POETÈ MAUDIT — A Short Story by Muzaffar Karim
In this short story that commences at “the holy steps” of the Makhdoom Sahib shrine in Srinagar, a disgruntled character surprises the author of what he considers to be an unfinished tale.
Disclaimer: any resemblance to reality is purely fictional in this short story. For more, readers are advised to check the Editorial Disclaimer.
When the Light Dawned by Somnath Zutshi — A Book Excerpt from The Greatest Kashmiri Short Stories Ever Told (trans. Neerja Mattoo, Aleph, 2022)
We are proud to present Somnath Zutshi’s short story “When the Light Dawned” excerpted from The Greatest Kashmiri Short Stories Ever Told (Aleph, 2022) selected and translated by Neerja Mattoo. Inverse Journal has independently curated a visual bibliography of links relevant to the book and its author. Special thanks to Majid Maqbool for sourcing this excerpt.
Day and Night — A Short Story by Malini Bhattacharya
In Malini Bhattacharya’s short story, a young woman protagonist goes through her day busying herself in a frantic focus behind which a creeping subtlety gives way to a night full of dark thoughts and traumatic memories. The story is relatable to the extent that it verbalizes the experiences of victims and survivors, and purposefully disturbing because such experiences are so common and rampant—and not discussed. Given the sensitive nature of this story, reader discretion and parental guidance is required.
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Rodolfo Walsh’s 1977 Open Letter to the Military Junta in Argentina — Introduced and Translated by Arturo Desimone
Written on March 24, 1977 in Buenos Aires, this letter “can be useful to readers to reflect on the new despotisms.” This letter and the attached piece were originally published by Arturo Desimone on December 6, 2016, under the title of “Reading the Argentinian resistance writer Rodolfo Walsh in the Times of Trump” and is republished here from Open Democracy via CC BY-NC 4.0
Wandering Through the Alleys and Making Sense of Central and West Asian Remnants in Srinagar — by Subhajit Pal
Relying on research and interview material gathered during his stay in Srinagar, Subhajit Pal discusses Kashmir’s historical connection to Central and West Asia as it manifests in contemporary times.
Home Archaeology — by Rela Mazali
A Jewish activist woman from Israel conducts an “archaeological dig” into her immediate physical surroundings and the sites of her successive homes. It recounts her slow unlearning of Zionist erasures both of the dispossession of Palestinians previously living at these sites and of the discrimination against and relegation into poverty of Mizrachi Jews (Jews of color) sent to live at them.
A gradual awakening to an unblinkered understanding of the context – historical, social, economic of where she lives, this fragment opens a window onto the reality that is (again) erupting in horrific violence in Palestine Israel today, in the spring of 2021.
The text is the 5th section of the novella-length essaytale, “Home Archaeology”, originally published in full in Hebrew in the collection “Home Archaeology: Essay Tales” and re-rendered into English by the author. This piece will appear in print at a later time in a three-part series to be published by the author.
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ENGLISH MEDIUM — A Poem by Rumuz E Bekhudi
Rumuz E Bekhudi presents a poem that speaks to a worldwide audience of English learners or non-native speakers of English who carry with them a desire, a need and a compulsion. Rumuz’s poem betrays the brevity of its verses by thematically expanding on the significance of “English Medium” education throughout the world, inviting critique and reflection on questions of class mobility, rank, status, inclusion, exclusion, colonialism, imperial history, globalization—all tucked under the exhausted white collar of middle-class aspirations.
Gaash — A Call to Remembrance
On August 18th of 1990, Parveena Ahangar’s 17-year-old son Javaid Ahmed was taken by a specialized counter-insurgency group (the National Security Guards of the Indian Army) during a night raid at her neighborhood in Batamaloo, Srinagar. Since then, her quest to find her son and her demand for justice persist. At this 32nd year since Javaid’s enforced disappearance, this poem makes a call to remembrance for those who stand in solidarity with his mother Parveena and with the many Kashmiri families she represents as Founder of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, Kashmir.
MUSIC FEATURE: A Song by Kristina Jacobsen Inspired by Ather Zia’s Poem “i. will. cross.” + Exclusive Interview with the Two Professors
In a rare and unprecedented instance, two professors from two different cultures meet at the crossroads of verse and song to produce a creative collaboration around the themes of Indigeneity, marginality, war, colonization, and erasure. The result is an adaptation of Professor Ather Zia’s poem “i. will. cross.” into a song composed and performed by Professor Kristina Jacobsen. Along with Kristina Jacobsen’s song recording (mixed and mastered by Drake Hardin), we reproduce Ather Zia’s poem as well as a recorded recitation by the poet (republished from Sapiens via CC BY-ND 4.0), followed by an exclusive Q&A with the two professors and a list of relevant links for those interested in their extensive work.
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Factory or Corporation: What “Severance” Gets Wrong — An Analysis by Muzaffar Karim
Muzaffar Karim presents an analysis of “Severance” (2022, Apple+), the critically-acclaimed award-winning TV series directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle, with Adam Scott in the lead. Karim’s analytical piece fills the void that is often left by mainstream reviews that are mainly concerned with plot, characterization, theme, ratings and “watchability” and restricted by wordcount. In this piece, Karim meditates on the vocabulary, ideas, thematic undertones, imagery and subtexts found in the show that ultimately facilitate a theoretical and critical commentary on bigger and more pressing questions in dialogue with the work of multiple philosophers and thinkers.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions presented in this piece are the author’s own. This piece contains some spoilers.
Sufism in Cinema: The Case of Bab’Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul — by Ridade Öztürk
This article presents a discussion of key aspects of knowledge in Sufism through an analysis of the film Bab’Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul (Nacer Khemir, 2005). The dominant Western perspective argues for the necessity of a rational, objective form of knowledge which is based on logical argument and precepts. This perspective, however, fails to recognize the alternative form of experiential knowledge which lies at the heart of the Sufi tradition. In this respect, Bab’Aziz is an important film because its content and its narrative technique is an expression of certain knowledge, knowledge without doubt, and kashf, unveiling or discovery. This article compares knowledge in Sufism (Tasawwuf) to the concept of knowledge in the Western tradition, and argues for a reconsideration of the meaning of philosophy as understood by the Ancient Greeks. Originally published in Volume 23, Issue 1 of Film-Philosophy journal and republished here via CC-SA-4.0.
Gaekhir Republik: A Band Singing the Blues in Kashmir — A Short Documentary by NewsClick
Summary by NewsClick (via CC): With some intense songs about sorrow and prayer, the band Gaekhir Republik (GR) is one of the few bands that sing about the complexities of life and death in Jammu and Kashmir. Between hopelessness and violence, musicians find it hard to celebrate their art. But many like the GR are making a mark through their lyrical compositions which articulate the themes of struggle, mystery and twilight in the valley. All media embedded directly from source via Creative Commons.
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From Ghulam Nabi Doolwal to Janbaaz Kishtwari: The Journey of an Artist into the Heart of His People — An Essay by Garima Sudhan
Garima Sudhan visits legendary Kashmiri singer and musician Ghulam Nabi Doolwal’s native Kishtwar to unearth his journey and transformation into Janbaaz Kishtwari. The result is an informative essay and travelogue that intimates readers with Doolwal’s legacy as a singer, musician, poet and writer—in a piece that reflects on his enduring impact on his Kishtwar, a place that remembers him all too fondly. While focused on unravelling the personal history that created the public figure of Doolwal as Janbaaz Kishtwari, Sudhan’s essay sheds light on a collective history—set in motion by his musical stature—that the writer gathers here by taking us on an excursion through his place of residence. The memorial-as-essay is interlaced with quotes from several interviews conducted by Garima, and aimed at explaining Ghulam Nabi Doolwal’s importance and significance in the lives of those who knew him and heard him sing. While shedding light on his musical work with the Chalant, the Ghazal, and the Naat, Garima Sudhan pays equal attention to his work as a writer and a poet, and as a teacher and champion of Kashmiri music.
MUSIC FEATURE: A Song by Kristina Jacobsen Inspired by Ather Zia’s Poem “i. will. cross.” + Exclusive Interview with the Two Professors
In a rare and unprecedented instance, two professors from two different cultures meet at the crossroads of verse and song to produce a creative collaboration around the themes of Indigeneity, marginality, war, colonization, and erasure. The result is an adaptation of Professor Ather Zia’s poem “i. will. cross.” into a song composed and performed by Professor Kristina Jacobsen. Along with Kristina Jacobsen’s song recording (mixed and mastered by Drake Hardin), we reproduce Ather Zia’s poem as well as a recorded recitation by the poet (republished from Sapiens via CC BY-ND 4.0), followed by an exclusive Q&A with the two professors and a list of relevant links for those interested in their extensive work.
Books and Songs That Carried Us Through 2021 — by Inverse Contributors
As we come to the end of this difficult year and enter the new one, Inverse Journal has asked its contributors to participate in a collective piece where they share—with our readers and their fellow contributors—the one book and/or the one song that stayed with them throughout the year or during a considerable part of it. Below are entries from some of our contributors who responded to the online survey and shared their picks for this 2021 as it passes by. In a human world where catastrophe and devastation also wreak their havoc on meaning-making and signification, one imagines that books and songs are imbued with a restorative and restructuring power—with both operating within and outside of human time. It with this thought in mind that Inverse Journal presents a limited selection of such books and songs curated and picked by some of the same contributors who make this space possible.
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Inverse Journal so far
Readers from
Countries and territories
Kashmiri and international contributors
Unique readers (total)
Reads
Figures based on raw web statistics
Exhibition Review: “I am looking for you like a drone, my love” by Aziz Hazara + Unknown Carpet Makers
Amjad Majid presents a review of “I am looking for you like a drone, my love”, an exhibition showcasing work by Aziz Hazara and unknown carpet makers. Curated by Dr. David Sequeira, the exhibition is on display at the Fiona & Sidney Myer Gallery, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne from April 14 to May 21, 2022. Inverse Journal has included an independently curated visual bibliography to familiarize readers and viewers with the Afghan artist’s extensive art practice.
Dialogue in Comics: Medium-Specific Features and Basic Narrative Functions — by Kai Mikkonen
From The Narratology of Comic Art (Routledge, 2017) by Kai Mikkonen. Abstract by author: Conversation is a basic element in the medium of comics, where much of the narrative appeal is derived from the interplay between dialogue and action. The speech balloon, a favoured visual symbol for voice and utterance in the medium since the mid-twentieth century, has become a symbol for comics. In Italian, famously, the word fumetto—the word for a speech or thought balloon—also refers to the art form itself, whether in the form of a comic strip or a comic book. In fact, dialogue is such a central feature in the medium that it may sometimes be difficult to think of it as a distinct element. A character who speaks his thoughts aloud when apparently nobody is listening is a much-used convention, and many comics, for instance, ‘talking heads’ or humoristic comic strips that deliver a verbal gag, focus on speaking. Perhaps paradoxically, dialogue scenes may be more distinguishable when their use is more restricted, for instance, in comics when action is predominant and only occasionally interrupted by a scene of talk or when first-person verbal narration is predominant, as in autobiographical comics that occasionally lapse into dialogue. Republished via CC BY-NC-ND.
4 SHADOWS: A Solo Exhibition by Azim Hassan — A Kashmiri Artist Looks Back from Hangzhou, China
Inverse Journal introduces “4 Shadows”, Azim Hassan’s solo exhibition recently held at Daye Art Gallery in Hangzhou, China. The exhibition gathered ten years of Azim’s work, from the Anantnag native’s early days in Kashmir to more recent creative explorations from his years in Hangzhou.
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The Season of Transience and Fugitive Emotions: A Tribute to the Kashmiri Autumn — by Mir Yasir Mukhtar
Mir Yasir Mukhtar presents a tribute to autumn, the season that symbolizes transience and presages the renewal of life. Perhaps inadvertently, the young photographer captures the relationship and connection that the indigenous people of Kashmir have with their sites of heritage, which include famous Mughal gardens such as Nishat Bagh. Widely advertised and promoted to tourists and visitors from outside of Kashmir, this photo story quite contrarily and perhaps unintentionally depicts the ritualized bond that Kashmiris have developed with their sites of heritage, captured in this case through visuals showing the Kashmiri experience of the Nishat Gardens. Following the tradition of celebrating and rendering tribute to the fall season, Mir Yasir Mukhtar produces a concise but vastly creative text supported further by his photography to reflect on autumn in his native Kashmir.
Photo Essay: A 1950s Vintage Landmark Struggling to Stay Afloat in Srinagar’s Dalgate — by Mir Yasir Mukhtar
Mir Yasir Mukhtar returns with an important photo essay detailing the struggle of a historic barbershop—the New Rose Beauty Salon—to stay afloat in Srinagar’s Tange-adda heritage market located in Dalgate. Established in 1953, the salon is run by two brothers, who inherited it from their father and have since strived to keep it functioning after four decades of operation—having already survived August 5 while barely making it across the still ongoing pandemic.
In Memoriam: One Day in the Life of Syed Ali Shah Geelani — A Photo Series by Sagar Kaul
Taken in the winter at the beginning of 2015, Sagar Kaul presents 47 photographs documenting the day-to-day life of a man older than the partition. In doing so, Kaul brings to fore a side of Syed Ali Shah Geelani that had not been presented through image before. These visuals serve as an indelible marker of the memory that his loved ones and close associates and friends preserve forevermore. These photographs are published herein “in memoriam” to provide solace to those many in Kashmir and elsewhere who mourn his departure during these trying and difficult times.
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Book Review of Alejandro Zambra’s “Chilean Poet” (Granta Books, 2022) — by Dr. Chaandreyi Mukherjee
We kick off this new cycle of publishing with Dr. Chaandreyi Mukherjee’s book review of Alejandro Zambra’s “Chilean Poet” (Granta Books, 2022, translated by Megan McDowell). In this review, Mukherjee travels through Zambra’s text while contextualizing its importance within Chile’s history—with the necessary cultural and literary considerations that lend to the great value Zambra holds within Spanish American writing. The review succeeds in locating Zambra’s work within a larger heritage of Chilean poets and writers while also—and perhaps inadvertently—explaining the great allure of Zambra’s work for readers worldwide, including Dr. Mukherjee, whose enthusiasm is endearing to the need of such works being read far beyond their usual cultural and linguistic spaces—all the way from South Asian academic and literary circles.
Hospital — An Excerpt from Freny Manecksha’s “Flaming Forest, Wounded Valley” (Speaking Tiger, 2022)
Freny Manecksha presents an excerpt from the sixth chapter of her latest book, Flaming Forest, Wounded Valley, published earlier this year by Speaking Tiger Books. As a major portion of the chapter aptly titled “Hospital”, this excerpt Manecksha provides a thorough insight into what transpired in Kashmir’s hospitals from the 90s all the way up to 2016. Traversing a harrowing timeline full of violence, killing, injury and loss, Freny is able to recount multiple stories from the perspective of the medical professionals, victims of war, volunteers, patients and the family members who she cites and whose version of the accounts she retrieves from a wide array of published (and verified) sources and archives.
Note: This excerpt is published with the exclusive permission of the book’s author, Freny Manecksha, and its publisher, Speaking Tiger Books.
Tending a Bonsai or How to Read a Translated Text without Knowing the Original — by Mubashir Karim
In this commentary on two translations of Alejandro Zambra’s novel “Bonsai”, Mubashir Karim performs an exercise in “literary appreciation” that functions equally well as a concise comparative study of the two translations—one by Megan McDowell and the other by Carolina de Robertis. As the commentary progresses, the linguistic expression of the original novel (in Spanish) permeates into the style of writing employed by professor Karim in his deep engagement with the two translations into English by McDowell and de Robertis.
Writing all the way from Kashmir about the two translations of a celebrated novel by a Chilean writer and poet, Mubashir Karim’s commentary directly or indirectly prompts a comparison with Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali’s poem “I See Chile in My Rearview Mirror” as a second instance where Kashmir salutes Chile and Latin America by extension—perhaps because there is a similitude to be found in the experience of multiple histories by multiple subjects whose contemporaneity converges in the study and appreciation of the literary craft, linguistic barriers notwithstanding (“no obstante”).
Given the references to explicit uses of language in the novella, reader discretion is advised.
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Fluid Transgressions and Skeptical Dislocations of the Human/Animal Binary in Montaigne’s “Man is no better than the animals” — by Sakhi Thirani
Of late, within emerging environmentalist and ecological discourses, it has become a fundamental and necessary practice to question any anthropocentric views of the world that we inhabit. Such questions arise to facilitate the idea of a “multispecies world” that can be constituted by a “multispecies polity”, especially when one is reminded of Donna Haraway’s affirmation that it “matters which worlds world worlds and which stories tell stories” (Cosmopolitan Animals, vii). From this more contemporary standpoint, Sakhi Thirani’s essay acquires even greater relevance as she discusses and evaluates Michel de Montaigne’s “Man is no better than animals”— an excerpt from his “Apology for Raymond Sebond” (1580-92)—to elucidate how “Montaigne posits a fluid view of parity between humans and animals by disrupting, destabilising, and dislocating the supremacy of hegemonic human institutions of intelligence, reason as well as language via his skeptical engagement with antecedent texts.”
The fact that Montaigne presented such ideas in the 16th century is as interesting and relevant as Sakhi’s observations in her critical engagement with the French Renaissance philosopher’s writing as she relies on various theoretical and philosophical ideas and sources to give shape to ideas that transcend Montaigne’s own—and not only exist in the realm of contemporary discourses but are pertinent to discourses on “multispecies sustainability” found in First Nation and Indigenous practices. While relatively brief, Thirani’s essay maintains a complexity that can facilitate multiple conversations and invite greater inquiry into multiple subjects/topics, from “cosmopolitical ecologies”, Critical Animal Studies, and the posthumanities to the “emergence of multispecies ethnography”—with her study remaining consistently focused on Montaigne’s ““Man is no better than the animals”.
“Post-Modernism and The Theory of Episteme” by Ahmad Javaid — An Urdu to English Translation by Faizan Rashid
Faizan Rashid presents an English translation of Ahmad Javaid’s “Ma-baad Jadidiyat: Kya Anarchy Hai”—“Post-Modernism and The Theory of Episteme”—originally published in Urdu by Rekhta.org.
Tending a Bonsai or How to Read a Translated Text without Knowing the Original — by Mubashir Karim
In this commentary on two translations of Alejandro Zambra’s novel “Bonsai”, Mubashir Karim performs an exercise in “literary appreciation” that functions equally well as a concise comparative study of the two translations—one by Megan McDowell and the other by Carolina de Robertis. As the commentary progresses, the linguistic expression of the original novel (in Spanish) permeates into the style of writing employed by professor Karim in his deep engagement with the two translations into English by McDowell and de Robertis.
Writing all the way from Kashmir about the two translations of a celebrated novel by a Chilean writer and poet, Mubashir Karim’s commentary directly or indirectly prompts a comparison with Kashmiri-American poet Agha Shahid Ali’s poem “I See Chile in My Rearview Mirror” as a second instance where Kashmir salutes Chile and Latin America by extension—perhaps because there is a similitude to be found in the experience of multiple histories by multiple subjects whose contemporaneity converges in the study and appreciation of the literary craft, linguistic barriers notwithstanding (“no obstante”).
Given the references to explicit uses of language in the novella, reader discretion is advised.
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On the Conversion of the Canonical into the Popular — A Commentary by Hurmat Altaf
Hurmat Altaf explores the process that makes a canonical literary work also a popular one for the masses by evaluating the widespread popularity of Shamas Faqir and Lal Ded’s verses among the Kashmiri people.
On the Women’s Uprising in Iran: An Interview with Inshah Malik — by Lia Dekanadze
Lia Dekanadze (of the Social Justice Center in Georgia) interviews Kashmiri political theorist and gender researcher Inshah Malik about the ongoing women’s uprising in Iran that sprang into action with 22-year-old Mahsa Amin’s tragic death under police custody. Originally published on the official website of Social Justice Center, this English translation presents an extended version of the original interview in Georgian that can be accessed here. Prompted by Lia Dekanadze’s incisive questions, Inshah Malik offers multiple critical perspectives on key topics of relevance to what is currently unfolding in Iran.
On the Appropriation and Depoliticisation of the Pheran — by A. Makbool and Neelofar Gooroo
This piece by A. Makbool and Neelofar Gooroo raises important and relevant questions about what it means to wear the Kashmiri Pheran, lending particular attention to the ways in which attempts have been made at diluting the Pheran’s political symbolism over the years. Published in our Acquaintance section dedicated to opinions and perspectives, Makbool and Gooroo’s extensive think piece provides ample critique and perspective on cultural appropriation, depoliticisation, and a historical background on how the Kashmiri Pheran became more prominent among Indian wearers, many of whom remain wilfully ignorant about its political and cultural significance for Kashmiris.
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On August 5, 2019 the Indian state abrogated Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution to make Kashmir a permanent territory within the Indian Union without prior consent or consultation with the people of Kashmir. For months, the Kashmiri press, television, media, mobile, telephony, internet and other essential services and institutions were shutdown under government order while dissidents, activists, and even government-sponsored politicians were put under arrest.
It became meaningless and practically impossible to keep this journal — dedicated to contemporary culture from Kashmir and around the world — running while Kashmir was put under unprecedented siege and lockdown. This special section of the journal was born out of necessity, to compile and directly cite various articles and sources from recognized media and academic institutions about what was unfolding in a Kashmir placed under complete blackout, siege and lockdown while millions of people were kept silent.
The curated selection presents Kashmiri voices and offers a perspective on such impositions from members of the Kashmiri press, academia, independent Indian and international media through proper citation and bibliographical reference. It also includes a variety of accounts from those whose basic freedoms were taken away.
All the articles, videos, media, academic articles, and other such content are cited and linked to their original sources, since Inverse was intended to be a space of cultural engagement in the arts and humanities, with a dedicated focus on academic thinking and contemporary cultural production. All of such editorial plans became impossible, blockaded by the collosal shifts enforced upon Kashmir and its peoples.
In memory of these events — and their ongoing impact on Kashmir and its peoples — this section has become a permanent part of this journal. For legal concerns, see the Editorial Disclaimer at the bottom of each page on this platform.
Amjad Majid
Founding Editor
Inverse Journal
Ensure Press Freedom in Kashmir — Noam Chomsky, Ayesha Jalal, Tariq Ali, Hamid Dabashi and Several Prominent Figures Endorse Letter Addressing the UN and Worldwide Organizations with 450+ Signatures by Academics, Journalists, Writers, Researchers
Prominent figures from academia and worldwide press along with several researchers and scholars have endorsed a written a letter and its petition to the UN and several international organizations to demand protection and freedom of press for Kashmiri journalists “charged under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)” that “can carry jail time of two to ten years” and without bail, for doing their job as journalists reporting from and about Kashmir. The letter covers the last few years of state-sanctioned targeting of Kashmir journalists, particularly since August 5, 2019, when India revoked Articles 370 and 35A while maintaining Kashmir under a media, communications, telephonic and press lockdown that a wide majority of Kashmir observers, scholars and experts have called “a siege.” With only 2G internet and mobile telephony restored recently and the press allowed to operate under constant threat of persecution in Kashmir, a new series of cases have been filed against Kashmiri journalists through the “Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Inverse Journal has embedded this letter directly from its source and provided a series of “relevant links” embedded directly from their respective sources covering this series of events.
Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Over 170 Academics from Around the World Demand India Restore High-Speed Internet, Release Kashmiri Political Prisoners
While the world readjusts to handle the Coronavirus, Kashmir is stuck under 2G internet (which was first rolled out in 1995) and without adequate equipment and facilities. As a result, the following letter has been sent from the Kashmir Scholars Consultative and Action Network (KSCAN) and Concerned Academics & Professionals from around the world to the World Health Organization, UN Special Rapporteurs, and various international health organizations. You can view the official letter here. We have included relevant links embedded directly from the original news sources at the bottom of this letter. For more, check out our Kashmir 2019 Siege section.
A Kashmiri Heart at Siege — A Personal Account by Omair Bhat
August of 2019 became a month of insomnia, despair and nightmare-ridden sleep for most Kashmiris, and particularly for those who were stranded away from home while Kashmir was put under a media, telecommunications, internet, broadcast news and public transport blockade unshy from being a complete lockdown and siege. Kashmiri poet and writer Omair Bhat presents his personal log of the first two weeks of such restless nights and tiresome days, when desperation competed with grief and anger to suffocate people like him in an endless uncertainty.
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