Skip to main content
Book cover

Minorities and Populism – Critical Perspectives from South Asia and Europe pp 277–286Cite as

The Myth of Empowerment: Gender, Conflict, and ‘Development’ in Kashmir

  • 353 Accesses

Part of the Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations book series (PPCE,volume 10)

Abstract

This paper attempts to look at the discourse of development and empowerment in a conflict zone like Kashmir to explore how such narratives are employed by the state to suppress people’s resistance. Kashmir has been noted as one of the longest running ‘disputes’ between India and Pakistan following the Partition of the subcontinent in 1947—a narrative that ignores the centrality of Kashmir and Kashmiris to the conundrum. This paper brings forth India’s nation-building exercise in Kashmir, often hinged on the discourse of development, to show how gender and conflict intersect with violence being central to state control. It looks into women’s empowerment narrative propagated by the state, presenting itself as a saviour of the otherwise ‘oppressed’ women. In doing so, the paper highlights how such empowerment does not translate into a life of dignity for the women. It brings forth women’s subversion of statist impositions to participate in resistance as they demand their right to a national imaginary of their own.

Keywords

  • Gender
  • Empowerment
  • Violence
  • Kashmir
  • India

Editor’s note: Samreen Mushtaq’s piece was written and submitted before August 05, 2019, when Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was struck down, dissolving the earlier statehood and semi-autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir in relation to the Republic of India.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-34098-8_19
  • Chapter length: 10 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-030-34098-8
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   159.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Fazal, Minority Nationalisms in South Asia (ed.), p. 127.

  2. 2.

    Kazi, Between Democracy and Nation, p. xv.

  3. 3.

    Singh, ‘Crisis of National Unity in India: Punjab, Kashmir, and the northeast’, p. 256.

  4. 4.

    Kaldor, cited in Kazi, Between Democracy and Nation, p. vii-x)

  5. 5.

    Muller, ‘Parsing Populism’, p. 83.

  6. 6.

    Kaul, ‘India’s obsession with Kashmir: Democracy, gender, (anti-) nationalism’, p. 128.

  7. 7.

    Ibid, p. 131.

  8. 8.

    Tickner, Gendering World Politics, p. 49.

  9. 9.

    Giles and Hyndman, Sites of Violence, p. 22.

  10. 10.

    Cock, ‘Keeping the fires burning’, p. 52.

  11. 11.

    Menon, Seeing Like a Feminist, p. 52.

  12. 12.

    The International Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-Administered Kashmir and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, Structures of Violence, p. 14.

  13. 13.

    During these operations which are a part of the counter-insurgency process, the state forces lay siege to an area and then proceed for a house-to-house search, looking for weapons and/or armed fighters hiding in the premises. Over the years, residents have often complained of being beaten or harassed during such operations.

  14. 14.

    Brownmiller, Against Our Will, p. 38.

  15. 15.

    Asia Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, Rape in Kashmir, p. 2.

  16. 16.

    On the intervening night of 23 and 24 February 1991, soldiers of the 4th Rajputana Rifles entered the twin hamlets of Kunan Poshpora in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district for a cordon and search operation, gathered the men outside and raped more than fifty women within their homes. For more on this, see Batool et al, Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora?

  17. 17.

    Kazi, ‘Law, Governance and Gender in Indian-Administered Kashmir’, p. 24.

  18. 18.

    Asia Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, Rape in Kashmir, p. 4.

  19. 19.

    Mohanty, ‘Imperial Democracies, Militarized Zones, Feminist Engagements’, p. 77.

  20. 20.

    Dixon, ‘“Hearts and Minds”? British Counterinsurgency from Malaya to Iraq’.

  21. 21.

    Mockaitis, ‘The Origins of British Counterinsurgency’, p. 215.

  22. 22.

    Chakrabarti, ‘Sadbhavana and the Paradox of “Winning Hearts and Minds”’, p. 21.

  23. 23.

    Anant, ‘Counterinsurgency and “Op Sadhbhavana” in Jammu and Kashmir’, p. 13.

  24. 24.

    Refers to the essential needs of electricity, roads and water, the basic developmental aspects and everyday needs of people over which parties usually seek mandate during elections.

  25. 25.

    Kak, Until My Freedom Has Come, p. 39.

  26. 26.

    Mohanty, ‘Imperial Democracies, Militarized Zones, Feminist Engagements’, p. 77.

  27. 27.

    Adams, cited in Pease, ‘Rethinking Empowerment’, p. 136.

  28. 28.

    Parpart et al., Rethinking Empowerment, p. 4.

  29. 29.

    Kuttab, ‘Palestinian Women’s Organizations’, p. 73.

  30. 30.

    The Indian Express, ‘Mehbooba Mufti Declares Women Empowerment One of Top Agendas of J&K Government’.

  31. 31.

    Pease, ‘Rethinking Empowerment’, p. 138.

  32. 32.

    The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) was founded in 1994 by the families of the people subjected to Enforced Disappearance.

  33. 33.

    de Alwis, ‘Motherhood as a space of protest’.

  34. 34.

    Zia, ‘The Spectacle of a Good Half-Widow’.

  35. 35.

    Manchanda, Women, War and Peace in South Asia, p. 20.

  36. 36.

    The International Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-Administered Kashmir and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, Structures of Violence, p. 10.

  37. 37.

    Wise, cited in Pease, ‘Rethinking Empowerment’, p. 136.

References

  • Anant, A. 2011. Counterinsurgency and ‘Op Sadhbhavana’ in Jammu and Kashmir. Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis, Occasional Paper No. 19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asia Watch and Physicians for Human Rights. 1993. Rape in Kashmir: A Crime of War, 5 (9, 9 May): 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batool, Essar, Ifrah Butt, Samreena Mushtaq, Munaza Rashid, and Natasha Rather. 2016. Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? New Delhi: Zubaan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brownmiller, S. 1975. Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chakrabarti, K.D. 2015. Sadbhavana and the Paradox of ‘Winning Hearts and Minds’: An Institutionalist Perspective. Economic and Political Weekly 1 (24): 21–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cock, J. 1989. Keeping the fires burning: Militarization and the Politics of Gender in South Africa. Review of African Political Economy, 45/46 (Militarism, Warlords and the Problems of Democracy): 50–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Alwis, M. 1997. Motherhood as a Space of Protest: Women’s Political Participation in Contemporary Sri Lanka. In Appropriating Gender: Women’s Activism and the Politicization of Religion in South Asia, ed. A. Basu and P. Jeffrey. New Delhi: Kali for Women.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, P. 2009. ‘Hearts and Minds’? British Counter-Insurgency from Malaya to Iraq. Journal of Strategic Studies 32 (3): 353–381.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Fazal, T., ed. 2013. Minority Nationalisms in South Asia. New Delhi: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giles, W., and J. Hyndman, eds. 2004. Sites of Violence: Gender and Conflict Zones. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kak, S., ed. 2011. Until My Freedom Has Come: The New Intifada in Kashmir. New Delhi: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaul, N. 2018. India’s Obsession with Kashmir: Democracy, Gender, (Anti-) Nationalism. Feminist Review. 119 (1): 126–143.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Kazi, S. 2009. Between Democracy and Nation: Gender and Militarization in Kashmir. New Delhi: Women Unlimited.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2012. Law, Governance and Gender in Indian-Administered Kashmir. Working Paper Series Centre for the Study of Law and Governance Jawaharlal Nehru University, CSLG/WP/20, New Delhi, November.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuttab, E. 2009. Palestinian Women’s Organizations: Global Cooption and Local Contraction. Review of Women’s Studies: 64–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manchanda, R., ed. 2001. Women, War and Peace in South Asia: Beyond Victimhood to Agency. New Delhi: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menon, N. 2012. Seeing Like a Feminist. New Delhi: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mockaitis, T. 1990. The Origins of British Counterinsurgency. Small Wars and Insurgencies, 1/3 (December): 209–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohanty, C.T. 2011. Imperial Democracies, Militarized Zones. Feminist Engagements. Economic and Political Weekly 46 (13): 76–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller, J.-W. 2015. Parsing Populism: Who Is and Who Is Not a Populist These Days? Juncture 22 (2): 80–89.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Parpart, J.L., S.M. Rai, and K. Staudt, eds. 2002. Rethinking Empowerment: Gender and Development in a Global/Local World. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pease, B. 2002. Rethinking Empowerment: A Postmodern Reappraisal for Emancipatory Practice. The British Journal of Social Work 32 (2): 135–147.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, G. 2010. Crisis of National Unity in India: Punjab, Kashmir, and the Northeast. In Routledge Handbook of South Asian Politics, ed. P. Brass. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Indian Express. 2016. Mehbooba Mufti Declares Women Empowerment One of Top Agendas of J&K Government, 6 November. Available at http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/mehbooba-mufti-declares-women-empowerment-one-of-top-agendas-of-jk-government-3740508/.

  • The International Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-Administered Kashmir and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons. 2015. Structures of Violence: Indian State in Jammu and Kashmir. Srinagar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tickner, J.A. 2001. Gendering World Politics: Issues and Approaches in the Post-Cold War Era. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zia, A. 2013. The Spectacle of a Good Half-Widow: Performing Agency in the Human Rights Movement in Kashmir. UCLA Centre for the Study of Women. Available at https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3xx4n1zf.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

    Samreen Mushtaq

Authors
  1. Samreen Mushtaq
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, LUISS ‘Guido Carli’ University, Rome, Italy

    Volker Kaul

  2. Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, India

    Ananya Vajpeyi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Mushtaq, S. (2020). The Myth of Empowerment: Gender, Conflict, and ‘Development’ in Kashmir. In: Kaul, V., Vajpeyi, A. (eds) Minorities and Populism – Critical Perspectives from South Asia and Europe. Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34098-8_19

Download citation