The return of the 1990s in Kashmir

ABSTRACT

As the increasing political violence in the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir has claimed a rising death-toll every year over the past decade, political analysts, journalists, and many academics believe that India and the region has time-travelled back to the 1990s. This essay sets three recent books in conversation to analyse the ebb and flow of political violence in the region by locating it in relation to other political processes, mostly peaceful, which have directly influenced anti-India militancy in Kashmir. I argue that the explanations offered by recent Indian scholarship on what caused the return to the ‘90s are narrow and have a linear focus on local factors. It is essential to link the decline of militant activity in Kashmir to the Pakistan-India peace process and the shift in Pakistan's policy towards Kashmir following 9/11. The violence of counterinsurgency alone does not explain the return of political violence.

KEYWORDS:

• Political Violence
• Kashmir
• India
• Peace Process
• Militancy

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Basharat Ali

Basharat Ali is a Ph.D. student at the MMAJ Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, in New Delhi, India. His research is a theoretical exploration of political violence in Jammu and Kashmir.