The Tragedy of Kashmir

The Kashmir valley was burning under the chants of azaadi (independence) and was subsequentlysuppressed by the forces. Beyond the oppositional calls for right to self-determination by the Kashmiris and the rightful control of India or Pakistan, an important issue hitherto goes unnoticed. It is the compulsion to demand a nationhood and identity for oneself. This article argues that the coercion of modernity ‘forces’ a people to project themselves against others and fall to the game of the very opposition they seek to rebuke. The point here is not about the correctness or the problems with Kashmiri struggle. It is about the reasons for it. The causes if traced to economic, social and political factors would be grossly insufficient to account for the movement. The main factor should be reasoned as the processes that are characteristic to modernity. The apparent antagonism of Kashmir vs. India is demolished when this case is considered.