I am posting on this site interviews I have done down the years with people with a stake in the Kashmir issue - mainly Kashmiris themselves, but also some of those who have gone to fight in and for Kashmir. It includes political figures as well as combatants, and people from all points of view.
The radio documentaries I have made about Kashmir, and some of the shorter radio features, can be found here - and for ease of reference they are reposted lower down this page. And the various pieces about Kashmir I contributed to BBC radios From Our Own Correspondent, are in yet another section.
The Kashmir Voices interviews posted are:
+ Asiya Andrabi, founder of the women's Islamic and separatist group Dukhtaran-e-Millat: April 2001 + Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, hereditary chief priest and leading figure in the Hurriyat Conference: April 2001 + George Fernandes, at various times India's defence minister: April 2001 + General J.R. Mukherjee, Indian army corps commander in Srinagar: April 2001 + Abdullah Muntazir, spokesman for Lashkar-e-Taiba: January 2000 + Ali Mohammad Sagar: senior figure in the National Conference and state minister: April 2001 + Syed Salahuddin, Pakistan based leader of Hizbul Mujahideen: April 2001
I am also posting below some memorable audio - songs, sounds and chants - recorded in Kashmir.
Interviews primarily about Kashmir in 1947-8 are on the Partition Voices section of the site. They are also listed here:
+ the Bali Family in Baramulla + Pran Nath Jalali on Communism within the National Conference in the 1940s + D.N. Kaul on policing in Kashmir in the late 1940s and the accession crisis + Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan about his role in triggering the Kashmir conflict in 1947 + Usha Khanna about the women's militia and the Cultural Front in 1947-8 + Abdul Ghani Lone on his memories of the turmoil in Kashmir in 1947-8 + Francis Rath on the tribal fighters' takeover of Baramulla in October-November 1947 + Sat Paul Sahni on his recollections of Kashmir in the 1940s + Mahmooda Ahmad Ali Shah and Sajida Zameer Ahmad on the Kashmir women's militia in 1947-8 + Air Marshal Arjan Singh about commanding the Ambala air base in 1947-8 + Karan Singh, the crown prince, on his memories of accession and the early stages of the Kashmir conflict + Major Ben and Marguerite Suter recalling Indian Army life in Kashmir and the Frontier in the 1940s + Leela Thompson on the invasion by armed Pakistani tribesmen in late 1947
Chants during ritual cleansing at Pir Dastgir shrine, Srinagar: 1993
I recorded this very powerful and resonant chanting on my first visit to the Kashmir Valley in, I think, the summer of 1993. The floor of the mosque was being ritually washed and cleansed after the killing of two or three young Kashmiris. They were being pursued by Indian security forces and ran into the shrine where - I was told - they were killed.
Azaadi slogans in Srinagar, 1994
Another recording from my first visit to Kashmir - adults and youngsters gathering in a street in Srinagar, in part attracted by my microphone, to chant 'azaadi', freedom, the slogan associated with the separatist movement. The photo above, by the way, is of Srinagar's magnificent Jama Masjid.
Grenade blast, Srinagar, 1995
Walking near my hotel in Srinagar, I noticed a crowd gathered and the road - a busy city centre road, Residency Road - cordoend off. I was told that an unexploded grenade had been found and was to be detonated. I started recording and within a minute or two came the blast and then the sound of a shower of fine debris landing all around.
Conch shells in Jammu at the start of the Amarnath Yatra, 1995
The Amarnath Yatra is a big Hindu pilgrimage which starts from Jammu and heads to a cave high in the Kashmir Valley where a naturally occurring ice pillar or shiva lingam is venerated. At times the yatra has been attended by high security and there were occasional attacks on the pilgrims,. This recording was made as the yatris or pilgrims were heading off from Jammu at the commencement of the annual pilgrimage in 1995.