Being national or non-national: Sheikh abdullah's autobiography and the history of kashmir

Abstract

The present study encompasses a preliminary reading of Aatish-e-Chinar, the autobiography of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the most important political figure of modern Jammu and Kashmir. It is presumed here that the autobiographies as quintessentially a modern genre of expression are decisive instruments in the forging of nations, the quintessential political form of modern times. The Aatish-e-Chinar captures the trajectories of Kashmiri nation and nationalism and values that define it and the tendencies it is opposed to. The imagination of being national by Abdullah involved a simultaneous process of exalting certain attributes as national and others as non-national while placing himself at the centre of this historic nationalistic project. His autobiography stands out for its national character and faith in secularism and multiculturalism, overriding the prevalent orthodoxies. The autobiography draws us also to the national politics that made Abdullah to think in terms of remaining independent of both India and Pakistan, which has undergone transformation and change over time- the transformation of Jammu and Kashmir from a nation to a sub-nation as an administrative entity. The narrative is in conversation with its time and beyond in seeking legitimacy for the nation and its troubled historical trajectory.