Kashmir Diary – Martyr’s Graveyard, Srinagar
The unhappy land.
[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]
The graves are covered with grass, irises and roses.
The Martyr’s Graveyard in Old Srinagar is crowded with men who, it is said, died in the struggle for an independent Kashmir.
The Delhi Walla is in Kashmir’s capital.
The sky is overcast. It is cold.
Inscription on the gate:
Lest You Forget We Have Given Our Today for Tomorrow of Yours
A cobbled path snakes through the cemetery. One grave is draped with a sheet of blue silk. Another has a garland of plastic flowers. Some are surrounded by red roses.
A few graves are left empty for tomorrow’s martyrs.
A lamb is grazing on the adjacent lawn.
Far away, black clouds are coming down the pale blue hills that ring the city.
A young man enters the cemetery, and stands beside a grave.
It is starting to rain.
In the hotel, the manager tells me, “Mirwaiz Molvi Farooq, our religious leader who was assassinated in 1990, is buried in that cemetery. His assassin too has his grave there. The Martyr’s Graveyard is Kashmir’s strangest place.”
Lost lives
Definitive biography
Now, resting
Loved by the rose
Once was a life
It’s like picnic
The grass off the martyrs
Blood red
He’s home
Remembrance
Qabrastaan mein itni shaer-o-shaeri?
Picture No. 3 ( from the very top)-
“gulshan-e- kashmir ke rangeen gulon ko begunaah
aaj kis bedard ne mitti mein pinhaan kar diyaa”
(this grave belongs to a ‘shahidah’, a female martyr)
Picture No. 10-
“tu apney phoolon ko surkh kar le sawaal hai teri aabru kaa
qabool kar ae zameen-e-gulshan haqeer tohfaa merey lahoo kaa”
( this one belongs to a guy named riyaaz ahmad malik, who died when he was just 19. Very sad.)
Thanks for the translations. They added a lot more meaning to the photos.
Note to the Delhi Walla: Please consider numbering your photos. Many people like to comment on specific photos, but they are handicapped by references like “third from the top,” “fourth from the bottom,” “second-last,” etc.
Naushirvan, it is normal for us Kashmiris to remember our loved ones through poetry on their gravestone. Prior to the bloodshed experienced in Kashmir (Post-80s), the poetry was not as bleak and dissenting but actually we used to celebrate the dead relative’s life. But how can we ‘celebrate’ the lives of Kashmiris whose lives have been cut short due to the absurd claim over Kashmir by both Pakistan and India.
Ab Kashmir par ‘maut ki behleez pe… khada hai har insaan’.
India for Indians
Pakistan for Pakistanis
Kashmir for Kashmiris
Kashmir for Kashmiris
Kashmir for Kashmiris
“The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately.”
-Bertrand Russell
The UN Human Rights grant every ethnic group in the World the right for self determination. This is a fact. Your synopsis of our self determination struggle, i.e. not wanting to be part of either India or Pakistan illustrated via B. Russell’s quote above, is to a greater extent true.
‘The opinions that are held in passion […] for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction’:
India and Pakistan are the opinion holders who are both passionately vying to acquire a piece of land that they call theirs, but the people of Kashmir have always wanted to be self-governing!!! Even prior to the Partition, the Kashmiri’s were promised a democratic election, which unfortunately due to the unforeseen speed of events, could not happen and the Maharaja of Kashmir, being a hindu agreed to join the Union of India, despite popular opinion being that he should have left Kashmir independent of both. Indeed Arundhati Roy has often remarked this instance in media and openly said Kashmir never belonged to either India or Pak. It is thus not us Kashmiris that are unrational, but the States of India and Paksitan that are jingoistically playing with our fate, due to their erroneous beliefs.
As for Bertrand’s ‘Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately’, once again this is true:
India and Pakistan’s ridiculous claim for Kashmir is based on religion. For Pakistan the argument is that Kashmir is muslim majority state and hence should naturally belong to Pakistan, whereas for India, Kashmir illustrates the secular credentials of modern India.
Kashmiris are now fed up with being sidelined in talks regarding the future of their homeland. Enough is enough. Kashmiris from both sides are increasingly voicing their RIGHT FOR SELF DETERMINATION enshrined with the UN Human Rights Law.
yes. It has somehow become a norm to confer the palm of ‘victory’ upon whoever shouts the loudest.
As for the ‘self determination’ bit, I have some reservations which, the truth be told, may be better described as fears. The first one concerns the Kashmiri( Muslim) migrant population. Any development in the direction of a ‘free kashmir’ would be met with wholesale rioting ( in a politically and religiously charged atmosphere like India’s, it would be a replay of the horrors of 1947). Kashmiri merchants etc. would be forced to move lock,stock and barrel back to their homeland. Assuming that the transition would be a peaceful one requires a great degree of naivete, denial or a combination of both.
The second one is regarding the geographical proximity to Big Brother China. China doesn’t have the best of intentions towards its neighbors. If India could sweep in with its army units in 1947, I see no reason why a super-aggressive,better-armed,defiant,communistic nation like China would hold back should an opportunity arise. Lets be frank; China doesn’t give a fig to what the world thinks. I really don’t think Indian army or India in general would be in a mood to defend that piece of land after being thoroughly disillusioned by it.
The third one is more of a question. Would the Kashmiri nation have a socio-economic rung reserved for Kashmiri Pandits,Sikhs and Buddhists? What happened to Pandits was truly sad and wholly unnecessary. Would the Kashmiri state guarantee that no such religious madness takes place in the future?
The fourth one concerns the Islamists. Talks about ‘self-determination’ and ‘right to choose’ are all very well, but will the new state ensure the separation of religion and politics ( i.e. Church and State)? Religion has had a way of infringing upon the turfs of others to assert itself. Only a naive idealist would dismiss Islamization as a trivial concern. We cannot wish away the radicals.
I am no expert ( as you’ll agree) but I believe the ‘solution’ should be based upon the solid foundations of informed consent, reason and a realistic outlook as opposed to a mere intensity of emotional conviction.
Pakistan for Muslims and so are 40+ other countries (official religion)
Israel for Jews (official religion)
Thailand, Japan, etc for Buddhists (official religion)
West for Christian (official religion)
India for Secularists
No country (official religion) for Hindus who comprise of 20% of world’s population.
Kashmir for Muslims (throw out non-muslims and pundits,
Muslim majority anywhere = Intolerance, terrorism, prosecution of minorities)
ISLAM = INTOLERANT ANTI-HUMANITARIAN who simply cant co-exist, when in minority they demand the very same rights they deny to people wherever they are in majority. They tend to blame all their problems (including justification for terrorism).
Abe salon kahin toh chain se rehne do.
These graves are a happy sight… BYE BYE TERRORISTS … Lets bury some more bastards.
Ehsan Mir Ali Jahan on May 3, 2012 at 7:11 AM
Naushirvan, it is normal for us Kashmiris to remember our loved ones through poetry on their gravestone. Prior to the bloodshed experienced in Kashmir (Post-80s), the poetry was not as bleak and dissenting but actually we used to celebrate the dead relative’s life. But how can we ‘celebrate’ the lives of Kashmiris whose lives have been cut short due to the absurd claim over Kashmir by both Pakistan and India.
Ab Kashmir par ‘maut ki behleez pe… khada hai har insaan’.
India for Indians
Pakistan for Pakistanis
Kashmir for Kashmiris
Kashmir for Kashmiris
Kashmir for Kashmiris
SUPER LIKE … lolz Naushirvan .. wink wink
Naushirvan on May 3, 2012 at 1:13 PM
“The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holder’s lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately.”
-Bertrand Russell