In Kashmir, ‘Conscious Music’ Tests India’s Limits on Speech

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In Kashmir, ‘Conscious Music’ Tests India’s Limits on Speech

Sarfaraz Javaid lives in Kashmir. The Muslim-majority area is in the Himalaya Mountains. The area has been divided between India and Pakistan since 1947. People living there have faced many years of conflict, military presence and crackdowns.

Javaid is among a group of artists in Kashmir who are forming a new musical tradition. They call it "conscious music."

The music mixes Sufi rock with hip-hop music. Sufism is a form of Muslim belief.

Javaid moves his body to the sound of the guitar. His voice rings out through the forest: "What kind of soot¹ has shrouded² the sky? It has turned my world dark...Why has the home been entrusted³ to strangers?"

Javaid is a poet like his father and grandfather. His song is called "Khuaftan Baange" – Kashmiri for "the call to night's prayer."

"I just express myself and scream, but when harmony is added, it becomes a song," said Javaid.

The new music often includes religion indirectly⁴. The hidden religious ideas are meant to get around measures that restrict speech in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The restrictions⁵ have led many poets and singers to limit what they wish to say.

The music also seeks to bridge tensions between Muslim tradition and the modern world in an area where many people are conservative.

Kashmir has a tradition of spoken poetry that is hundreds of years old. It is heavily influenced by Islam. After a rebellion against Indian rule broke out in 1989, poetic⁶ descriptions of freedom were heard from the loudspeakers at Muslim religious centers. Poems based on historical Islamic events were sung at the burials of fallen rebels.

Twenty years of fighting left tens of thousands of civilians⁷, rebels and government forces dead before the armed struggle eased. Unarmed mass demonstrations⁸ took place in 2008 and 2010. Around that time, Kashmir also saw the rise of protest music in English-language hip-hop and rap. It was a new kind of resistance music.

Singer-songwriter Roushan Illahi performs under the name MC Kash. His angry music has influenced young people fighting India's sovereignty over the area.

Kash's songs got dangerously close to sedition⁹ – the crime of saying, writing or doing something that urges people to disobey their government. It is illegal to question India's territorial¹⁰ claims to the area.

Police questioning pushed Kash to a point where he almost stopped making music.

Tensions rose in the area in 2016 when Indian troops put down another massive public uprising, leading to a renewed militancy¹¹. Three years later, in 2019, India canceled the area's partial self-rule. It also put in place severe restrictions on communications, including the press and other forms of free expression.

The crackdown that began in 2019 has continued. But many artists continue playing the music that made them famous. Many of their songs are widely shared on social media. "Conscious music" has grown further as artists more recently began including Urdu and Kashmiri song words called lyrics¹².

A group of young artists gathered recently with musician Zeeshan Nabi in Srinagar, Kashmir's main city. They debated the hidden meanings and religious imagery in their work.

Arif Farooq is a hip-hop artist who performs under the name of Qafilah. Religious symbolism, Qafilah said, is a creative device that represents Kashmir's pain and avoids punishment from the government.

"You want to steal, but you don't want to be caught," Qafilah said.

On a recent night, the artist behind the song "Khuaftan Baange," sat at the edge of Srinagar's Dal Lake. He sang a song for his homeland.

The sun dropped behind the mountains and a light rain began to fall. He ended his song by saying the names of disappeared people. A distant family member was among the names.

"I reflect what I see," Javaid said. "I see pain, agony and loss."

Words in This Story

conscious –adj. able to understand what is going on around you; awake

soot –n. a black material that results from burning something

shrouded - adj. hidden or covered

poet –n. a person who writes poems, an artistic¹³ form of writing

harmony –n. a combination of different musical notes played at the same time that produces a pleasing sound

sovereignty –n. a country's independent power and right to govern itself

reflect –v. to show the image of something

agony –n. extreme mental for physical point

1 soot   

n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟

参考例句：

• Soot is the product of the imperfect combustion of fuel.煤烟是燃料不完全燃烧的产物。
• The chimney was choked with soot.烟囱被煤灰堵塞了。

2 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

9 sedition   

n.煽动叛乱

参考例句：

• Government officials charged him with sedition.政府官员指控他煽动人们造反。
• His denial of sedition was a denial of violence.他对煽动叛乱的否定又是对暴力的否定。

10 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

11 militancy   

n.warlike behavior or tendency

参考例句：

• Full of militancy and revolutionary ardour, the people of all nationalities in the country are working hard for the realization of the four modernizations. 全国各族人民意气风发， 斗志昂扬，为实现四个现代化而奋战。
• The seniority system is another factor that leads to union militancy. 排资论辈制度也是导致工会好斗争的另一因素。

12 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

13 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。