I dedicated my life towards unraveling Kashmir’s past: Zutshi

‘In Kashmir there is need of a department were religion can be studied as focus of scholarship rather than religious belief’

Chitralekha Zutshi is associate professor of History at the College of William and Mary. She specializes in Modern South Asia, expertise in Islamicate identities and culture, nationalism and national movements, and historical thought and practice. She has spoken and published widely on the interrelationships among these ideas in the context of Kashmir. She received her Ph.D in History from Tufts University, US. She is the author of ‘Languages of Belonging and  Kashmir's Contested Pasts. In an interview with Rising Kashmir Online Editor Daanish Bin Nabi, Zutshi talks about her second book, the research she is doing on her third book and the history of Kashmir. Excerpts:

·         What is the purpose of your visit to Kashmir?

I am in Kashmir because of two things. Firstly, I am releasing my second book on Kashmir namely ‘ Kashmir's Contested Pasts’. Secondly, I am currently working and researching about my third book on Kashmir.

·         What is your third book all about?

I have just starting working on it. Let’s see how things unfold about my third project.

·         What is Kashmir Contested Parts all about? If you can give us a brief about this book?

This book is about historical tradition in Kashmir. I am basically trying to look at the Kashmir right from 16^th century to present and how they defined history and in the process of defining history and how they define Kashmir itself.  One of the important things I am talking about in this book is that history and historical tradition of Kashmir needs to be placed in longer historical composition.  We cannot talk about a 17^th century text in 17^th century we have to look at the way that it engages with the traditions that came before and how it becomes part of the tradition that follows it.

·         Is the book available in the market?

The book is available in the market but many of the booksellers that Oxford contracts outside have been flooded out to have flooded out of business unfortunately, so Oxford is resending the books again to these buyers.

·         Do you think this book is costly for the students?

The book actually is not very costly in my opinion and I don’t set the price of the books it’s the Oxford that set the price of the book. It only costs about Rs 995.

·         You have written extensively on South Asia. Why are you interested in writing about South Asia?

I am a historian in South Asia. I write about religious identities, nationalism, history and so on and so forth but in the context of Kashmir mostly. So, even in South Asian context, I am more focused and interested on Kashmir only. I am interested about how Kashmir is a prism through which you can talk about the interesting issues about South Asia. I am trained as a South ‘Asianist’ but that does not mean I am not interested in other parts of the world.

·         And Kashmir is your main focus?

Yes, it is my main focus of research. I teach South Asia as general in sort of global context.

·         Kashmir being an conflict zone yet there is only one center were students learn International Relations in Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST)  and that too is in shambles, what will be your suggestions so that we can revamp the department?

Firstly, I don’t know about this department where is it? I think the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institute of Kashmir Studies (UMIKS) here in Kashmir University is focusing on International Relations. Even in political science department here lots of students who study International Relation in Kashmir University. International Relation scan not only be studied in International Relations Department but at other department like, history and political science department as well and I think that is one way of doing it. I think in Kashmir what needs to be done rather than having an International Relations Department we should have a religious studies department were religion is studied as a focus of scholarship rather than theology. Jamia Millia is the only university that has the Comparative Religion and Civilization Department. Something like such a department should also be introduced in Kashmir because one finds that in India the religion discourse is controlled by the religious figures and not scholars. And if scholars will enter the field it will make a huge difference towards the society. In India as whole but in Kashmir as particular there is a need of department were religion can be studied as a focus of scholarship rather than of a religious belief.

·         So you want more scholars than theologians in Kashmir?

Yes, true.

·         What is your opinion about Kashmir issue?

I think of Kashmir issue in less terms of India and Pakistan and more in terms of the relationship between the Indian centre and Kashmir as a region. People talk about personalities like Sheikh Abdullah that he sold out to India and had no ideological conviction and then Nehru, that he was his friend. But as a historian you have to have sort framework to understand the issues. And to my mind, India emerged as a state and then tried to define whether it was going to be centralised entity or federalized system. And it was at that movement when India had a chance to be more federal. But because of the whole Pakistani issue, India was unable to come to some sort of an agreement where Kashmir could have had little bit more autonomy. It was a very simple thing. If those things could have been worked out in Kashmir Constituent Assembly at that time more autonomy could have been granted to Kashmir and there could have been a little bit more far sightedness on part of New Delhi. But we should also keep in mind the mentality of Indian leaders at that time, it was a time of partition and there was a fear that India is going to fall a apart, the atomization of India. We should also keep that in mind and look through that prism also. But at the end Kashmir issue is all about the Kashmir and New Delhi. Since then we all know the story of mingling, rigging of elections and all those problems created by the Indian state have compounded the entire problem and I have written about this in my book as well. As a historian I am trying to figure out what really happened during those turbulent times in South Asia. And the students keep on asking me should Indian Army have come up here on October 27^th 1947. That’s not the question I am asking and not what I am interested in, the nitty gritty what actually happened. I am looking at the larger processes that made it impossible for India to accommodate the wishes of Kashmiris leaders and its people at that time.

·         From an academic point of view how do you view Separatist politics?

I have not studied the separatist politics of Kashmir, so I cannot comment on it.

·         Are you not interested in separatist politics?

No, I have not studied separatism so far. So, when any one asks me for an academic opinion, I don’t have a well formed one.

·         Do you think separatists have achieved anything for the people of Kashmir?

Not really. I don’t think they achieved anything for people.

·         Your work Languages of Belongingness is very popular among Kashmiri students? Your opinion about it?

I am happy about it hopefully they are learning something from it. I think more than learning Kashmiri’s past, more importantly they are learning, especially the methodology of history. When student put a question to me about any past event I always tell my students, instead of raising slogans go out there and do research. You people are in Kashmir, I have to come all the way from US and spend a whole lot of money and time and am not doing my job and you are next door to the libraries; I tell them go out and find for yourself, do research and then come to your own conclusion instead of already having the slogan in head and then writing that’s not the way to do the history and I hope that my work can help towards that. I have dedicated my life towards unraveling Kashmir’s past. I firmly believe that Kashmir is more than just the contested territory. I mean we need to look at the past to be able to emerge from the past. Hopefully these books will help in that.