Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred - Jude Lal Fernando

Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred - Jude Lal Fernando

6. Militarization and Everyday Struggle: A Case of Families of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances in Kashmir

Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred - Jude Lal Fernando

Farrukh Faheem [+-]
Institute of Kashmir Studies, University of Kashmir
Farrukh Faheem is assistant professor at the Institute of Kashmir Studies, University of Kashmir, Srinagar. He has written journal articles and book chapters on understanding the militarization and cyclic protest mobilizations in Kashmir. He has taught at the University of Delhi and has been closely associated with several inter- community dialogues on dispute resolution and reconciliation organized by the Delhi- based think-tank, Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (CDR).

Description

The Indian state’s response to the late 1980s civil and armed uprising against the Indian rule over Kashmir witnessed excessive militarization that earned the region the distinction of being the highest militarized zone in the world. The intimacy of militarization in the everyday particularly increased the vulnerability of male members due to detentions and subsequent disappearances. Most of the disappearances have taken place during the cordon and search operations where male members are picked up, driven away in army trucks to unknown locations and later their custody is denied. In most of the cases, male member are the victims of the involuntary enforced disappearance leaving behind women members who are forced into the public sphere for their livelihood. The traditional male roles in a largely male dominated society are thus forced upon the women. The monthly sit-in protest in a public park by the families of the disappeared is a commemoration of the suffering and the means of challenging the Indian state’s regime of denial. This chapter captures the everyday lives of the families and their struggle against enforced disappearances. The primary focus will remain on the lives of the women members of the movement to understand their everyday negotiations with the Indian state and the larger patriarchal structures. Community meals were arranged to set the women free from household errands and ensure their involvement in the protests. When a majority of men retreated due to crack downs by (Indian armed forces) or went for training (to other side of Kashmir) the women carried on the movement. They marched to courts and camps of Indian armed forces to protest against detentions and negotiate the release of men.

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Citation

Faheem, Farrukh. 6. Militarization and Everyday Struggle: A Case of Families of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances in Kashmir. Resistance to Empire and Militarization - Reclaiming the Sacred. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 114-126 Apr 2020. ISBN 9781800500204. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=40193. Date accessed: 07 Oct 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.40193. Apr 2020

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