Perspectives on nation, identity and politics in the context of contemporary Kashmir: an interview with Nyla Ali Khan

ABSTRACT

The conversation with Dr Nyla Ali Khan focuses on the issue of Kashmir that has remained the most contested subject since the independence of India and Pakistan. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has a history that is unique owing to its socio-political conditions, demography and geography. It perhaps needs a very critical intervention by historians, litterateurs and politicians. The conversation emphasizes Dr Khan’s views on Kashmir, Kashmiri, and Kashmiriyat, and the current socio-political situation of the region along with its history has been dismantled by the politics, militancy, and militaries of both the Nation-states of India and Pakistan.

KEYWORDS:

• Kashmir
• identity
• nation
• religion
• history

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Article 370 was Included in the Constitution of India on October 17, 1949.

At the time of independence, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) was a princely state under the rule of Raja Hari Singh. Like the other princely states of India, the concerns of J&K at the time was with accession, foreign affairs and communication. The representatives of J&K in the Constituent Assembly (responsible for drafting the Constitution of India) recommended that they will adhere to the Constitution of India only on the concurrence of their state Constituent Assembly. The special provision was granted to J&K under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and the Presidential Order of 1954 specified the articles of the Indian Constitution, applicable to J&K. However, it was introduced as a ‘temporary provision’ which was only supposed to last until the formulation of the State constitution. But the state Constituent Assembly was dissolved on 25 January 1957 without recommending any abrogation or amendment of the provision and Article 370 continued to feature in the Constitution of India.

On 5 August 2019, the Government of India superseded the 1954 Presidential Order and stated that all the articles of the Indian Constitution will be applicable to J&K, thus revoking Article 370 that had conferred ‘special status’ to the state of J&K since independence. On 3 October 2019, the state was reorganised into two Union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

2 Four-point formula by Musharraf

The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been a subject of dispute between India and Pakistan since the independence of both nation-states. The dispute is far from being resolved today. For the resolution of the dispute General Pervez Musharraf, the then President of Pakistan suggested in 2006 a four-point formula as a solution to the problem:

• There should be a mutual agreement on identifying Kashmir as the central problem between India and Pakistan.

• Identification of those plans that are not accepted by other states

• Consideration of other possible proposals

• The solution must be acceptable to the people of India, Pakistan and Kashmir alike.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Goutam Karmakar

Goutam Karmakar, Ph.D. (English), is an Assistant Professor of English at Barabazar Bikram Tudu Memorial College, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, West Bengal, India. He has completed his Ph.D. from the Department of Humanities and Social Science, NIT Durgapur, West Bengal, India. His recently published edited volumes are The Lie of the Land: An Anthology of Indian Poetry in English (New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 2020) and South Asian Literature, Culture and Society: A Critical Rumination (New Delhi: Atlantic, 2020). He can be reached at [email protected].