“Their wounds are our wounds”: a case for affective solidarity between Palestine and Kashmir

ABSTRACT

Both Palestine and the Indian held Kashmir have become hallmarks of a postcolonial siege manifest in heavy militarisation, illegal occupation, human rights violations, and an excruciating love born from and for people’s resistance and solidarity. While different, strong overlaps exist between the two conflicts in having been midwifed by the waning British Empire in 1947; subsequent internationalisation and fighting against a type of contemporary international politics that subsumes them under so-called ‘Islamic terrorism.’ Also noticeable is the motif of ‘suffering’ that makes the tragedy of Kashmir resonate with the pathos of Palestine.  This paper focuses on the vantage from Kashmir, where people herald the Palestinian struggle as pioneering and a beacon of just struggle. I illustrate how Kashmiris, have come to harbour for the Palestinians an ‘affective solidarity’ which is evident in their modes of resistance to lend support for the liberation of Palestine and credibility to the Kashmir’s own resistance movement.

KEYWORDS:

• Kashmir
• Palestine
• affective solidarity
• Kashmiri Intifada
• poetry
• Mahmoud Darwish
• Agha Shahid Ali

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Henceforth noted only as Kashmir or the valley.

2. Interview by author. 1 June 2016.

3. Emma Hutchinson’s book excludes Indigenous Australians in context of understanding affective communities across the globe.

4. For discussion on the witnessing of suffering (through media) see Chouliaraki (2013).

5. Affective solidarity as a concept has been developed by Clare Hemmings (2012) to illustrate sustainable feminist politics of transformation. This approach is seen as a way of moving forward and away from binding transformation in politics of identity and towards recognising modes of engagement that are fuelled by the affective dissonance experience. However, I deploy the term as a derivative of affect and affective community as used by Sara Ahmed (2004) and Emma Hutchinson (2016). Also see footnote 3.

6. Interview by author. 17 June 2016.

7. Musharraf rakes up Kashmir issue at NAM Summit. Rediff. 2003. Accessed 1 May 2017. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/feb/24nam1.htm.

8. Also see Kashmir Intifada or Not. ANI. Accessed 23 April 2017. http://www.sify.com/news/intifada-or-not-kashmir-defies-definitions-news-national-kizoEgabgjasi.html.

9. 10 Pandit townships under process under ‘Naya Kashmir” blueprint. 2020. The Indian Express. 18 February. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/10-pandit-townships-under-process-under-naya-kashmir-blueprint/articleshow/74197742.cms.

10. Women’s voice; Fact-finding report on Kashmir. 2019. Maktoob Media. 24 September. http://en.maktoobmedia.com/2019/09/24/full-text-womens-voice-fact-finding-report-on-kashmir/.

11. Video accessed July 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8mtDU3yeI.

12. See Uzma Falak, PalestineKashmir. The Electronic Intifada. 2015. Accessed on May 7 2017, https://electronicintifada.net/content/poem-palestinekashmir/15016.

13. Even though this perspective might be changing in the aftermath of India’s revocation of Kashmir’s autonomy and imposing a brutal military lockdown on the region.

14. Interview by author. 4 July 2017.

15. Website Palestine for Kashmir at https://palestineforkashmir.wordpress.com/.