Kashmir Conflict: Feminist Perspectives

Arrangör:Nordic Kashmir Organisation & RåFILM
Medverkande: Dr. Amrita Ghosh, Dr. Nitasha Kaul, Dr. Emma Brannlund, Dr. Anna Lindberg

Everyday life in Kashmir is defined by a continued state of insecurity as a result of the interplay of military and militant violence. In this seemingly endless conflict, there has been a systematic use of violence by state actors (torture, sexual violence, enforced disappearances) and by non-state actors (targeted killings of religious or other minorities or civilians). There is significant political repression that restricts the freedoms and rights of the people on both/all sides of Kashmir; in the Indian case, this has effectively meant a state of military occupation. Since August 2019, following the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in the Indian constitution (coupled with bifurcation of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories), the rights of Kashmir Valley inhabitants were disregarded in the name of security logic, subsequently aided further by the need for coronavirus pandemic restrictions. Feminist political analysis has long grappled with issues such as the intersecting nature of militarism and masculinity in territorial dispute, the violence of securitisation under military rule, the competing patriarchies in conflict zones, the gendered and colonial roots of state occupation. The panel will consider these dynamics as they pertain to present-day Kashmir, asking what feminist analysis can contribute to our understanding of the Kashmir conflict, both as experienced by those who live in the region and those who write or work about it.
Moderator:
Dr. Anna Lindberg ex director of SASNET, the South Asian Studies Network at Lund University.
Participants:
Dr. Nitasha Kaul, Reader (Associate Professor) in Politics and International Relations, Westminster University, UK.
Dr. Emma Brannlund, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the West of England, UK.
Dr. Amrtia Ghosh, researcher at SASNET, Lund University.

Konflikten i Kashmir: feministiska perspektiv
Vardagen i Kashmir definieras av osäkerhet och militära övergrepp. I denna till synes oändliga konflikt har det skett en systematisk användning av våld av statliga aktörer (tortyr, sexuellt våld, försvinnanden) och icke-statliga aktörer (våld mot religiösa minoriteter och civilbefolkningen). Det finns ett betydande politiskt förtryck som begränsar friheten och rättigheterna för folket på båda/alla sidor av Kashmir; på den indiska sidan har detta i princip lett till ett tillstånd av militär ockupation. Efter hävandet av Jammu och Kashmirs särskilda status i augusti 2019 och restriktionerna under coronaviruspandemin har befolkningens rättigheter ytterligare begränsats. Feministisk politisk analys har länge brottats med intersektionen mellan militarism och maskulinitet, relationen mellan våld och säkerhet i militära regimer, och hur genus och kolonialitet förutsätter ockupation. Den här panelen syftar till att utforska ovanstående dimensioner för att förstå vad som händer i Kashmir idag och vad en feministisk analys kan bidra med.

Moderator:
Dr. Anna Lindberg ex director of SASNET, the South Asian Studies Network at Lund University.
Deltagarna:
Dr. Nitasha Kaul, Reader (Associate Professor) in Politics and International Relations, Westminster University, UK.
Dr. Emma Brannlund, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, University of the West of England, UK.
Dr. Amrtia Ghosh, researcher at SASNET, Lund University.