MAY 30, 2022

bOOK REVIEW
KASHMIR THE UNTOLD STORY

SUBMITTED BY: SAMREEN IQBAL

SUBMITTED TO: MAAM MARIA HAMID
KASHMIR: THE UNTOLD STORY
ABOUT AUTHOR:
Humra Quraishi, a Delhi-based freelance reporter, and journalist have been writing for almost two
decades. She writes for The Tribune as a columnist. The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Pioneer,
The Statesman, and The Indian Express have all published her interviews and stories. Views: Yours and
Mine is a collection of some of her articles that have appeared in national newspapers during the
previous two decades. She's also the author of two additional works. Bad Time Tales, a collection of
short stories, was published in 2002. In 2004, Penguin published Kashmir-The Untold Story.

INTRODUCTION:
Author Humra Quraishi, a journalist when made her visit the valley met so many local people who were
able to talk to her because, at that time when the valley was under siege, journalists were among the
few to whom the people would voice their opinions and share their feelings that how much broken and
scattered they are from inside. An auto driver with whom the author was traveling around the valley in
2001 told her that what they want is peace in their valley—and just let them live in peace. This shows
the whole thing how much the valley and the people of the valley are depressed and have lost hope in
the very thing, the romance of the valley has been lost, the generation has lost and now the valley has
become the valley of fear.

SUMMARY:
In this book: Kashmir: the untold story the author Humra Quraishi covers a lot of things starting from the
history of Kashmir to the events that took place until 20O3 elections. She as a journalist draws down her
whole journalist view in this book and her two decades of travel in Kashmir and her informal talks with
the local Kashmiris and some formal talks with the persons in power there like MNA etc. In this book,
the author tried to comprehend the whole Kashmir conflict from its beginning till 2003 by quoting the
local people's point of view. She also has tried to comprehend what the whole lengthy conflict has done
to the life of local Kashmiris. She tells the heart-wrenching stories of the mothers who were waiting for
their young sons who were vanished years ago or picked up by the Indian army or the militant groups.
She tells the stories of HALF WIDOWS who don’t have even the idea that when and how their husbands
are going to return to their homes. She further explains how the psyches are torn apart by continuous
insecurity, anxiety, and almost daily humiliation, old melodies horrifically shattered by the atmosphere
of conflict and violence, and an entire generation of young Kashmiris who have grown up with no
concept of security. When traveling through Kashmir, the author met Father Jim Borst who was a Dutch
missionary who was working with the young people of Kashmir for almost four decades, when the
author asked him a question regarding the difference between the young people of the present and the
past, he replied that “Once this (Kashmir) was a beautiful happy place. But now there is great sorrow.
Look around and see for yourself, that people are suffering so much that they have stopped
expressing themselves. There is great tension and fear, no jobs …it is like people suffering from
cancer”
ANALYSIS:
Humra Quraishi is a journalist who published this book based on her experiences while working
(reporting) in Kashmir and visiting, staying in various hotels with other well-known people of the valley,
making visits to local places where she talked to the people about their lives, and what they are going
through while living there in such traumatic situations. She discusses a variety of topics in as much detail
as is possible in a 204-page book, including the current state of perpetual fear, uncertainty, and stress
that looms over all Kashmiris, as well as their ongoing harassment, violation of their rights by militants
and security forces (that seems to be increased a lot now than the past when she visited); a brief history
of Kashmir that provides some insight into the origins of the demand for autonomy; and the communal
fabric of Kashmir, which includes Kashmiri Muslims, Sikhs, and the pandits. She talks about the decay
that the valley is going through and the people living there. She further talks about that how Kashmiri
society has changed. It also provides a better understanding of how individuals think, what motivates
them in life, their views, lifestyles, and their way of life. She then moves on to the state's infrastructure,
economy, and income sources, as well as the state's overall decline. A chapter is dedicated to the youth
of Kashmir, their poor state of education, employment, and physical and mental health. We can never
even imagine what the people of the valley are going through for such a long time. In 2020 when COVID-
19 came into our lives, governments imposed lockdowns, schools were closed, and hospitals were
flooded with COVID cases, everything seemed so much disturbing, after reading this book I realized that
what we went through in Covid times was very minor if we compare them with the sufferings of
Kashmiri people, they are going through so much from a very long time, everyone in the valley has no
idea that what’s coming next, they feel devastated, mothers have the fear in their minds of their sons
being picked up by the security forces. They send their sons outside Kashmir, to other provinces for their
education but then the violent attitude is shown to them also. The everyday searching of people at
every place felt so much disturbing for the people of the valley. For Kashmiri Muslims, life outside the
valley is also not peaceful and easy. Everything in the valley has experienced a downfall, from people to
agriculture, economy, tourism, and exports. A report that the author has stated in the book is that the
violence in any way has touched each family living in the valley and it has affected their mental health
very badly and a lot of people are suffering from psychological problems, it is like the whole population
of the valley is suffering from cancer “cancer of the mind” but the number of doctors and the
government hospitals for psychiatric diseases is only two in Srinagar which shows that how much the
people are going through because these 2 hospitals are not enough to cater this much number of
people. While reading the troubled history of the valley, what I analyzed was that many people think
that the issue of Kashmir is only because of India being the soft state which means that there is total
ignorance of the history. Most people don’t know that when people were fighting against the British for
independence Kashmiris were also fighting against the Dogra’s rule. The problem of Kashmir is not the
religious one between Hindus and Muslims rather it is a political problem that is there because of some
communal vested interests. A thing that was the most heartbreaking for me to read was that a family on
shikara was weeping angrily and was eating weed pulled from the lake because they were unable to buy
food for themselves because of the curfew in the valley. Everyone living in the valley is living in fear
because of the violence they are facing. The thing that the families are concerned the most about is
their sons and husbands because they are the people who are being affected the most because of this
turmoil. The romance of the valley has been lost somewhere because of the whole political scenario.
The valley which used to be the most beautiful and a place where the beauty of nature used to soothe
the mind and the heart of the people, the mountains that were eye-catching sights everything has
turned into aches now and the beauty of the valley has lost. At last, the author discusses a whole
journalist view on the political climate of 2003 and the elections of 2003. I believe this book raises
several concerns that need to be resolved or that will require serious consideration shortly from either
the people, separatist forces, state governments, or the Indian government.

STRENGTHS:
There are not that many strengths of the book because it’s not a kind of a critical book. The main
strength of this book is that it covers the whole conflict of Kashmir till the 2003’s elections. In this book,
the author has tried to meet the locals, as well as the well know people of the valley and has taken the
point of view of everyone, and has mentioned all the sufferings of the Muslim Kashmiris. The author has
brought the essence of history into the book which can clear the concepts of the people who have little
or no knowledge about the conflict. The main strength of this book is that the author has explained the
real-life incidents in this book and provided a clear socio-cultural foundation of Kashmir and the
influence of the ongoing conflict on it.

WEAKNESSES:
The weaknesses of the book are as follows:

 The author has just listed the problem rather than dissecting them and providing a better
analysis regarding the problems and recommendations for them.
 This book has a lot of journalist narration in it and a lot of quotes, opinions of various people,
columns, and articles from the different newspaper are there in the book which kind of distracts
the reader and make it a boring read
 This book is not influential rather than it is a story that can only be interesting to one who does
not know about the Kashmir conflict.
 The author has tried to put too many incidents in the book that she lost track of and the original
essence of the book.
 For someone who already knows about the Kashmir conflict and the miserable life of the
people, this book cannot entertain them that much.
 This book is filled with unconfirmed incidents that are more suggestive of selective journalism
than ground-breaking analysis.

CONCLUSION:
After listing down all the weaknesses and the strength I analyzed that this book is still a good read. After
all, it provides an in-depth overview of the mothers who are concerned about their sons who went
missing and the half widows who are going through the same trauma because for them there is a single
option that is to wait for their husbands to return. It further explains the power struggle between the
government and the anti-nationalists. This brings people to a point that how much the people of the
valley are suffering from the past. There are no industries, no jobs for the young generations, no health
facilities nothing. Everything is in its devastating condition, we can never imagine the life of a common
Kashmiri because they are already facing so much (human rights violations, rape cases, missing people,
etc). There is a need for changed behavior by the Indian government to bring the people to a page and
put its ego aside and listen to the people who are suffering and provide them with a life filled with
dignity.