Kashmir komplexity

Like rest of the subcontinent, Srinagar shut down to watch the semifinal clash between India and Pakistan. But, the team they cheered for wasn’t the Men in Blue. In hotels and homes, at roadside stalls and in Srinagar’s downtown sprawl, in villages and small mohallas, Kashmir was rooting for Shahid Afridi and his team. This support for Pakistan appeared to cut across caste and class, united mainstream politicians and separatists, and brought together prosperous businessmen who live half the year in Delhi and the shikarawalas who ceaselessly circle the Dal Lake. Days ahead of the game, shopkeepers at Lal chowk sold more TV sets than they have in years. Furniture was removed from living rooms to make way for more people. Children took a day off from school and much like New Year’s, everyone was anxious about whose house they’d be invited to. India batted first and every Indian wicket prompted a blaze of firecrackers. When Pakistan started batting, every run was cheered. What does this tell us? Widespread support for Pakistan in the Valley? It does not. Most people who cheered for Afridi’s team have no love lost for Pakistan with its failing economy and daily violence. The reality of Pakistan has done what the Indian state could not for years: made “Kashmir banega Pakistan” vanish from all protests. All that the Kashmiris have done is separate the reality of Pakistan from the idea of Pakistan. Thus, the murder and mayhem in Lahore and Karachi represent the reality of Pakistan; Shahid Afridi’s team in Mohali represent the idea of Pakistan. It is the best example of the mix history, emotion, resentment and pragmatism that Kashmir is today. The generation applauding Pakistan today is a generation that that grew up fixated on the idea of Pakistan before the spiral of insurgency in the 90s. It was at battleground Sharjah that India was humiliated. A young man spoke about how a television remote was hurled at him for cheering India in a match. And it was his grandfather who did so. The generation today is older. They have become politicians and businessmen firm in their knowledge that India is the way forward for Kashmir. They shake their heads at every bomb blast in Pakistan. But once it comes to anything that represents the idea of Pakistan, like the Pakistani cricket team, they remember their love for Pakistan. Kashmiris are provincial in their actions, but Kashmiri nationalists in their mindset. This faultline makes them turn out and vote for bijli, sadak, pani in elections, scrutinise the increase in Central grants in the state budget, makes thousands vie for posts in the police. It also makes them throw stones and spray “Go Back India” on the walls. It makes them kit out in Pakistani colours and also makes them compliment the administration for imposing section 144 in the city to prevent violence. It makes them admire India, its plurality, its progress and its strength; and, resent it for these very reasons.