Ethnicity and Religion the reconstruction of Kashmiri ethnic identity

Abstract

Ethnicity could be viewed as a reaction to changing conditions of a group and ethnic groups are often imagined communities. Historical processes and shared memories facilitate the formation of ethnic groups. People who once shared a given identity may re-look at/re-define their identity due to some external factors and internal conditions, and this may result in the reconstruction of historically constructed and shared identities. This has happened in Kashmir, where ethnicity is now articulated in terms of religion to assert the Kashmiri ethnic identity. The erstwhile composite identity of Kashmir is thus cracked and weakened by the impact of religion. This study is a modest attempt at understanding the ethnicisation of Kashmiri identity through the infusion of Islam, which has fractured the earlier composite culture of the Kashmir. The interest in and importance of this study stems from the changing nature of Kashmiri ethnic identity and from my experience and perceptions of Kashmiri identity. Being a Dogra from Jammu and Kashmir, I always thought that Kashmiris are the people who lived in the Kashmiri Valley. Accordingly, I perceived Kashmiri culture as the culture of the people who live in Kashmir. It did not occur to me that, before the turmoil of 1989, two distinct religious groups, namely, the Kashmiri Muslims and the Kashmiri Pandits, shared a composite culture in Kashmir,. The unique set of beliefs and the composite culture of Kashmir and ethnic identity that had evolved over many centuries came under severe pressure in the mid-1980s with the emergence of secessionist forces. The impact of this movement on the composite culture of Kashmir has been phenomenal. Since 1989-90, the nature of Kashmiri ethnic identity started shifting from regional identity to religious identity. The fundamentalist connotation and communal confrontation has changed the earlier concept of Kashmiri identity, or Kashmiriyat, which stands for composite culture.