Jammu, Sept. 9 -- Chief spokesperson of National conference and MLA zadibal Tanvir Sadiq's recent statement is not merely ignorant; it is profoundly insulting to the dignity, memory and historical identity of Kashmiris. The backlash it has provoked across sections of Kashmir society is therefore hardly surprising.
The deeper problem, however, is not one ill-considered statement by one National Conference leader. It reflects a much larger political habit: the attempt to present the history of Kashmir through the narrow prism of the Abdullah family and the National Conference, as though Kashmir's identity, culture and political consciousness began with Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
Kashmiris were elegantly, confidently and decently dressed deca...