The recent Iftar gathering, where Iltija Mufti and the sons of Omar Abdullah sat together in harmony, has torn the carefully crafted masks off Kashmir’s dynastic politics. Once again, the people of the Valley are left staring at a bitter truth: the elite fight no real battles amongst themselves. They only manufacture divisions for the public to consume, act upon, and suffer from.

For decades, Kashmir’s political landscape has been dominated by the two royal houses of the Valley: Abdullahs and the Muftis. Publicly, they perform animosity, fuel rivalries, and claim ideological distance. Privately, their ties are cordial, familial, and even affectionate. What took place during that Iftar was not just a reunion over food – it was a public unveiling of a private understanding. And that understanding is simple: power belongs to the few; emotions are left to the masses.

While the sons of Omar and the daughter of Mehbooba break bread and laugh together, their followers outside the gilded walls of political privilege hurl abuses at each other, carry the burden of polarised identities, and suffer the consequences of divisive rhetoric. The elite are playing chess; the people are the pawns.

© Kashmir Images