What is the threat to Kashmiris? Exploring the Impact of Security Discourses on Human Rights and Gender Security

Kashmir’s perception in the minds of people has gone through multiple transformations. Once it was a popular tourist destination. Then the region was denigrated for insurgency. The causes, modus operandi, actors involved and other dimensions of the insurgency have been told to the world from the state’s perspective. The Indian government in the name of securitising the region has committed a plethora of constitutional rights’ violations. The scope for implementing universally adopted human rights is nowhere visible in the valley. The state constantly targets a minority in Kashmir and dictates the terms of its existence. (Mbembe, 2003) In the whole discourse of rights and violence, the condition of Muslim women has been deteriorating. The academia worldwide has conducted various researches to forecast a solution to the valley’s turbulence. These studies have constantly been driven by traditional security theories centralising the state.  

The political party dominant in the Indian parliament has been focusing on securitising the region in military terms (or in traditional norms). The Kashmiri Muslim women have never been addressed as referent objects by the state, because it will then expose the threat object, which in this case, is the state itself. (Hansen, 2000; Mbembe, 2003; Waever, 1995) It has not done much to promote social security and the status of women, and atrocities perpetrated on Muslim women by soldiers, do not find space in their media declarations. (Waever, 1995) In the valley the interconnection of biopolitics, necro-politics and identity politics, prevails.   

Those in power in India, portray a narrow understanding of the challenges of the valley. Experts and analysts mainly focus on hard power politics, the preservation of law and order, and sometimes developmental initiatives. The security aspect revolving around gender has been absent among scholars (as mentioned by Hansen in her critique of Copenhagen school). The Copenhagen school highlights the significance of the ‘speech act.’ (Hansen, 2000) It argues that in order to securitise an issue, it has to be spoken in words or by bodily actions.

Hansen also points out ‘subsuming security,’ which roughly translates to domination of religious or national identity, over an individual’s gendered identity. These two processes work in tandem in Kashmir to suppress the representation of women’s perspective and their subjectivity. Not only women are deprived of their agency, but they can not even describe their subjective experience because of the intersectionality of their identities. The environment in the valley is not conducive for women to express their aspirations and the aspects of their lives that they want to be secured. Their agency has been subdued first by their family and then by the state. (Hansen, 2000) 

Some scholars favour the ‘widening’ of the security agenda so that many issues can be dealt with on priority. But they fail to recognise that once an issue comes under the purview of security, only a limited and predetermined set of actors will operate on that (as implied by Judith Butler). (Hansen, 2000) The state, international organisations, lobbies, and private actors are some players with a monopoly in this realm. If the situation of Kashmiri Muslim women comes under the ambit of security, then government apparatus is going to become more powerful in the region. The state will probably deploy more armed personnel and it will aid the government in curbing the resistance in the valley rather than fulfilling its objective of securing women’s interests.

In the name of preserving the sovereignty of India, the government often uses violent measures to silence the ‘resistance.’ (Barkawi, 2004) Atrocities against Muslim women in Kashmir have been practiced often by state agencies, to induce a ‘collective fear.’ (Hansen, 2000) The issue has not been paid enough attention to by diverse concerned authorities, because it affects a particular ‘identity’ (Muslim women). This is the systematic creation of the ‘other’ by the state. (Mbembe, 2003) The created ‘otherness’ challenges the existence of Muslims in the whole country at a macro level. They are prone to violence and racialism by the majority in India. (Mbembe, 2003)  

The situation gets complicated when the discussion is centred around whether to widen the concept of security or not. (Waever, 1995) Both scenarios have its own merits and demerits. It should be noted here that rather than focusing on nomenclature, implementation of the policies is the key to normalisation. Kashmiri Muslims in general and women in particular must be provided with more agency so that they can dictate the terms in accordance with their aspirations. Increasing the power of a particular group to deal with the issues in the valley would be impotent. Increasing gender inclusivity in policy formation and implementation could be suggested to the state and non-state actors. Kashmiri Muslims can enforce themselves by forming civil society groups that advocate for civil liberties, and the government can ensure the autonomous operation of any such institution without interfering. It is high time that the national and international actors enforce those who were weakened in the past, hear those who were silenced, and include those who were segregated.  

References

1.      Mbembe, Achille. 'Necropolitics.' Public culture 15, no. 1 (2003): 11-40.

2.      Ole, Wæver. 1995. “Securitization and Desecuritization.” In On Security, edited by Ronnie Lipschutz. New York: Columbia University Press. https://www.libraryofsocialscience.com/assets/pdf/Waever-Securitization.pdf

3.      Hansen, Lene. 2000. ‘The Little Mermaid’s Silent Security Dilemma and the Absence of Gender in the Copenhagen School’. Millennium 29 (2): 285–306.

4.      India: Repression Persists in Jammu and Kashmir. (2022, August 3). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/02/india-repression-persists-jammu-and-kashmir

5.      Behind the Kashmir Conflict: Abuses by Indian Security Forces and Militant Groups Continue. (2024, February 11). Refworld. https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/hrw/1999/en/40634

6.      Shepherd, Laura J. 2009. ‘Gender, Violence and Global Politics: Contemporary Debates in Feminist Security Studies’. Political Studies Review 7 (2): 208–19.

7.      Barkawi, Tarak. 2004. ‘On the Pedagogy of “Small Wars”’. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-) 80 (1): 19–37.