Abstract
Research has shown that there has been severe disruption in the educational sector in Kashmir post-1989 (the year Kashmiri unrest erupted). Inhibiting problems include the destruction of school buildings, parents’ fear of sending their children to school, the recruitment of youth into armed groups, the economic decline of households, and forced displacement. This article examines the challenge posed by conditions of protracted conflict for young people and national education systems, based on a case study of Kashmir, India. The article has a twofold objective. First, it analyses how ongoing conflicts such as that in Kashmir impinge on both youth and education, and considers why it is necessary to engage substantively with national educational systems (through frameworks like Education for Peace) to promote transformative dialogue and sustainable peace. Second, it explores how contact-based, participatory models of education for peace (such as the Hum Kadam programme spearheaded by the non-governmental organisation Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace [WISCOMP] in Kashmir) can play a transformative role in divided societies, specifically in Kashmir and broadly in all situations of protracted religious and cultural conflict. Most importantly, it supports the rationale that spaces for dialogue in situations of protracted conflict are critical for making and maintaining peace.
Résumé
Éducation pour la paix via le dialogue transformateur : perspective du Cachemire – La recherche constate que le secteur éducatif du Cachemire (Inde) connaît de graves perturbations depuis 1989 (année de l’apparition des troubles dans cette région). Parmi les problèmes sources de paralysie figurent la destruction de bâtiments scolaires, la crainte des parents d’envoyer leurs enfants à l’école, le recrutement de jeunes dans les groupes armés, l’affaiblissement économique des ménages et les déplacements forcés. Cet article explore à partir d’une étude de cas sur le Cachemire le défi que représentent les conditions d’un conflit prolongé pour les jeunes et pour les systèmes nationaux d’éducation. L’auteure poursuit un double objectif. Elle analyse d’une part comment les conflits actuels tel celui du Cachemire affectent à la fois la jeunesse et l’éducation, et examine pourquoi il est nécessaire de s’engager activement dans les systèmes éducatifs nationaux (au moyen de structures telles qu’Éducation pour la paix) pour stimuler le dialogue transformateur et la paix durable. Elle explore d’autre part comment les modèles d’éducation à la paix participatifs et fondés sur les rencontres (par exemple le programme Hum Kadam dirigé au Cachemire par l’organisation non gouvernementale WISCOMP [Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace/Femmes en sécurité, gestion des conflits et paix]) peuvent jouer un rôle transformateur dans les sociétés divisées, en particulier dans cette région et plus globalement dans toutes les situations de conflit religieux et culturel qui perdurent. Enfin et surtout, elle soutient l’argument selon lequel les espaces de dialogue en situation de conflit prolongé sont décisifs pour instaurer et maintenir la paix.
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Notes
The overall region of Kashmir is currently divided into three administrative areas (administered by India, Pakistan and China respectively). The Kashmir Valley is located in the state of Jammu and Kashmir (which also includes Ladakh), administered by the government of India. The state has three ethnically clustered geographical regions: Dogra Hindu-majority Jammu, Muslim-majority Kashmir, and Tibetan Buddhist-majority Ladakh.
Malini Parthasarthy, reporting on incidents of stone throwing, states, “While stone pelting has become a routine feature of street protests in Srinagar since the summer of 2008, it had revived with particular intensity after April, when three youths were alleged to have been killed in a fake encounter in Machhil. The accidental death of a schoolboy, Tufail Mattoo, as a result of teargas shelling on June 11 was the apparent flashpoint setting the Valley afire as mass protests erupted all over. Waves of stone pelting protesters descended on the streets of Srinagar, defying curfew orders. As security forces retaliated by firing on these teenagers armed only with rocks, those killed in the firing were immediately appropriated and anointed as shaheed or martyrs to the separatist cause, thereby infusing fresh dynamism into the separatist agitation” (Parthasarathy 2010).
See Lt Gen Satish Dua in Baweja (2016).
I conducted field research in March 2014, resulting in the publication of a monograph entitled Connectors and Dividers: The Challenges and Prospects for Conflict Transformation in Kashmir and Sri Lanka (Singh and Nissanka 2015).
The Indian Express spoke to more than 70 men and women aged 17–30 across four districts that comprise South Kashmir (Subramanian and Masood 2016).
Somini Sengupta, reporting on the Amarnath land dispute, states that it “centers on a Hindu … cave shrine, known as Amarnath and situated at an altitude of more than 12,000 feet, [that] contains a stalagmite of ice that Hindus consider a representation of Shiva, one of their most important gods” (Sengupta 2008). On 26 May 2008, the government of India and the state government of Jammu and Kashmir reached an agreement to transfer 99 acres of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) in the main Kashmir valley to set up temporary shelters and facilities for Hindu pilgrims. The Kashmiri Muslims protested against this land transfer, while the decision to transfer land received support from the Hindu-dominated Jammu region. Sengupta notes that even amidst bitter conflict, also “Hindu pilgrims have always trekked to Amarnath” (ibid.).
Lydia Polgreen, reporting on the 2010 protests, states that protests were sparked by the killing of Tufail Mattoo, a 17-year old boy who was heading “home from a tutoring center where he was studying for the medical entrance exam” (Polgreen 2010). “A tear gas canister fired from close range bashed a hole in his skull. He died almost instantly” (ibid.). His death, along with a spate of other killings, spiralled into a series of protests in the Kashmir Valley in 2010.
From the standpoint of India-Pakistan relations, Kashmir is a disputed territory, whose accession to India is disputed by Pakistan. From the perspective of Centre-State relations in India, the conflict is a dispute over Kashmir’s autonomy.
Hum kadam (a Hindi expression) roughly translates into “walking together for peace”. It literally means “co-travellers”.The Hum Kadam programme, which was launched in 2012, is an Education for Peace initiative spearheaded by a non-governmental organisation, Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP), with support of partners in Delhi and Kashmir. The organisation’s director, Meenakshi Gopinath, states: “From the beginning, WISCOMP decided that this programme would not be instrumentalist; rather it would invite educational institutions to provide spaces – for dialogues, for ruminations, for healing, for the nonviolent transformation of conflict – which could, in the long run, unleash processes of ‘positive peace’” (DasGupta and Sewak 2015, p. 44).
This argument is drawn from earlier work (Singh and Nissanka 2015), where I argue that historical memories, the nature of the State and asymmetry are critical indicators of conflict in Kashmir. Further, all three have contributed to feelings of de-humanisation, pain, humiliation, insecurity and lack of trust. These factors are key to understanding not just the political dimensions of this conflict, but also its social and psychological ones.
For details, please refer to Singh and Nissanka (2015, pp. 49–50).
The interviews were conducted in both Hindi and English for the purpose of the monograph. The parts of the interview which were in Hindi were then translated by the author into English (Singh and Nissanka 2015).
Esther Yogev argues that the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict exists in a psychological context that influences its dynamics and has been an impediment to the attainment of a truly peaceful resolution” (Yogev 2010, p. 80). She claims that collective identity and the image of the other are critical impediments to peace education in Israel. Her argument is highly relevant to the context of Kashmir.
The National Curriculum Framework (NCERT 2005) is one of the four National Curriculum Frameworks published in 1975, 1988, 2000 and 2005 by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in India. Under the NCF 2005, 21 National Focus Group Position Papers were developed, among which the Position Paper on Education for Peace (NCERT 2006) is the most pertinent for the purpose of this paper.
The Naya Kashmir (New Kashmir) is a memorandum which was submitted by Sheikh Abdullah, the leader of Kashmir's leading political party, the National Conference, to Maharajah Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir State in 1944. It was the outline of a plan to convert Jammu and Kashmir State from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional democracy, with the Maharajah remaining as the Head of the State. A detailed economic plan for the development of Jammu and Kashmir State was a part of this memorandum. It was subsequently adopted by the National Conference as its manifesto. The Naya Kashmir document was far ahead of its time, and provided a blueprint for a welfare state.
Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP) is an initiative of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility, which was established with funds from the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in 1989. WISCOMP primarily works in areas concerning Women, Peace and Security and has been a pioneer in foregrounding the discourse in South Asia. According to its own mission statement on its website, “WISCOMP draws on innovative and experiential pedagogies that synergize research, training, and practice. These are used to build linkages between individuals who work in the fields of education, gender studies, peacebuilding, public policy, law, and the creative arts” (http://wiscomp.org/our-mission/ [accessed 12 December 2017]).
WISCOMP has been involved in peacebuilding projects in Jammu and Kashmir since 2000. The Hum Kadam intervention is WISCOMP’s third major project in Jammu and Kashmir. The first project was the formation of the Athwaas group in the region, which led to the establishment of Samanbals and the Conflict Transformation Programme. Athwaas is a Kashmiri word for handshake/greeting, and Samanbal is a Kashmiri word for “safe space for meeting”. Athwaas was a regional group (since 2001) comprising Kashmiri women from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and faith traditions, who held divergent political opinions. In 2003, members of Athwaas established Samanbals to provide “safe spaces” for conflict resolution for various groups located in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and engaged women and young people in activities which brought them into the public sphere. The Conflict Transformation Workshops, spanning a decade (2001–2012), brought together the youth of India and Pakistan for dialogues-cum-trainings to address cross-border conflicts in a more constructive manner and to create safe, catalytic spaces for trust-building and dialogic processes (for more details, see Kaul 2015, p. 11). These predecessor programmes have informed the strategic objectives and pedagogy of the Hum Kadam project.
John Lederach states that “conflict impacts us personally, relationally, structurally and culturally”. He states that the “personal aspect of the conflict refers to the changes affected in and desired for the individual. The relational dimension represents changes in face-to-face relationships” (Lederach 2003, p. 23). He further states that a “structural dimension highlights the underlying causes of conflicts and patterns and changes it brings about in social, political and economic structures”.(ibid., p. 24). And that the “cultural dimension refers to changes produced by conflict in the broadest patterns of group life, including identity and the ways that culture affects patterns of response and conflict.”(ibid., p. 24). This analysis of the impact of conflict is pertinent, as it provides entry points for intervention design in a long-term peacebuilding approach. Drawing on the works of Lederach (2003), the peacebuilding framework aims to address transformation (through change goals) at personal, relational, structural and cultural levels, given that conflict impacts at all these four levels as explained above. Thus peacebuilding frameworks are built on underlying normative goals of change.
WISCOMP Director Meenakashi Gopinath states: “The word ‘constituencies’ alluded to spaces – that were safe and enabling – where the transformation of beliefs and attitudes could translate into action for a ‘just peace’” (DasGupta and Sewak 2015, p. 38).
Kaul (2015) recognises that a key limitation of this survey was that it was conducted mainly in the urban areas of Srinagar and Delhi. The sample was drawn largely from urban private schools in Delhi and Kashmir.
This survey was conducted over the period September–October 2012, in Srinagar and outlying Budgam village. A total of 27 students were interviewed, of which 93 per cent had grown up in Jammu and Kashmir. For the same survey 19 teachers were interviewed (Chitralekha et al. 2015). I recognise that this sample size is small for baseline surveys, however the limitation is explained by the challenge of gaining access to schools, entry points, and by the general context of conflict. By contrast, the Delhi baseline assessment (Chitralekha et al. 2015), as cited by Kaul (2015), surveyed 77 students across two schools and one college. The survey of teachers and principal drew on interviews with 18 teachers and 6 principals from 8 different schools (cited in Kaul 2015).
The term “half-widow” applies to women whose husbands have disappeared and who do not know whether their husband is alive or dead.
A Kashmiri pandit is a Hindu belonging the Brahmin community (caste category) in Kashmir.
Abhishek Saha, reporting on Kunan and Poshpora, states, “On the night of February 23, 1991, personnel of the 4 Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army cordoned off the two villages Kunan and Poshpora in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district during an anti-insurgency operation and allegedly gangraped at least 23 women – with some estimates placing it at around 40” (Saha 2016).
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Singh, S. Education for peace through transformative dialogue: Perspectives from Kashmir. Int Rev Educ 64, 43–63 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-017-9697-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-017-9697-3