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A review by pangnaolin
Kashmir: A Case of Freedom by Tariq Ali
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
this was an incredible read and great introduction to kashmir's history and political cliamate (as far as i can tell). pankaj mishra's essay was probably the most unremarkable to me, though undoubtedly a good introduction to the book. then followed tariq ali's 50-page concise and broad history of kashmir, which i will say it was a bit difficult to get through at parts, but was very much needed to grasp the context of this collection! i got a bit lost in it at times, not having much of a background on kashmiri history-- as he'd occasionally introduce something as though we must already know of it, and bouncing between different timelines & names is hard to follow-- but a bit of googling made it more than doable, and i was thankful for the piece!
arundhati roy and hilal bhat's essay were the most compelling by far, with roy's being incredibly well-written, interesting, and informative, and bhat's being incredibly striking and intense (as he encountered intense violence he witness and endured).
i will say that it irked me a bit that only one (or two, if you count 16th century poet habbah khatun) of the included authors was kashmiri themself, but i still did appreciate the perspectives. i wish we'd been able to see more first-hand accounts that could truly explore and account for the complexity in local politics that i don't believe it's possible for outsiders to understand in the same way.
regardless, this was definitely a great introduction, and i feel it gave me a solid foundation for further exploring and understanding kashmir's struggle.
arundhati roy and hilal bhat's essay were the most compelling by far, with roy's being incredibly well-written, interesting, and informative, and bhat's being incredibly striking and intense (as he encountered intense violence he witness and endured).
i will say that it irked me a bit that only one (or two, if you count 16th century poet habbah khatun) of the included authors was kashmiri themself, but i still did appreciate the perspectives. i wish we'd been able to see more first-hand accounts that could truly explore and account for the complexity in local politics that i don't believe it's possible for outsiders to understand in the same way.
regardless, this was definitely a great introduction, and i feel it gave me a solid foundation for further exploring and understanding kashmir's struggle.