How Violence
Has Changed
Kashmiri Society
By Ershad Mahmud
31 August, 2005
Countercurrents.org
Much
has been written about the political and legal aspects of the Kashmir
issue, but little material is available on how violence has altered
the social fabric of the Indian-administered territory in recent decades.
It almost seems a mystery how a once docile people have turned violent.
The present generation -- "the children of war" --knows little
about their ancient Sufi culture and Kashmir's high level of tolerance.
The people are living under tremendous stress, and this has deeply changed
their cultural and social values.
The confrontation
between the militants and Indian forces has resulted in massive human
rights violations, in which there is no letup. Young men are the target
of both the militants and the trigger-happy troops. The state forces
are involved in a process of elimination of those youths they consider
potential militants. On the other hand, the militants persuade young
men to join their ranks to fight the state forces.
Women and children
are the ultimate victims of this turmoil. Children are 38 percent of
the state's population. Out of these, 5-6 percent are either orphans
or neglected children. There are a large number of families which have
lost one or more members, without there being a financial support system
for those families which have lost earning members. An estimated 50,000
orphans and 25,000 widows are the product of the conflict in Kashmir.
The widows and children of slain militants find it particularly difficult
to survive. Neighbours and friends, at times even relatives, are reluctant
to support them for fear of the troops and police.
Raped girls are
another story. Few of them can expect to find men willing to marry them,
with the rest left unable to rebuild their shattered lives. This coincides
with the growing trend of late marriage among Kashmiri men. Single men
in their late 30s are more common than ever before. Many raped women
have been disowned by their families because of social disgrace. This
leaves some living on dole from social organisations, if they cannot
find even menial jobs. Others are eventually forced into prostitution,
or find their way into the drugs trade, which is now a booming business
particularly the more seriously affected areas of the territory.
One of the worst
dimensions of this conflict is the displacement of Pandits from the
Valley. About 250,000 Pundits have had to leave their homes in the Valley,
which has a Muslim majority, to take refuge in Hindu-majority Jammu
and places in India. Very few Pandits have had a chance to revisit their
homes during the last decade. Their children are growing up in alien
surroundings, and have few memories of the Valley. Worse, some of them
have become part of extremist Hindu groups, and have developed a deep
hostility towards Muslims and Pakistan. More than 5,000 Pandits still
manage to live in the Valley. A few hundred quietly came back during
the last couple of years with the help of neighbours and friends.
The community used
to play a significant part in different spheres of life in the Valley
and, barring a few exceptions, the people deeply feel the Pandits' vacuum.
All sides in the Valley, from the nationalists and the Hurriyat Conference
to the state government, favour the Pandits' right to return to their
homes, but none of them is in a position to ensure them protection if
they decide to come back.
Part of the reason
why the violence is going on is that the different stakeholders in Kashmir,
including the armed forces and non-state actors, are believed to have
developed a commercial interest in the continuation of the conflict.
The forces are involved in illegal businesses and in extortion from
people. On the other hand, there are many Kashmiri groups which receive
money in the name of the Kashmir cause all over the world but rarely
share it with the suffering people. Pro-Indian local political leaders
use their position to receive benefits from New Delhi. Government servants
and contractors have made big money, while others make millions of rupees
in black money or in hawala pickings.
Accurate casualty
figures are the prime causality in this war.
Pro-independence
groups say 100,000 people have died since the beginning of the conflict
in 1989, while the Indian government puts the figure at no more then
45,000. There is also a dispute on the total number of Indian forces
deployed in Kashmir. The Indian Home Ministry puts it at about 350,000,
while pro-independence elements maintain they are over 600,000. Likewise,
it is also impossible to get exact information about the total number
of active militants.
Leading Indian human
rights activist Gautam Navlakha says that there were an estimated 300
fighters in 1989, facing 36,000 Indian troops. The number of troops
deployed in the territory has now crossed the 500,000 mark, even though
the number of fighters operating in Kashmir has gone down from a high
of 10,000 in 1992-93 to 3,000 now. Thus, it is really difficult for
any independent observer to get to the truth as far as figures are concerned.
How to address the
problems of the territory? To begin with, New Delhi must accept, at
least symbolically, the disputed status of the Kashmir state. It can
win the support and confidence of Kashmiris to help move forward the
ongoing peace process with Pakistan.
Talking to this
writer, Rajmohan Gandhi, a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, declared that
India would first of all have to recognise that it has not fulfilled
its commitments to Kashmiris. This kind of confession can itself have
the potential of bringing about a transformation of the situation. It
is extremely important to revive the shaken confidence of Kashmiris.
Meanwhile, there
is a strong need for a follow-up on the bus service with a series of
other Kashmir-specific CBMs for the reduction of alienation in the ordinary
people in the territory and for the creation in them of a sense of ownership
in the peace process.
Ershad Mahmud is
an Islamabad based writer and researcher. He recently visited Srinagar
and Jammu.
Email: [email protected]