[Fdu] National Women's Studies Association Statement on Kashmir

[Cynthia Wright]

See below and also link to very comprehensive Kashmir syllabus....


*Statement on Kashmir*

October 17, 2019

The Executive Committee of the National Women’s Studies Association is 
alarmed about the Indian government’s recent actions in Jammu and 
Kashmir, which have resulted in a series of human rights abuses and 
intensified repression in the world’s most militarized zone. Since early 
August, the Indian government has sent 35,000 troops to the region, in 
addition to the 700,000 already there, in violation of international law 
and Indian constitutional guarantees that maintained Kashmir’s 
semi-autonomous status. The United Nations considers Kashmir an 
internationally disputed territory, whose political future should be 
decided by a plebiscite. Prior to August 5, Kashmir was guaranteed 
“special” status in the Indian constitution. Although Indian control of 
Kashmir over the past 70 years has slowly eroded Kashmir’s autonomy, the 
recent turn of events has resulted in an illegal annexation of Kashmir.

The Indian government’s unilateral action has justified its occupation 
as a strategy of ‘development’ in Kashmir. In reality, this military 
action and the reading down of Article 370 which gave the state of Jammu 
and Kashmir special status in the Indian constitution, and 35 A, which 
gave Kashmir the right to define a “permanent resident” of the state, is 
widely understood as a maneuver to “Hinduize” a Muslim-majority Kashmir 
and facilitate Indian purchase of Kashmiri land, resettlement by Indian 
nationals, and renewed tourism, setting into motion a settler colonial 
project.

India’s occupation of Kashmir has had a devastating impact on the 8 
million Kashmiri people, disproportionately affecting Kashmiri women, 
who have been subject to rape and sexual violence at the hands of the 
Indian army, and many of whom have courageously brought such violence to 
light in the face of the Indian will to amnesia. The recent 
intensification of repression has turned Kashmir into an open-air 
prison. People are being detained, tortured, or disappeared. Schools and 
shops have closed. Public transportation has stopped running. People are 
dying from lack of access to healthcare and medicine, and a curfew has 
curtailed both livelihoods and necessary daily economic transactions. 
Thirteen thousand boys have been reportedly detained in service of 
India’s demographic warfare that will torture and kill Kashmiri Muslims. 
The lockdown includes a communication blackout with blocked internet 
access, limiting Kashmiri access to the outside world, and muzzling 
Kashmiri journalists who have sought to expose Indian atrocities in 
Kashmir. The control of the flow of information allows the Indian 
government to claim ‘normalcy’ in the face of horrific human rights abuses.

As an academic association committed to feminism, social justice, and 
self-determination for all people, we have an obligation to speak out. 
NWSA stands with Kashmir and Kashmiris in their quest for azaadi 
(freedom) and self-determination.

Given the censorship, the work of Kashmiri diaspora scholars and 
activists are more important than ever. Below are links for resources 
and information, including a syllabus produced by theCritical Kashmir 
Studies 
<https://nwsa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6656660936b1ddfc7120dc054&id=f23236e999&e=f9838a9e23> 
group.

Stand With Kashmir 
<https://nwsa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6656660936b1ddfc7120dc054&id=989179872c&e=f9838a9e23>
The Kashmir Syllabus 
<https://nwsa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6656660936b1ddfc7120dc054&id=600f481ece&e=f9838a9e23>
Experts on Kashmir 
<https://nwsa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6656660936b1ddfc7120dc054&id=6514fd0204&e=f9838a9e23>
"All-Woman Team Releases Fact-finding Report on Kashmir" 
<https://nwsa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=6656660936b1ddfc7120dc054&id=8ba896c746&e=f9838a9e23>

SIGNED by the Executive Committee (EC) with affiliations*

Premilla Nadasen, President, Barnard College
Barbara Ransby, Past President, University of Illinois at Chicago
Diane Harriford, Vice President, Vassar College
Patti Duncan, Secretary, Oregon State University
Karma Chávez, Treasurer, The University of Texas at Austin

(*affiliations for identification purposes only)

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reserved./

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