TheDaak review

Sheikh Abdullah: The caged Lion of Kashmir by Chitralekha Zutshi, Yale University Press, 2024, Harper Collins Publishers, India , 376 pages, ISBN:0300270771,9780300270778

by Shayista Jahan

Chitralekha Zutshi’s recent work titled Sheikh Abdullah: The Caged Lion of Kashmir delves into twentieth-century Kashmir and draws on the life story of Sheikh Abdullah (1905-1982), one of the most influential figures in the region, popularly known as Sher-e- Kashmir (The Lion of Kashmir), who remained nonetheless caged. It is possible that the author chose the title of the book to highlight the lion’s captivity in both real and metaphorical sense.

The saga of Kashmir is often tied in with its enticing leader, Sheikh Abdullah, who monopolized the region’s political scene. M. J. Akbar states, ‘The modern history of Kashmir begins with the greatest Kashmiri of modern times, Sheikh Abdullah’ (Akbar, 1991). As Hogan (2011) writes, the history of the valley’s two significant neighbours are intertwined with those of the valley’s inhabitants. So, it is imperative to make sense of the personality of Sheikh Abdullah, given his pivotal involvement in the events that transpired in Kashmir and needless to say, impacted South Asia. As Zutshi puts it, ‘in a way, the history of Abdullah’s life and the people of Kashmir were written together, merging and becoming one. ’(p. 285) Besides, she argues that between centers and regions, religion and secularism, the exploited and the exploiters, and India and Pakistan, among other conflict lines that both shaped and were shaped by his political life, all of which still loom large over the subcontinent today. 

 Attempting to write Sheikh Abdullah’s life story from a perspective larger than himself, Zutshi digs into the lives of those close to him. This comprises the documents of Mridula Sarabhai, Abdullah’s Gandhian activist friend and bastion of support, and Bazaz, a Kashmiri pandit who had been Abdullah’s ally and an adversary. The author also tries to provide portraits of other important leaders like Nehru, and Jayaprakrash Narayan with revealing insights into the lives of leaders in and outside of Kashmir. From the thorough analysis of Abdullah’s speeches, interviews and memoirs, the author makes a laudable effort to steer clear of the general discourse and offer a fresh perspective on the events that unfolded. Furthermore, she delves into archival research and peruses Nehru’s letters, making this book one of the best scholarly works on Sheikh Abdullah. The letters, hitherto ignored, when analysed substantially give a nuanced understanding of him both personally and politically. Other than his autobiographical account Aatish- e- Chinar, which like many previous attempts, presents a specific narrative at a point in time when he lost his credibility, there aren’t many scholarly published accounts of Sheikh Abdullah’s life story. 

In an effort to restore to Kashmiris a sense of dignity undermined by the cruel and protracted tyranny of the Dogras, Sheikh Abdullah set out on a difficult quest in the 1930s to become the voice of the oppressed Muslim population. The six-foot tall and enchanting man gave the impression that someone had come down from heaven to save Kashmiris from the suffering brought on by the Hindu rulers oppressing the Muslim subjects. An impoverished and politically powerless population saw hope in his first emphasis on a shared Muslim identity, which promised social and political enfranchisement (Khan, 2014). However, despite a hard-fought battle to restore Muslim dignity, he came to embrace secularism, a position he promised to stick to until the very end. The National Conference replaced the Muslim Conference, and Sheikh Abdullah framed the ‘Hindu-Muslim-Sikh Ithad Zindabad Zindabad’ slogans as the rallying cry as he marched along the path of secularism. Although he was close to secular ideas and leaders, he could not afford for people to believe he was less of a Muslim. Sheikh Abdullah would keep reciting passages from the Qur’an and use shrines to inspire people to engage in political activities and spread his political agendas. It could be argued that this struggle continued throughout his life and that in the end he neither turned into a devout Muslim who had initially begun his journey to protect the Muslim identity wrecked by Dogras nor a secular who clung to the idea of India. Although Zutshi didn’t elaborate on it, his politicisation of shrines is nevertheless noteworthy. This deserves consideration because after 1953 the ferocious speeches were delivered at the Hazratbal Shrine, which was used as a rallying point by Sheikh Abdullah.

Zutshi also discusses how his education in Lahore helped him prepare for life by exposing him to politics and allowing him to interact with people like Mohammad Iqbal. Here is where a science student discovered the importance of the spoken word, a skill he would later employ in all of his speeches. Being a balanced biography—something many writers struggle to do—the book succeeds in achieving this goal. Sheikh Abdullah’s virtues are highlighted, but she also brings to light some intriguing facts about him, such as his lifelong insecurities. He was never done searching for a leader to take precedence over him. Likely due to his fatherless modest upbringing and lack of intellectual giftedness compared to seasoned leaders contemporary to him. Presumably, this was the reason why he wanted to be a secular mahatma like Gandhi, a dynamic leader like Nehru, or a preacher like Iqbal. However, Nehru seemed to be the centre of his intense fascination. One might infer such from the fact that Nehru is mentioned in Aatish- e- Chinar’s every single chapter. Given this fact, Zutshi has conducted a thorough analysis using archival materials to examine Nehru’s correspondence with Abdullah, providing readers with a more nuanced understanding of their relationship. This is noteworthy because it influenced Sheikh Abdullah’s decisions in the following years. 

She mentions a 1981 Hollywood movie, Lion of the Desert which came out right as Abdullah was nearing the end of his life, and employs narrative history to give life to the most hotly debated question: whether or not Sheikh Abdullah is the hero of Kashmir. Abdullah’s flaws as a hero are evident, as seen by the deliberate use of analogies from a movie to draw parallels between the two heroes. Glaring disparities exist between a captive lion from Kashmir and, possibly, a real lion named Omar Mukhtar, a martyr of Libya’s freedom. Sheikh Abdullah’s power struggles were never consistent with his efforts to defend his people’s honour. The way events unfolded in Kashmir was shaped by everything he did, including vying for office, imprisonments, and negotiating deals. Deciphering what he stood for is, perhaps, also the book’s essential objective. 

Sheikh Abdullah’s paradoxical nature is up for debate. As Bazaz, cited by Zutshi, claims, Abdullah’s quest for unwavering popularity and power was a misfortune for Kashmir since it made him an unstable leader who frequently changed his positions. In an article titled Demystifying Sheikh Abdullah, Altaf Hussain Para (2013) notes that although Sheikh Abdullah was a devout secular and passionately religious man, his politics were never totally based on theory; instead, he employed ideologies to achieve his objectives. Zutshi also writes about the mounting hassle between the two sides of Abdullah’s leadership persona: the secular nationalist determined to secure political and economic rights for all Kashmiris, and the devout Muslim loyal to Islam and Kashmiri Muslims. Zutshi’s rigorous research, reflected in this book, is engaging for readers attempting to connect the dots since she meticulously looks at every aspect when doing a thorough analysis. 

The author portrays his later stage of life in the book in a somewhat gloomy tone. Zutshi claims that he died a broken and dejected man, crushed under the weight of his unfulfilled promises to the Kashmiri people and full of grave doubts about his successor’s capacity to lead the political organization he founded. Perhaps the desolation was the result of unresolved bargains and ruptured alliances he left behind. 

According to Zutshi, Aatish-e-Chinar fails to offer a convincing explanation, if any, for why the thunderous revolutionary of 1931 would grovel to become chief minister in 1975. Being torn in different ways between a traitor and a hero, Zutshi’s book is a plausible attempt to shed light on why the lion was able to roar but not bite.

‘I was but an average man and felt crushed under their expectations’ (p.61). 

The line from Sheikh Abdullah’s autobiography that Zutshi chose aptly sums up the challenges that the most revered leader in Kashmir faced over the years.

References 

Akbar, M. J., (1991). Kashmir: Behind the Vale, New Delhi: Viking.

Hogan, P. C. (2001). “Midnight’s Children”: Kashmir and the Politics of Identity. Twentieth Century Literature, 47(4), 510–544. 

Khan, N. A. (2014). Understanding Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah: The movement against princely rule, 1931–1947. 

Para, A. H. (2013). Demystifying Sheikh Abdullah. Economic and Political Weekly, pp. 23–26.

Rai, M. (2004). Hindu rulers, Muslim subjects: Islam, rights, and the history of Kashmir. Princeton University Press.