Divided In Exile

Born in 1936 in a middle class family at Kaw Mohalla, Khanyar in Srinagar, the poet’s life has been tumultuous and “unsettled”.

He is livingat Rawalpindi, Pakistan in a self-imposed exilewith his wife and four daughterswhile his other two daughters and two sons, all married, live in Srinagar. His another son, who was a militant, was killed in a inter-group clash and one had died a natural death in his childhood.

During his stay in Srinagar, Bhatserved many government departments. He also worked at Radio Kashmir but having “disagreements” with the establishment he resigned from that job and devoted his time exclusively to his writing.

The contemporary poets in Kashmir consider Mushtaq Kashmiri a“reformist with strong religious leanings.” His first book, Shore Mehshar (the clamor of the Judgement day) was published in June1970.He mostly writes in Kashmiri but also ocassionally in Urdu as well.Kashmiri’s writings include a huge collection on social issues written in the context of religion. He also writes about contemporary issues with many poems about turmoil and killings in Kashmir. more