Kashmiriyat: Creation and Destruction: A Study of Select Texts and Customs

Abstract

The disputed land of Kashmir has a long history of social, cultural and religious amalgamation, mixing and interconnectedness. The land, now predominantly populated by a “Muslim” population, has its own version of religious faith and practices drawing heavily from the earlier native Kashmiri tradition, which was itself a mix of the Shavite, Trika and Bhakti cultures. The ethos of Kashmir is not Hindu or Muslim but Kashmiri or ‘Kashmiriyat’ which is a mix of both these cultures where none were originally pure. In the current paper, I propose to study the socio-religious and political make-up of the land with the help of the poetry of Agha Shahid Ali, a short story from Kashmiri language by Hari Krishan Kaul (translated in English by Neerja Mattoo) and some popular cultural icons. Through a reading of the socio-religious festivals/rituals of visiting dargahs and temples and annual fetes, the paper proposes to reveal that Kashmiriyat stands and stood for “a pluralistic culture of tolerance” and a mutual existence in harmony of opposite faiths despite a history of violence. The violence of 1990s was the breaking point of the long held resistance of the land to the divisive politics of native Kashmiri leaders, the Pakistani infiltrators, as well as the Indian government.