Kashmir
Exposing the Myth behind the Narrative
- Khalid Bashir Ahmad - Former Civil Servant, Kashmir Administrative Services
The advent of Islam in medieval Kashmir gave birth to a narrative that describes forcible mass conversion of Hindus, eviction of local people and wanton demolition of religious symbols. A minority of Kashmiri Brahmans and their progeny who did not convert to Islam built and successfully perpetuated this narrative over the centuries. Following the eruption of armed insurgency in Kashmir and mass migration of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990, this community narrative has turned into the Indian mainstream view on Kashmiri Pandits.
Kashmir: Exposing the Myth behind the Narrative challenges the existing narrative. It exposes many fallacies used to uphold this narrative and dissects the work of historians that has sustained ahistorical perceptions over a long period of time. By linking history to the present, the book facilitates an understanding of the situation today.
The book tries to counter the popular narrative about the history of Kashmir, Pandits and Muslims… the book covers issues that scholars and historians have so far been silent about vis-à-vis the early period of Kashmir.
This book draws the attention towards relevant historical facts that are missing from populist narratives surrounding the migration of Kasmiri Pandits in the past and the tragic mass migration of the community in 1990.Khalid Bashir is inclined to see Kalhana as more of a literary genius than a historian.
It is highly recommended that readers begin with the epilogue of Kashmir: Exposing the myth Behind the Narrative, one of the more important books to have come out of Kashmir in the recent years.
This book draws attention towards relevant historical facts that are missing from populist narratives surrounding the migration of Kashmir Pandits in the past and the tragic mass migration of the community in 1990.
