The graphic novelist Malik Sajad's debut graphic novel Munnu, inspired by events from the author's life, is set amidst the unfolding history of Kashmir since the 1990s. Munnu, the alter ego of the book’s protagonist, Sajad, grows up as a member of the "conflict generation"—people who have only ever known conflict, or a brief armistice in violence, but never complete peace. Curfews, crackdowns, disappearances, assaults, barbed wire and the daily occurrences of military aggression are presented as inescapable facts of the Kashmiri experience. The first drawing that Munnu perfects, drawing praise from his friends, is that of an AK-47.
Sajad draws Munnu and other Kashmiris as hangul deer (the Kashmir stag)—a critically endangered species whose habitat has been destroyed because of the frequent military activity in the region. In a journey similar to the author’s, Munnu becomes a political cartoonist, using art to reveal the plight of Kashmiri citizens. The following excerpt from the chapter Installation Art revolves around Munnu's visit to Delhi to exhibit his art. During this time, a series of bomb blasts in markets around Delhi whips the population into a fervor. Consequently, Munnu is interrogated and harassed by the denizens of an internet cafe and the local police on the basis of his ethnicity.
Price: Rs599, Published by HarperCollins under the imprint 4th Estate.