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Journalism of Courage
What do we tell children when we speak of Kashmir? How does a child in the Valley spell hope? And, for those growing up in the mainland and hearing stories of paradise regained, is it possible to imagine the lives of others? A look at three books that speak of the Kashmir conundrum:
One of the early books written for children on the troubled legacy of Kashmir was Paro Anand’s No Guns at My Son’s Funeral (2005, Roli Books, appropriate for 12+ years). Aftab is born in the troubled Valley when terrorism is at its peak and his life is nothing like an average mainland tween’s. Between curfews and keeping his head down and out of trouble and his great love for cricket, he is drawn to the charismatic Akram. The latter is recruiting gullible youth for a mission against the state. When Aftab is drawn into it, unspooling a web of violence, what does his momentary lapse result in? Anand’s narrative explores the anatomy of hate and loss that holds true even two decades later.
Malik Sajad’s remarkable coming-of-age graphic novel Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir (2015, Fourth Estate) looks at the life of seven-year-old Munnu against a backdrop of state violence, voluntary enrolment in terror training camps, empty Kashmiri Pandit homes and the long shadow of conflict that has dogged the land. It is an insider’s perspective of what it is to live forever in the shade of anger, violence and rejection and the ephemerality of everything that one holds close.
