President Donald Trump remains open to a “mediating” role between India and Pakistan, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce reiterated during a press conference on June 11, after a four-day military escalation led to a ceasefire in early May. However, as Kashmiris on both sides of the military border between the two countries continue reporting shelling violations of the ceasefire, Kashmiris, including in the U.S., are turning attention back on the human rights violations and ongoing oppression of Kashmiris, as well as their right to self-determination. 

“If you type ‘Kashmir’ into Google, you’re going to get Pakistan and India exclusively,” said Vuzmal Meesha Sharma, a first-generation Kashmiri American. “There’s no representation because there’s no freedom.”

After the partition of British India in August 1947 and the emergence of India and Pakistan, Kashmir existed independently until October of that year. Although multiple previous resolutions by the United Nations Security Council reaffirmed the right of Kashmiris to determine their level of independence and future, Kashmir—described by some international observers as one of the most militarized regions in the world—remains disputed between India and Pakistan. For now, the region remains divided by the “Line of Control” (LoC), the military “border” separating Indian-administered Kashmir from the parts under Pakistani rule. 

There’s some sort of binary between Pakistan and India, and Kashmir’s just collateral damage every time.

Vuzmal Meesha Sharma, first-generation Kashmiri American

“It’s interesting when a government says they’re entitled to this space for whatever reason, and that becomes the narrative,” Sharma said, adding that Partition was a colonial construct. “There’s some sort of binary between Pakistan and India, and Kashmir’s just collateral damage every time.”

Imaan Khan, who moved around a lot as a child, said her parents always told her she was Kashmiri. Any time she’d see a map, she’d try to find where she was from. 

“I would always look for Kashmir, and it would never really be there,” Khan said. “From a very early age, that made me aware that it was a unique situation.” 

In 2019, the government of India revoked the special status of Kashmir to further control the region. This nullified any previous autonomy the state had, and Kashmiris were subject to a communications blackout and curfews to prevent any uprisings.

“ The state of Kashmir right now is not the quality of life that I would want for any Kashmiri—Pandit, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist—because it is in a heavily militarized zone, and there’s curfew. Internet is being taken away,” said Sharma, who comes from a community of Kashmiri Hindus, referred to as Pandits, tens of thousands of whom fled Kashmir following the start of the insurgency against Indian rule in 1989. “Even when my Pandit family is able to return, we’re considered migrants. That’s not a real return to the land and the way that the stories were told to me of how beautiful growing up in Kashmir was.”

More than 50 Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC were killed during the aggression in May, with over 100 injured after India also targeted parts of Punjab, Pakistan. India stated that it targeted “terrorist camps,” but Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Pakistani TV network GeoTV that this was false and that mostly civilian areas were targeted. The Indian government then ordered the social media platform X to block over 8,000 accounts, including numerous Kashmiri and Pakistani journalists and news publications.

“I’m 26, [and] this is the biggest kind of escalation I’ve seen,” said Khan, who is based in London. “I was glued to my phone for two hours straight, not doing anything else. Obviously, we all are in our own echo chambers, but I had friends that were forwarding me things that were being said in their family group chat or on Instagram, and I was so shocked at how, all of a sudden, people felt really emboldened to be just outwardly racist and genocidal.”

According to the Boston Congress of Public Health, Kashmir has a doctor-patient ratio of 1 to 2,000; the World Health Organization recommends one doctor for every 1,000 patients. Kashmiri women have been particularly vulnerable in accessing health care. According to reports from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, there have been allegations of disappearances, leading to unmarked mass graves, and sexual assaults of Kashmiri women by occupying Indian soldiers, often leaving them helpless or stigmatized by their communities. 

“ Obviously, these sentiments have built up over so much time, and it’s not something that just is created when the missiles are sent,” Khan said. “ It’s really alarming. There’s a whole buildup to it and a culture of misogyny.”

Sharma said the lack of resources for those in the region and added military oversight has led to an extreme “cognitive dissonance” for people living there. Sharma added that the portrayals of Kashmir in Indian media and film often reflect the political ideology of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which promotes a concept known as “Hindutva,” an ideology critics say seeks to emphasize Hindu identity in India. 

“Pandits in the land of Kashmir [are] often given this damsel in distress narrative that they’re in danger,” Sharma said, comparing the situation to Israel, particularly in the way Kashmiri Muslims and Pakistan are associated with terrorism. “In reality, the Indian government and the military aren’t doing anything to create quality of life replenished for Muslims. Really, it’s an occupying force that’s looking to treat the land as this co-struggle between Pakistan, India, and China.”

Some commentators and activists have drawn comparisons between the Indian government’s approach in Kashmir and Israeli policies in Palestinian territories, particularly regarding security tactics and political rhetoric. Several of the drones used by India during the May escalation were also notably Israeli-made. Indian authorities have consistently denied allegations of systemic abuses, stating that the security measures are necessary to counter terrorism.

Yazan Zahzah, co-founder of the Palestinian Feminist Collective, said the similarities of Kashmir and Palestine lead many Kashmiri diaspora members to take up advocating for Palestine as well. 

“A lot of the experiences under the occupation and military control in terms of separation, water allocation, the use of sexual violence, disappearances, the tactics [are] very much near each other,” said Zahzah, who is not Kashmiri. “It’s because the people who are enacting that violence are deep collaborators. … There is no free Kashmir if there’s no free Palestine. There is no free Palestine if there’s no free Kashmir.”

Khan said she has spent most of her life researching Kashmiri history, culture, and the violence shared between Kashmiris and Palestinians. 

“ We all have a responsibility to speak up for the people who are being oppressed in this world,” Khan said. “I don’t think you have to have any similarities with the people you’re advocating for, like I can advocate for people in Sudan or like people in Puerto Rico or whatever it is, I think that you should feel closeness anyway.”

Editorial Team:
Sahar Fatima, Lead Editor
Carolyn Copeland, Top Editor
Rashmee Kumar, Copy Editor

Related