Books on Kashmir conflict sell likehot cakes

‘Youth Curious To Know About The Long-Standing Dispute'

After taking to streets in Kashmir for six months last year, the Valley youth are now thronging bookstores. Reason: following 2010 agitation, the young generation seems to be getting interested in understanding the Kashmir conflict.
The bookstore owners in Srinagar said the shelves with Kashmir-related books are getting empty as the recent agitation has generated keen interest among the youth to know about the long-standing dispute.
“It’s really surprising that after the agitation there has been a great demand for books on Kashmir conflict,” said Sonaullah Chiloo, owner of Best Seller Books at Lal Chowk. “Significantly, most of the readers are youth in the age group of 19 to 27.” He said before the agitation, it was not a trend.
Imtiyaz Ahmad, who works at Password Book Store at Residency Road, said the youth were interested in books about the past 25 years of conflict. “Readers come and ask for books which cover the Kashmir conflict from 1989 to mid- nineties,” Ahmad said. “Actually the readers were quite young when the armed struggle broke out. So I think they are interested to know what happened in Kashmir during this period. The recent events they do remember.” Hilal Ahmad, owner of Khan News Agency at Residency Road, said apart from recent history of Kashmir, there are a good number of young people who want to know about the past, especially about the last 60 years.
“Earlier we had books on Kashmir history which were gathering dust on the shelves. Even those are being purchased now,” Hilal said. “It’s only after six months of recent agitation we are experiencing rush of young readers who are interested in Kashmir history.” The bookstore owners said Kashmiri author Basharat Peer’s acclaimed book Curfewed Night, Chitralekha Zutshi’s Languages of Belonging and Mridu Rai’s Hindu Rulers Muslim Subjects, and other known books are selling like hotcakes.
“And then magazines featuring articles on Kashmir are also selling significantly,” they said. Riyaz Ahmad, a student of SP College here, said: “I purchased two books on Kashmir recently to know about the place, its history and the past events that shaped its future. The reading was revealing. I never knew that we were an independent nation at one moment in time.” Like most of the academics and students, Riyaz lamented that there was no Kashmir history in the curriculum in schools and colleges. “Kashmiris should write their own narratives and the stories of pain. During the recent agitation, I read some books on Kashmir conflict and saw people from outside having their own version of story to tell. Kashmiri narrative is missing everywhere except in few books.” Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussein, who teaches
law at the University of Kashmir, said the agitation of 2010 has re-invigorated interest among the young generation to know Kashmir.
“The younger generation feels that it’s now upon them to represent Kashmir,” he said. “Apart from symbolism, the generation wants to go into the genesis of the Kashmir dispute”. He said the youth were keenly looking to read the material on Kashmir.
“The agitation has not generated interest to know about the issue from local perspective, but from the global viewpoint as well,” he said.

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