Victims of Enforced Disappearance in Kashmir: A Socio-cultural Perspective

With thousands of civilian casualties, the conflict in Kashmir is one of the longest-running unsolved wars in history. The cross-border infiltration and home-grown insurgency have resulted in the enforced disappearance and extra-judicial killing in the Valley. With the destruction and strategies that accompany these crimes, there is a unique unforeseen ramification — half widows and the children of the disappeared. This poignant and vulnerable group is neglected and often left unnoticed in the ongoing struggle for control of territory. The paper attempts to provide a socio-cultural and economic perspective on victims of enforced disappearance – half widows and children- and further examines the repercussions of conflict in the young generation of Kashmir Valley.