Settler-Colonialism, Social Movement, and Human Rights Discourse

Abstract

The research undertakes to assess the settler colonial project by India in the occupied valley of Kashmir. By using the settler colonial paradigm this study reflects and complements the settler colonial paradigm by explaining four stages of settler colonialism i.e. elimination of indigeneity, expansionism, exceptionalism and denial of hidden structures of violence. Indian settler regime’s draconian laws as well as state machinery is involved in physically eliminating the indigenous Kashmiri body as well as transplanting its own culture into the territory. The settler project is expanding into the region by changing the demographics of Kashmir replacing it with Hindus and allotting land to retired army officers by offering them domiciles. The state ideology of Akhand Bharat and RSS is glorifying the Hindu aspects of Kashmir identity like encouraging yatras inside Kashmir and inflaming religious Hindu nationalism. Lastly the regime has always been involved in denying any semblance of human rights to Kashmiris and any resort to grievance redressal at state level and from government machinery is discouraged. The indigenous resistance to re-manufacturing the Kashmiri identity and settler desire is both armed and un-armed. Unarmed struggle has incorporated innovative ideas like distributing calendars as days of resistance, enforced curfews and days of curfews. On 14 th of August 2021 fireworks were lit in the honor of Pakistan’s Independence Day defying the heavily militarized authorities there. Solidarity with Pakistan is another unarmed resistance method in this social movement against settler colonialism. The human rights discourse is used by Kashmir azadi activists to continue their struggle for their right to self-determination. India, the settler state has offered the “sarak, bijli, pani” (road, electricity and water) development discourse to divert their attention from right to self-determination towards other development human rights discourse but discourse of azadi and right to self-determination never fades away because indigenous population realizes that the settler class which is offering them fundamental human rights is the one denying the actual realization of human rights and making them “exogenous others”. The research incorporated semi-structured qualitative interview method to assess the situation in Jammu and Kashmir by analyzing the 9 responses of azadi activists, politicians, indigenous Kashmiris living in Jammu region and academicians.