Introduction to Geopolitics

tanzeem
in Pakistan. This group
was more politically oriented and won seats in the 1987 State Assembly elections
(Santhanam
et al
., 2003, p. 154). This 
tanzeem
obviously shares the same objectives as
the HUM, but seeks different means. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF)
differs from HUM and JKJEI by its goal of an independent, united Jammu and Kashmir
(including Pakistani occupied Kashmir and the Northern Territories). This group formed
in 1988 (when the ISI was easily recruiting angered students and creating many new
tanzeems
) and has its headquarters in Srinagar. Finally, the Jammu and Kashmir People’s
Conference (JKPC) is less radical in nature with the objective of greater autonomy for
the state of Jammu and Kashmir under the Indian Constitution. Two points should 
be taken from the diversity of the 
tanzeems
. First, the protagonists in a conflict are 
rarely unified, and so it is wrong to view a particular cause or issue as singular. Second,
the variety of geopolitical structures produced different goals and identities that were
mutually reinforcing.
The creation of ethnic difference is also evident in this dispute. A conflict over the
location of an international boundary fermented a conflict in which group identity
became significant. It is estimated that about 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits (a sect of Hindus
with ancestral ties to Kashmir) were forced from there homes between 1989 and 1991.
The fears of a Pandit doctor facing a crowd of Hindus outside her house illustrates how
cultural conflict was created over time: “Many of the young men in the crowd were
boys I had delivered at the hospital! And here they were now shouting for my blood”
(Raina, 2002, p. 179). The status of Pandits has changed too as they have been forced
to become refugees:
I N T R O D U C T I O N   T O   G E O P O L I T I C S
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While the “refugees” were earlier welcomed and given assistance, local people
have now begun blaming them for being the cause of all problems, ranging
from typical urban infrastructure shortages of water and transport, to unem-
ployment, . . . increased state violence, militant attacks, sexual harassment, etc.
(Dewan, 2002, p. 154)
Prior to the recent violence, Pandits and Muslims lived side by side without any prob-
lems. One women recalls that “before the Kashmir issue [her] friends from that region
were just Kashmiris; they were not seen as Muslims or Pandits” (Dewan, 2002, p. 149).
Now the situation is quite different and Pandits’ wishes for the fate of Kashmir 
differ greatly from those of the Kashmiri Muslims. “They want their own exclusive
‘state’ within the Valley—Panun Kashmir. This would be a region or state within India,
autonomous both from central government and Kashmiri Muslim control” (Malik, 2002,
p. 358). In other words, as conflict creates group identity and ethnic violence the desire
for a state for one’s own group is seen to be imperative, and the geopolitical structure
of a world of nation-states is reinforced.
To end our discussion of this conflict, a consideration of gender illuminates over-
arching or dominant geopolitical structures, as well as the cracks in their foundations.
For the most part, the suffering endured by Muslim women on an individual level in
the conflict is practically identical to the situation facing Pandit women who are normally
seen to be on the other “side.” The common threat of rape (see Box 8.1) illustrates how
the structure of patriarchy transcends nationalist and religious conflicts. The perspective
of women is also able to stress comprehension of shared values and seek compromise
and fusion over conflict and hierarchy. The sentiment of most women is for peace based
upon shared experiences. As one Pandit woman said:
It was after years that we had all gotten together at a marriage—all of us
women—Pandit, Muslim, Sardarnis. It was almost like the old days . . . We
laughed and danced late into the night. Then, as we prepared to go to sleep, I
heard some of the Muslim women whispering among themselves in the next
room: “It’s been such a lovely evening. It is true, isn’t it, that a garden is only
a garden of any worth when there are many kinds of flowers gracing it.”
(Chhachhi, 2002, p. 207)
However, not all women are united by feminist beliefs that negate the geopolitics of
nationalism. A minority of women in the region see their primary role to be within
nationalist movements. For example,