Someone has challenged me for writing about Kashmir: what could I possibly know? No one knows better than me how little I understand about any single country. Even my own. Politics, economics, history, culture & the interactions of all these are immensely complex & when you go to study them, immensely daunting. But since we’re all human, there are some big-time commonalities. Of the fundamental kind.
I try not to be glib or pretentious & I work very hard to get the story straight. I’m not talking mainly to Kashmiris who don’t need my analyses & don’t want my opinions. But I do want them to know their work is paying off & they are educating people like myself in the importance & justice of their struggle. Mostly, I’m trying to unravel the basics for human rights activists who will support the Kashmiri freedom struggle if they understand what’s going on & I’m trying to collaborate with Kashmiri activists in building active solidarity. After 50 years of working at it, building solidarity & opposition to war, occupation, & genocide is something I know plenty about. I’m from the school that says “an injury to one is an injury to all.” If you don’t like it, you can lump it.