Abstract
Sheikh Abdullah was one of the most influential and charismatic South Asian leaders of the twentieth century. He played a decisive role in not only the ousting of Dogra rule from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) but also became a central figure in creating a political consciousness among Kashmiris after the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. Though the literature on Sheikh has looked at various phases in his political career from an anti-Dogra activist to the Chief Minister of J&K, few books are able to locate his politics in the overall dynamics of the South Asian region. Altaf Para’s book, The Making of Modern Kashmir: Sheikh Abdullah and the Politics of the State, tries to fill this gap in the existing literature on Sheikh Abdullah.
The motivations for writing yet another political biography of Sheikh Abdullah are made very clear by the author: first, the numerous U-turns and contradictions in Sheikh’s political career, including the flip-flop on the issue of Kashmir’s accession to India, make for an interesting reading and, second, the segregated and exclusivist approach in previous works dealing with his politics paints a distorted portrait of Abdullah’s work (p. 2). The book offers a comprehensive and sympathetic portrait of Sher-i-Kashmir, as he was popularly called, despite the major limitations encountered in this endeavour, like the restricted access to the Indian archives, showcasing the relationship between J&K and India and the destruction of most of the documents related to Tahrikh-i-Rai-Shumari (the plebiscite movement) patronised by Abdullah between 1953 and 1975 (p. 3). The book has used various valuable primary sources like the Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel Correspondence.
Para illustrates how the twilight years of the leader were undignified. Abdullah ultimately compromised on his political philosophy in return for power (p. 286). His return to office as J&K’s Chief Minister in 1974 was marked by an increased suppression of dissent, signified by some draconian measures passed by him to curb different political expressions during the second term, like the Public Safety Bill (p. 269). As fate would have it, some of these legislations would come back to haunt his political dynasty and Kashmiris who he once led. 1 But, as the author also asserts, it would not be fair to completely demonise him. The Indian state did not commit to the various promises it made throughout his political life (p. 287). They tolerated Kashmiri autonomy as long as their governance was aligned with the Centre. The moment their fragile relationship started cracking, the Centre responded by subverting democratic urges (p. 286).
Para emphasises Sheikh’s secular credentials while tracing his rise as an orator and a leader but, at the same time, does not obscure his Muslim identity, something circumscribed by the Hindu state established by Dogra, which, like British India, emphasised the religious identity of its subjects. However, he proceeds to interpret the nationalisation of the Muslim Conference as a mistake (like many other scholars of contemporary Kashmiri history) and influenced by provocateurs like P.N. Bazaz. This, he argues, got Abdullah closer to the ideological fold of Congress. But it would be unwise to see this decision as disastrous in retrospect since many non-Muslims, including Bazaz himself, eventually left the National Conference within a year or two of its establishment. There were several historically contingent factors and influences that convinced Sheikh to convert the Muslim Conference into National Conference. To attribute it to his failure to ‘…differentiate between the process of secularization and nationalization…’ would be misleading (p. 93).
Para argues that several other factors over-determined Abdullah’s decision to establish the National Conference. First, the struggle of Kashmiri Muslims was directed against the feudal rule of the Dogras. The Congress’ 1935 resolution supported the freedom movements of the people of the princely states (with caveats) as opposed to the Muslim League’s support to the sovereign rights of the ruler of princely states. The autocratic Dogra rule had bred a desire in the peasants of the Kashmir Valley to liberate themselves from landlordism. Second, there was an increasing presence of left organisations from British India in Kashmir. Some very influential Marxists and leaders of the Communist Party of India (CPI) played a crucial role in providing ideological fodder for the demands of Kashmiri Muslims. This resulted in the adoption of the slogan of ‘land to the tiller’ in the Naya Kashmir programme in the 1940s, which resonated widely with the peasants who were mostly Kashmiri Muslims, while the landlords were mostly non-Kashmiri and non-Muslim (Choudhary, 2018). It was in the 1930s itself that the Mazdoor Sabha and Kisan Sabha were also established. It is perhaps because of this that Sheikh Abdullah demanded freedom (Azadi) before accession since this coincided with the CPI’s demand for the right of self-determination of all nationalities of the state. Third, the Aligarh Muslim School founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan had tried to localise the idea of nationalism (a Eurocentric concept) due to various ethnic, tribal and class divisions among the South Asian Muslims (Paracha, 2016). Sheikh was an alma meter of the university, and hence he may not have been a stranger to the ideas of nationalism before his affiliation with Nehru.
The de-operationalisation of Article 370 by the Centre on 5 August 2019, in yet another unilateral decision, is an all too familiar a sight for Kashmiri masses. In this context, The Making of Modern Kashmir does a commendable job of painting a holistic picture of the roots of the conflict. Its focus on Sheikh Abdullah is a crucial point of entry in understanding how some of the most renowned political leaders of South Asia in the twentieth century was involved in shaping the contours of the current imbroglio in Kashmir. The author has tried to provide a balanced perspective while trying to analyse the motivations behind numerous events that unfolded in the subcontinent. The book is a necessary intervention into the existing scholarship attempting to comprehend the origins of the current discourse around Kashmir, the state of alienation of Kashmiri masses from the mainstream discourse and the historical consequences of such state policies (Hussain, 2018).
That said The Making of Modern Kashmir could have dwelled more into some of the practices adopted by Abdullah in his effort to consolidate power—the systematic rigging of elections for one—to illustrate how the state apparatuses in Kashmir co-opted such methods post his death to suppress democratic expressions of the Kashmiri masses. After all, the mass rigging of elections and alleged instances of torture of Muslim United Front candidates in 1987 state assembly elections are retrospectively seen as a prelude to the armed escalation of the conflict. Moreover, there does not seem to be many investigations into the inter-religious relationships in the Valley during the period following 1947 and the precise reasons why Islamic outfits like Jamaat-e-Islaami gained more popularity among Kashmiri Muslim youth despite the centuries-long traditions of sociocultural plurality in the Valley. No matter what side of the political spectrum one may identify with, the comprehensive inquiry by the author into the issue cannot be denied.