The Other Movement: Women’s Activism in Kashmir

Abstract

Kashmiri women continue to be portrayed unidimensionally by politicians, journalists and academics. While mainstream politicians in India portray them as shackled by a lack of opportunities in life because of the “backwardness” and violence in Jammu and Kashmir, journalists and academics have largely limited their portrayal of Kashmiri women to victims of violence (especially sexual violence and the loss of male family members to conflict). Both these portrayals are attempts to pigeonhole the complex lived experiences of Kashmiri women into the “oppressed or emancipated” duality created by Western academia. When nuanced representations of Kashmiri women (rarely) appear, they are authored by Kashmiri women themselves. In academia, the work of Nyla Ali Khan, Shazia Malik and others has attempted to site the activism of Kashmiri women historically into the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir through the twentieth century. The work of Ather Zia, Insha Malik, Aaliya Anjum and others, has sought to include the voices of Kashmiri women in the construction of narratives about them in politics, society and the media. This paper attempts to represent the wider environment of women’s activism in Kashmir, looking at it as a movement of women from diverse economic, religious and educational backgrounds. It looks at the strategy of research and recording of rights violations, collectivisation of women, grassroots action and public protest adopted by Kashmiri women activists and how it interacts with a militaristic hyper-masculinised environment and deepening State control. The paper includes interviews with Sikh, Sunni and Shia Muslim, Kashmiri Pandit, Gujjar and Pahari women activists.