and disputed territory claimed by Pakistan,
the Kashmiri resistance was seen as the product not of disillusionment with Indian policies and
governance but rather as a conflict that was triggered and fostered by external forces. Hussain shows
how repeated violence led to the birth of insurgents who were severely tortured for contesting the
1987 rigged elections. Taking inspiration from the Punjab insurgency of the 1980s and their
demand for a separate Sikh state, the disgruntled youth gave code names to their mohallas, or
neighbourhoods such as Palestine and Khalistan, thus reimagining these spaces as zones of
resistance. The strength of this chapter lies in the fact that it does not restrict itself to the
Kashmiri Muslim experience but also shows how Kashmiri Pandits too faced violence and atrocities
in the wake of insurgency. Such atrocities, in turn, were the results of years of violence against
Kashmiri Muslims who were subjected to suspicion, torture and unimaginable forms of violence.
The state’s actions led to the polarization of Hindu and Muslim communities in Kashmir, which
ultimately resulted in the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley to other parts of India
or to the Hindu majority Jammu. Finally, the author highlights that calls for jihad in Kashmir were
not a fight for sovereignty of the Islamic polity but rather to safeguard Muslim bodies against
political violence, rape, and inconceivable forms of violence.
The forte of this book is in its exploration of expansive archival sources, which are difficult to
gain access to owing to questions of national security. The work would be of particular interest to
students of South Asia, researchers in the field of social anthropology of the state and violence,
historians, policymakers, and freelance readers who wish to comprehend the ‘Kashmir question’
from the perspective of local Kashmiris.

Priya Bose
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
bosepriya20@gmail.com
Haroon Rashid
University of Kashmir
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
https://doi.org/10.1080/19472498.2022.2135192