Reflections on the post-Partition period: Life narratives of Kashmiri Muslims in contemporary Kashmir

This article examines the political subjectivities of the first generation of post-Partition Kashmiri Muslims and presents their life narratives, both written and oral, as an important vantage point from which to understand shifts in Kashmiri Muslim society in the early post-Partition period. It also explores how these narratives are mediated by the respondent's present, a period after the militancy of the late eighties and nineties, but one in which there remains a mass uprising against Indian rule. This generation was important for a number of reasons. One, they witnessed the erosion of Kashmir’s autonomy and the promises of a plebiscite, as well as intense political repression. Two, they were enlisted in the project of state reform and nation building, and thus, effectively participated in those same processes of erosion. As a result, I argue that the conditions and uncertainty surrounding the Kashmir ‘dispute” led to a political subjectivity that sought coherence amidst contradiction and incommensurate political and ideological commitments. In particular, this coherence was reflected in the desire to assert and foreground a Kashmiri Muslim identity, one that existed alongside other class, regional and gendered identities, but was nonetheless sharpened as a political community. I conclude with a reflection on the importance of this generation to understanding the making of political subjectivities in Kashmir today.

Title	Reflections on the post-Partition period: Life narratives of Kashmiri Muslims in contemporary Kashmir
Creator	Kanjwal, Hafsa
Publisher	Himalaya
Academic Department	History
Division	Social Sciences
Organization	Lafayette College
Date Issued	December 2018
Date Available	2019-01-02T15:41:55Z
Type	Article
Language	English
Keyword	Muslim
	Partition
	Kashmir
	life narratives
	militancy
	oral history
Bibliographic Citation	Kanjwal, H. (2018 Dec) "Reflections on the post-Partition period: Life narratives of Kashmiri Muslims in contemporary Kashmir." Himalaya 38 (2): Article 9.
Standard Identifier	Handle 10385/2502
Permalink	http://hdl.handle.net/10385/2502
Rights Statement	Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives
Rights Holders	Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies