Best Lawyers in Chandigarh Kashmir resonates on Day 1 of Mela Ghadri Babeyan Da

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, October 31

The Kashmir issue strongly resonated on the first day of the 28th Mela Ghadri Babeyan Da that began here today. Author Arundhati Roy released the Punjabi translation of her acclaimed novel “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness” (titled “Darbar-I-Khushiyan Bepanah” translated by author/journalist Daljit Ami).

The first day of the event also saw the release of a “fact-finding report” on Kashmir by a five-member team of National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) among other women groups, which visited Kashmir from September 17 to 21. The report was tabled by NFIW secretary Kawaljit Kaur Dhillon.

Roy, while speaking on the Kashmir issue, said, “The only truth you can tell about Kashmir is in fiction. Fiction is truth… There are many things you can’t say in non-fiction. For 30 years people have fought, negotiations have happened. The air is full of terror. You cannot tell this story through reports of journalism, human rights reports, end notes or foot notes.”

She said, “More than half of the book is about Kashmir. The book wasn’t a product. It is a way for me to make sense of the world. An army officer’s light banter and conversations with the locals are laden with terror. When he jokes, they have to laugh. For them jokes are scary, mistakes and gifts are scary. These aren’t human rights violations. Only through fiction can this vulnerability be projected.”

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