Mr Hoskote, have you visited Kashmir recently?

2024-02-24

Ranjit Hoskote, the famous art critic, poet ,writer wrote an amazing piece on Gaza and the humanitarian tragedy unfolding there. It was a piece which broke my heart, truly, as it brought out in sharp relief the incredible carnage taking place with impunity and for days on end. But then he interlinked Gaza with Kashmir. And that was something which he did casually, as if he was duty-bound to do so, as a fact. And I was grieved that someone so sensitive and aware, could also be so frivolous, so tone-deaf. And suddenly I realised how muc...

But then he interlinked Gaza with Kashmir.

And that was something which he did casually, as if he was duty-bound to do so, as a fact. And I was grieved that someone so sensitive and aware, could also be so frivolous, so tone-deaf. And suddenly I realised how much his words were artifice, played to a gallery, which would anyway cheer him along.

It disturbs me that poets, writers, thinkers find it expedient to bring in Kashmir in all narratives of torture, pain, without delving deeper into the principal issues, without historical perspective, without even trying to find what the present reality is, the truth of the ongoing narrative. This casual interlinking, using Kashmir as common coinage is something which truly disturbs me. Hence this poem.

Read the incredibly sensitive essay here -

https://scroll.in/article/1063846/ranjit-hoskote-in-our-interconnected-world-gaza-is-everywhere

If you liked this poem, consider listening to these other poems on the meaning and price of freedom -