Kashmiri authors face a personal dilemma as organizers of the first literary festival to be inaugurated in September in the disputed Indian state of Kashmir face political controversy.
Organisers face criticism that the 'apolitical' event designed to create "an open and democratic space for poetry, readings and dialogue" is an exercise in propaganda. Leading cultural figures in the Muslim-majority territory are concerned that the event is propaganda and several international Kashmiri writers have made clear they do not want to take part.
One is London-based Mirza Waheed, whose first novel, The Collaborator, was published to critical acclaim earlier this year. "The organisers have said the event will be apolitical. So what would I do if I was there? What would I read? Every page I have written is political," he told the UK Guardian.
Another high-profile author who will not be attending is Basharat Peer, author of the much praised Curfewed Night, an autobiographical account of growing up in the worst years of the conflict between insurgents and Indian security forces in Kashmir in the 1990s. "It really makes me angry," Peer said. "The mainstream Indian press has made it sound like the festival is part of bringing civilisation to Kashmir. It's a fine idea but the framing of the event in the media has been extremely problematic and condescending."
Kashmir was divided between Pakistan and India in the violent chaos that followed the end of British imperial rule in south Asia in 1947. Up to 70,000 died in the ensuing conflict. Sporadic clashes have ebbed and waned ever since.
Organiser Namita Gokhale, part of the team that created the internationally renowned festival in the western Indian city of Jaipur, said that the idea for the Kashmir event had come from Kashmiris. "The idea arose from a wish to emulate some of the stimulating results of other festivals. There was special interest and enthusiasm from several Kashmiri writers after the success and visibility of the Kashmir sessions at the Jaipur literature festival this year," she said. "There is nothing wrong with controversy. There was perhaps some misinterpretation of my use of the word 'apolitical' … The festival will attempt to provide a literary platform for all shades of opinion."
"A festival just for the sake of literature is always welcome but if it is done to show that everything is OK these days then it is a problem," said Arshad Mushtaq, a well-known local playwright whose recent work focused on the ongoing detention without trial of young men in Kashmir. "How can discussion be free and fair if people are afraid to speak their minds? It is an exercise in propaganda?"
Literary festivals are increasingly popular in south Asia with the success of Jaipur sparking events in Kerala and Kathmandu. The annual event in Galle in Sri Lanka has also gained major international recognition. But many cause controversy. Earlier this year, one of the organisers of the Jaipur festival, the British writer William Dalrymple, was drawn into a media row over the role of English language writing and western critics in south Asia. Few are as fraught as Kashmir, however. Opinion about the event is polarised.
Local columnist ZG Muhammed told the Mail Today newspaper that the festival was "a good beginning" that would help Kashmiris "carve a niche in the literary world". Rahul Pandita, a Kashmir-born author based in Delhi, said he hoped it would be possible "to transcend the boundaries of petty politics" and allow young Kashmiris "the chance to tell their stories".
Jason Burke in Delhi guardian.co.uk, Friday 12 August 2011 14.53 BST Article history
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/12/kashmir-literary-festival-controversy
Martina Nicolls is the author of "Kashmir on a Knife-Edge" (2010)
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