KASHMIR

In his latest book, 'Kashmir: Lore, Lies and Lament', Avtar Mota moves beyond the conventional political narratives and recovers the wisdom of Lal Ded, the fourteenth-century mystic, through India's Bhakti Movement with Trika. His explorations of Buddhism's decline in Kashmir, Tilakacharya patronised by Sultan Zain ul Abidin, the Mahabharata's ancient associations with the region and the historical Kashmir-Taxila axis illuminate the valley's place within wider civilisational networks. His engagement with Samad Mir and his literary legacy is something exceptional. The book also rescues overlooked social histories from oblivion, notably that of Srinagar's Parsi community. Mota's perceptive anecdotes and incisive humour capture the contradictions, eccentricities and everyday realities of Kashmiri society. His reflections on the Shri Pratap Singh Museum highlight the urgent need for informed cataloguing and labelling of cultural artefacts on display. At its emotional core lies the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 and the enduring anguish of exile, the loss of ancestral homes and familiar neighbourhoods. Drawing on scholarship, literary sensitivity, personal observation, and intellectual independence, this collection challenges distorted narratives, recovers neglected voices, and questions what happens when a civilisation forgets its inheritance.