Key Components for an Equitable and Long Lasting Peace
Armed Conflicts and Women in Kashmir

Seema Kazi

Armed conflict in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has continued for over a decade. In 1999 the conflict entered its tenth year with little hope towards resolution of the conflict or cessation of the continuing violence and human rights abuse. The military confrontation between India and Pakistan at Kargil during 1999, against the shadow of the nuclear tests by both countries raised concerns over Kashmir as a potential nuclear flashpoint. According to official estimates, almost nine thousand civilians, over two thousand members of all security forces, and more than ten thousand insurgents and terrorists have been killed in the conflict since 1988. Mainstream analyses represent the conflict as primarily an issue between Kashmiri men and the Indian State with it relevance to security and foreign policy. Even as these aspects are important in themselves, their framework of analysis completely excludes social dimensions of conflict - particularly its influence on women. Viewing the Kashmir conflict only in terms of its political or military aspects without considering women's experiences provides a very partial picture of the situation.

Women in Kashmir have been closely associated with political mobilisations for independence and continue to be victims in the ongoing cycle of violence and abuse. Sexual and physical violence has been appropriated by both security forces and militants in order to coerce, humiliate or punish women who are also subject to the roles and conditions imposed on civilians in a situation of armed conflict. As a journalist observed ,"women have been the worst hit in the war in Kashmir. They have been killed in cross fire, shot at in public demonstrations, blown up in grenade explosions or in shelling across the line of control (LoC) and have been raped by the security forces, by anti-government militants and by pro-government militants." (Rita Manchanda, Himal, May, 1995). Yet their voices or experience of the conflict remains absent. The invisibility of women's voices vis-à-vis the conflict emerges from the presumption that women are external, far removed from the scene of actual combat between militants and security forces. The false dichotomies of home vs. warfront were appropriately highlighted during the Kosovo conflict which brought home the social, economic and psychologically traumatic consequences of the conflict for women.

There is a need to acknowledge and highlight experiences of women in the Kashmir conflict where they continue to confront and cope with psychological and physical violence, dislocation and disillusionment of a situation of war - as women and as members of a community. Equally importantly, policy makers must realise that women's agency is crucial in resolution of the conflict where they must be adequately represented in the decision making process.

Of equal, if not more importance is the necessity for women and their concerns to be part of any initiative in the resolution of any conflict in general and the Kashmir conflict in particular. Any policy which considers or represents women as peripheral to conflict, not only fails to address a crucial dimension of conflict, but also perpetuates ideologies of exclusion i.e. public-private dichotomies which feed and fuel conflict. Given the fact that women are among the worst affected in conflict, feminist perspectives on conflict resolution can draw the attention of policy makers to the manner and extent to which militarist policies or military intervention continue to influence women's choices and chances for development. The inextricable link between armed conflict and equality between women and men was acknowledged as a Critical Area of Concern in the Beijing Platform for Action adopted at the 1995 Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women (1) and symbolises the recognition by the international community and States of the effects of armed conflict on women's lives. It is an endorsement of the feminist conviction that women are central to conflict as well as attempts towards its resolution and a vindication of the feminist claim that male experiences of "combat" do not necessarily bestow men the authority to appropriate the experience of conflict/war; nor can its myriad experiences - including women's experiences - be captured through one "master" (male) narrative of combat. This perspective is crucial towards developing and implementing policies which recognise women's roles and agency in conflict and their full and active participation as a mandatory condition for securing a just and lasting peace. In effect this implies an incorporation and promotion of a gender perspective into all programmes, analyses and discussions on war and militarism in order to ensure that women and their experience informs decision-making and policy initiatives in Kashmir.

The state has a fundamental role to play in the implementation of all human rights instruments, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and ensuring that state human rights commissions pay adequate attention to violations of women's human rights. State policy can promote and ensure the equal participation of women in decision-making in all forums on the Kashmir conflict - a necessary pre-requisite for its resolution. A gender inclusive policy and the integration of a gender perspective into training programmes of bodies addressing gender issues, would ensure greater effectiveness of prosecutors, judges and other officials addressing and handling issues of violence against women in armed conflict and war.

Thirdly, a feminist perspective identifies the state and the military as institutions of power which exert considerable influence in shaping civil society and relations within it. In the context of Kashmir, state support for coercive policy i.e. military intervention precipitated armed conflict and foreclosed alternatives for peace. Global concerns for a addressing and resolving the conflict in Kashmir were subordinated to notions of nationalism which reject co-operation or compromise, perceiving these to be "threats" to national security and sovereignty. The expansion of military roles to serve political ends brings the military in too close a contact with civilian society. Although the use of coercive force may prove useful in the short term, it is dangerous in the long term in that it leads, inevitably, to enhanced military involvement in politics. The creeping effects of military coercive dominance are reflected in the direct military intervention in state and local matters as well as legislation investing the military considerable power in Kashmir and other states. While this may be necessary, military deployment in situations of civil disorder will induce what a scholar terms as a form of "civilian militarism" (2) threatening civil liberties, inducing imposition of censorship and other repressive measures which will almost certainly militate against women's rights and choices for development. In view of the threat posed by militarism and majoritarian nationalism, the state has a critically fundamental role in maintaining the vital distinction between civilian and military spheres and values. This is a necessary pre-requisite not only for the protection of women's rights and civil liberties but also for resolution of conflict.

Seema Kazi is an Indian Women's Rights Acitvist and Member of the board of directors of the Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI).

(1) Strategic Objective E in The Beijing Platform For Action, 1995 (2) Cohen, Stephen P. in Kohli 1990

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