Borderlands and Borderlines: Re-negotiating Boundaries in Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

This article identifies the term border not just as a physical boundary that separates the sovereign writ of one state from another, but also as another fault line generated or accentuated by a conflict—a line that separates “us” from “them.” This article explores some of the fault lines/borderlines in the iconography of the contemporary conflict in Jammu and Kashmir using gender as a cross-cutting variable rather than as a separate, add-on issue.

Notes

Jammu and Kashmir—a Muslim majority state contiguous to both India and Pakistan—is an emotional and contentious issue, which has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan for more than 60 years now. For India, Kashmir's integration into the union is seen as the acid test of her secularism. For Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir as a part of India is a rejection of the two-nation theory based on the premise that Muslims constitute a separate nation which forms the foundation of its existence as a separate state. At stake are not just territory but also two different philosophies and ideologies. For an excellent historical account of the origins of the Kashmir problem, see Das Gupta (1968).

Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir consists of two major administrative subdivisions and three distinct geographic regions. Administratively Kashmir (sometimes used loosely to denote the whole of the state) forms one major subdivision which includes the valley and is divided into the six districts of Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag, Pulwama, Baramula, Kupwara, in addition to another distinct geographic area—Ladakh—which is subdivided into the districts of Leh and Kargil. The India–China international boundary passes through Ladakh. The line of control between India and Pakistan also passes partially through Ladakh near the Siachen glacier which has been another bone of contention between India and Pakistan and whose glacial heights form the world's highest battlefield. Jammu forms the second major administrative subdivision and is divided into the districts of Jammu, Kathua, Doda, Poonch, Rajouri and Udhampur. The line of control separating Pakistan and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the international boundary between India and Pakistan separating Pakistan's Punjab from Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, passes through segments of this subdivision.

There have been several reasons advanced for the outbreak of the armed insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir (though a detailed review of this is outside the purview of this paper). Most analyses are partial—few examine in detail why the insurgency broke out at that particular moment in time (in 1989). For a comprehensive overview that takes into account both the causes of the insurgency and its specific timing, along with critical reviews on existing explanations for the outbreak of the insurgency, see Ganguly (1996).

Sheela Devi, a grandmother, was tending her fields when I spoke to her. Sheela Devi, like many other sturdy women cultivators of the Kashmir valley in rural areas, multi-tasks; performing roles both inside and outside of the household. She helps cook, packs lunch for the children of the household who have to travel a few kilometers to go to school and, after her morning household tasks are done, she works the fields. She said she is fortunate that her agricultural field where she grows paddy is close to her home and both are on the same side of the fence. The fields on the other side of the border in Pakistan's Punjab lie just across hers and the terrain and cultivation pattern are identical. Since the international border cuts across fertile rice bowls, shelling can create havoc. Sheela Devi told me that a few years ago a neighbor could not cremate a relative as the cremation spot was out of reach due to the shelling. She also complained of “mined” fields and the havoc it reeks on the lives of the people and cattle, with its potential to injure and kill at any time catching people unaware. Since the danger here was more from mining and shelling, Sheela Devi did not feel that she was any more vulnerable because she was a woman. I also talked with Puro Devi who was returning home with a cart full of fodder after the day's work, along with her daughter who helps in the fields and no longer goes to school. Unlike Sheela Devi there is a considerable distance between Puro Devi's home and fields. She talked of the fenced-out fields, the gate passes, and her daughter laughingly shared how adept they had all become at “ducking bullets”. Interviews with the author, Suchetgarh village, Jammu subdivision, Jammu and Kashmir, October 29, 2009.

Author interviews, October 28–9, 2009.