Living amid conflict: Lived experiences of non-displaced Kashmiri Pandit women in Kashmir, India

Survival in conflict zones is often marked by constant exposure to violence and profound isolation.When individuals are stripped of the safety and support typically provided by their communities, feelings of solitariness and vulnerability intensify significantly, weakening resilience and the will to endure.While most people relocated to safer areas, others remain either by choice or due to constraints such as poverty, lack of resources, or a reluctance to abandon their homes.Much of the focus in conflict studies tends to be on displaced populations, while those who remain in conflict zones (non-displaced populations) often receive little attention.One such group is the non-displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir, India.Despite their continued presence in a region marked by protracted violence, their experiences remain underexplored.Moreover, gender remains underrepresented in academic literature and within the limited studies on nondisplaced minority populations in conflict zones.We used a qualitative ethnographic design, utilizing semistructured interviews with a sample of 20 non-displaced Kashmiri Pandit women aged 20 to 70.The findings of this study conclude that non-displaced Kashmiri Pandits have endured sustained violence and psychological trauma, leading to a slow but persistent form of displacement.