Between democracy and nation : gender and militarisation in Kashmir

• Main Author: Kazi, Seema
• Published: London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) 2008
• Subjects: 320
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.498128

This thesis focuses on the militarisation of a secessionist movement involving Kashmiri militants and Indian military forces in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The term militarisation in this thesis connotes the militarised state and, more primarily, the growing influence of the military within the state that has profound implications for state and society. In contrast to conventional approaches that distinguish between inter and intra-state military conflict, this thesis analyses India's external and domestic crises of militarisation within a single analytic frame to argue that both dimensions are not mutually exclusive but have common political origins. Kashmir, this thesis further argues, exemplifies the intersection between militarisation's external and domestic dimensions. Focusing on the intersection between both dimensions of militarisation in Kashmir, this thesis illustrates that the greatest and most grievous price of using the military for domestic repression in Kashmir and for military defence of Kashmir without (vis-a-vis Pakistan) is paid by Kashmir's citizens and society. Drawing on women's subjective experience of militarisation, this thesis highlights the intersection between state military processes at a 'national' level and social transformations at the local/ societal level. By way of conclusion, this thesis argues that Kashmir's humanitarian tragedy - exemplified by its gender dimensions - underlines why militarisation and and over Kashmir has failed to ensure 'security' for the state or security and justice for Kashmiri citizens. A decentralised, democratic state with a plural concept of nation and identity, this thesis suggests, is the best safeguard against use of the military for domestic repression within and the extraordinary military and nuclear consolidation of the Indian state without.