Competing National and Religious Identities: A Case Study of Kashmir

The Kashmir dispute is defined by competing and intersecting identities encompassing religious nationalism, secular nationalism and ethnic Kashmiri nationalism. This study explores how these intersecting identities – expressed through Pakistan’s religious nationalism, India’s secular nationalism and native identity of the Kashmiris known as Kashmiriyat – produce various ideas of a nation. The study highlights the internal and external identity tensions that underlie the conflict, including polarisation of Hindu and Muslim nationalisms, paradoxes of India’s secular democratic framework and evolving Kashmiri nationalist aspirations for autonomy or freedom. Religion is a compelling variable that weaves together ethnicity and political mobilisation, intensifying the ethnoreligious character of the conflict. Through an analysis of secondary literature, the research builds on the argument that Kashmir’s identity is dynamic and fluid, moving between exclusiveness and inclusiveness because of external pressures, thereby making the conflict more difficult to solve. It is crucial to understand these conflicting identities to resolve the long-standing conflict and find lines of peace and autonomy.