Unholy Jihad: A True Story from Kashmir

by Ajay K. Raina

Use of religion to achieve political ambitions is nothing new; religion, as a tool, has been used for centuries and all across the globe. We may call them extremists or fringe elements or crusaders, the fact remains that religion-based motivation to wage a war has been part of modern history of humankind. Jihad, as per Islamic belief is supposed to be a struggle towards self-betterment by each individual as also a holy war when the faith is in jeopardy and needs to be safeguarded. It is, by no stretch of imagination, is an act of aggression though vested quarters have been preaching skewed interpretations of the same with underlying hidden motives of all kinds.
While it is now well-established that the highly publicised word, Kashmiriyat, is nothing but a political invention of mid 1970s, the life in Kashmir Valley has always been dictated by its majority since 14th Century. There has, however, always existed a fine ‘quantity-quality’ balance between two communities with a small community of Kashmiri Pandits invariably holding high offices and brute majority of Muslims dictating the social life. At a practical level, it boiled down to the inter-dependence between the two. That delicate balance, too, was tampered with when Pakistan-sponsored terrorism arrived in the Valley. Killings and rapes of minority community then saw the sixth mass exodus from the Valley over as many centuries. The fire, so cleverly ignited by the Pakistani agencies who left no stone unturned in selling the idea of Islam being in danger and Jihad as an obligation to the Kashmiri Muslims, however, soon started scorching the Kashmir itself.
This story is an effort to showcase what happened and how did it happen.

391 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2022

Reviews

[yoursbibliophilic · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Unholy Jihad: A True Story from Kashmir” by Ajay K. Raina SM presents this novel "based on the true story of a terrorist, Ghulam Nabi Jaan, from Tral in Kashmir. All other characters involved in field operations being conducted by Pakistan’s ISI, too, did exist. However, creative liberty has been taken to make the story readable and convey the moot point about ‘Mullah-Masjid-Misguided minds’ situation in the Kashmir Province of Jammu and Kashmir". Raina elucidate not only how jihadist ideology takes hold in fragile communities but also how ordinary individuals respond with courage, despair, complicity, or resistance. The story set against the volatile backdrop of Kashmir in the late 20th century, when militancy and religious extremism transformed the socio-political landscape of the region. The main characters of the story illuminate the human dimension of Kashmir’s conflict. Nabi Jaan epitomizes the plight of the Kashmiri everyman caught between personal morality and the seductions of radicalism but his wife Shreen represents resilience, domestic strength, and the often-overlooked suffering of women in conflict zones; Other characteristics include Kuldeep Singh highlights the soldier’s moral burden represents fading wisdom and moderation; Master Ghani is a politico-religious influencer in Kashmir’s shifting landscape, highlights that militancy was not sustained by guns alone but by the manipulation of thought, where teachers and preachers could become the most dangerous propagators of conflict; Mustafa embodies destructive ideology. Together, they create a mosaic of perspectives that resist simplification, portraying Kashmir not in binaries of good and evil, but as a contested human space shaped by conflicting loyalties, fears, and ideals.The author reconstructs events through interwoven perspectives—ordinary families, militants, victims, and state actors—capturing how personal lives are disrupted by larger political and religious upheavals. Through a chronological unfolding, the novel blends historical realism with dramatized storytelling, offering both immediacy and reflection.