Identity Politics in Jammu and Kashmir

The erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was cobbled together by the Dogra Maharaja Gulab Singh with the patronage and support of the British. Diverse and disparate ethnic and religious groups were brought together to create a buffer state on the frontier of the British Indian Empire. With the independence of British India, and division of the territory into two independent states of India and Pakistan, the ethnic and religious diversity of Jammu and Kashmir created a fragmented and contested identity, resulting in subnational movements in a relatively homogeneous region of Kashmir, and a contested identity in Jammu and Ladakh. Focusing solely on Kashmiri political identity would disregard the complexity of inter-regional variation and ethnic contestation over identity politics in Jammu and Kashmir. This chapter will analyze this complex dynamic that has resulted in a contested and fragmented identity in the region. Looking at it as one of the causes of conflict, and lack of consensus in the region, this fragmented and contested identity will be analyzed by examining differing narratives and events that have shaped this phenomenon.