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People will become like that: Environmental Loss and the Kashmiri Pandits

A thesis presented by

Simi Bhat
to

The Committee on Degrees in Environmental Science and Public Policy


in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a degree with honors of Bachelor of Arts Harvard College Cambridge, Massachusetts March 2008

Acknowledgements
Over the summer of 2007, I had the privilege of meeting a dynamic and kind group of people. The Kashmiri Pandits who almost two decades ago were torn from their homes amidst terrible violence generously welcomed me into their lives. Indeed, they treated me more like family than a researcher or guest. Despite their tight financial situations, they continuously beseeched me to have more tea, cookies, and even walnuts some had brought back from recent trips to Kashmir. They openly shared their most vivid memories and deepest desires with me, and I was often struck by their profound thoughts. I remember one woman in particular who wiped the sweat off her brow and wearily told me The way the environment is, people will become like that. The displacement had taken its toll on this woman, her family, and all the Kashmiri Pandits whom I met. I have written this thesis to tell their story in the hopes that you the reader will be moved by both their struggles and their perseverance. I was only able to meet the displaced Pandits through the hard work and organization of several cultural and political leaders. Mr. Sanjay Kaul and Mr. Sunil Fotedar of the Kashmiri Overseas Association provided me with tremendous support from the United States. Mr. Sunil Shakdhar introduced me to much of the displaced community in New Delhi, and Mr. Ashwini Chrungoo of the Global Human Rights Defense was pivotal in securing my arrangements in Jammu. Through Mr. Chrungoo, I met the four men who guided me throughout my fieldwork in Jammu: Mr. Krishen Koul, Mr. Chaman Lal Koul, Mr. Shiban Dhar, and Mr. Kuldeep Dhar. All of these people were extremely professional and courteous, and I owe them much thanks. I did not simply drop into India, but was lovingly received by my cheerful relatives. Many of them also accompanied me on my interviews. My uncles Mr. Bal Krishen Bhat, Mr. Tej Krishen Bhat, and Mr. Ashok Kotha, my aunts Mrs. Sudhi Mattoo, and Mrs. Kusum Kaul, and my cousins Shivsmriti Kaul and Deepshika Bhat all took time away from their busy schedules to shuttle me from interview to interview and to lend their support when needed. I would especially like to thank my grandfather Mr. Som Nath Kotha who braved the almost unbearable heat of Jammu in order to join me on my daily treks to the camps and interviews. Transforming a bundle of interview notes into a thesis is a long and complicated process, and I have been fortunate to have had a phenomenal advisor to share in the journey. Professor Sheila Jasanoff has read and painstakingly edited countless drafts of this thesis, even the ones I sheepishly submitted in the wee hours of the morning. She encouraged me to think more critically, write more concisely, and express the passion not that a researcher has for her subjects, but that a person has for humanity. Numerous other people also aided me greatly in this effort. Mr. John Mathew provided excellent feedback about several chapters, Mr. Michael Rindner and Mr. Neil Aggarwal shared valuable information, Mr. Petros Egziabher and Ms. Joyce Zhang helped tackle specific writing issues, and my friends Christina Anderson, Erin Gums, Tess Hamilton and Yonas Yemane provided constant encouragement both in the form of words and chocolate. Finally, I would like to thank my parents who first introduced me to the idea of Kashmir, who encouraged me to believe that the environment is worth protecting, and who have always supported my endeavors with bright smiles and steady hearts.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Plight of the Pandits1 Historical Context Post-Displacement Life Research Background Chapter 2: Political Territory and Personal Soil......10 British Perspective on Kashmir Indian and Pakistani Perspective on Kashmir Pandit Perspective on Kashmir Chapter 3. Land and Livelihood27 Economic Hierarchies and the Environment Pandit Economic Activities Post-Displacement Economic Roles New Economic Hierarchies Inverting Environmental Importance Chapter 4: Space and Spirituality..42 Ecological Thought in Modernity Ecological Thought in India Nature and Religion in Kashmir Environment and Religion After Displacement Implications of Pandit Spirituality Thought Chapter 5. Fulfilling Environmental Needs..61 Rehabilitation Programs Proposed Policy Solutions Broader Significance of Displacement Tables....68 Appendix 1: Methodology...69 Appendix 2: Interview Questions...73 References.....74

Chapter 1

The Plight of the Pandits

Figure 1. View of Himalayan Mountains from the Kashmir valley Source: AlamgirAgencies.com Blinding white light sweeps down over the mountain peaks. Wisps of clouds catch the light and spiral around the mountain, gradually diffusing to reveal layers of snow. On this warm spring day, the snow is slowly melting, forming tiny rivulets on the slopes. The meltwater meanders through patches of tall evergreen trees before dripping down into the expansive lake below. The flowing water creates ripples that undulate away from the towering mountain. The glistening lake opens in a lush green meadow, inviting animals in for a drink. A family of ducks has just emerged from the lake and starts to waddle into the meadow. The smallest duck confusedly shakes off water from 1

his feathered bottom, rushing to join his mother at the front of line. She is far away already, past his four brothers and sisters, past a crease at the edge of the scene. The mountain scene is not encompassed by a clear blue sky, as the picture promises, but by caking, yellowed dry wall. The landscape is merely an image, a poster crinkled and faded with age. It hangs in the corner of a tiny room, over a rusty metal cabinet overflowing with pots, sheets, pillows and books. All of the necessities of life have been tossed together in this room, as it is the only space a family of six can claim as its own. The family once lived by mountains not too far from the one in the poster, and the children in the family would chase after the ducks flying over their fields. Now they strain to remember the sounds of the animals in the distance, the look of the mountains they left behind, the joy of the life they once knew.

Figure 2. A camp room in New Delhi Source: Photograph by author

This family and hundreds of thousands like them were forced from the valley of Kashmir nineteen years ago. The land was once the source of their pride, their

livelihood, their spiritual inspiration. Now, cut off from their homeland, they languish in squalid quarters, uncertain of what each new day may bring. This thesis intends to explore the relationship between these people and their environment, the multiple levels of meaning layered onto the land. Since displacement, these people were forced to change how they related to the environment and to each other. They have infused their new lands with original meanings, constructing new environments. Yet their bond with their old environment continues to influence their actions even today. Historical Context The valley of Kashmir sits at the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, a majestic landscape covered with sparkling snow in winter, and alive with blooming flowers and whistling birds in summer. It has long been extolled as a paradise on earth. In the 4th century, the renowned Sanskrit poet Kalidasa described the valley as more beautiful than the heaven, and in the 19th century, British historian Walter Lawrence characterized it as an emerald set in pearls. Ironically, this beautiful land has also been the setting of grotesque actions of war, especially during the last several decades. Wrenched between the two young nations of India and Pakistan, the valley and its surrounding areas have been the source of perpetual contention since the end of British rule in 1947. After bitter and prolonged independence negotiations, South Asian leaders voted to partition the former colony into two states-India, a constitutionally secular country, and Pakistan, a theocratic Muslim state. Regional princes who reigned during the British Raj could declare allegiance to either

country, usually choosing on the basis of their own religion or the religion of their constituents (Bose 2003). The prince of Kashmir was himself Hindu but ruled over a Muslim majority, and waffled in indecision. After Pakistani-backed forces invaded

Kashmir in October 1947, the prince petitioned India for military aid, promising limited accession in return. The Indian troops quelled the uprising, but the accessional

compromise remained controversial. The skirmish escalated into a war over Kashmir right after Independence, and India and Pakistan have since fought three more wars in 1965, 1971, and 1999. The war of 1971 resulted in a cease-fire line that continues to exist almost unaltered today as the Line of Control. The line runs through the region of Kashmir, demarcating the areas of Jammu, Ladakh, and the valley of Kashmir as Indian-controlled territory, and the Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir as Pakistani-controlled territory (see Figure 3). Though both countries control comparable amounts of land, the valley of Kashmir is the most coveted of all of the areas. Fertile, temperate, and economically productive, the valley would be a boon for either country. Kashmiri politicians recognized the strategic importance of their land. In the 1980s, amidst allegations of election fraud in the valley, leaders supporting complete independence for all areas of Kashmir from both India and Pakistan began an underground terror campaign against Indian government officials. They set off bombs in public places, kidnapped government allies, and issued threats of more brutal future action. This violent insurgency was buttressed by pro-Pakistani militant groups that soon took over the terrorism themselves. These groups had a clear anti-Hindu mission and

aimed to kill or remove all Kashmiri Hindus, commonly known as Pandits, from the valley.

Figure 3. Map of Kashmir Source: Central Intelligence Agency 1990 (authors own highlighting) On January 4, 1990, inhabitants of the valley awoke to the sound of mosque loud speakers, which usually announce the regular call to prayers, instead issuing threats on the lives of Kashmiri Pandits. The anti-Hindu slogans of Yehan Kya Chalega- Nizame Mustafa proclaimed what will prevail here- the law of the Prophet Mohammad, and Assi Gachhi Kasheer Batau Rous Batnew Sann warned that militants wanted Kashmir with Pandit women but without the men (Panun Kashmir Movement 2004: 128-129). The Alsafa and the Srinagar Times, two popular Srinagar newspapers, printed a press release from the pro-Pakistani militant group Hizb-al Mujahideen urging all Pandits to

leave the valley or suffer the consequences. A Pandit nurse was raped and killed in a Srinagar hospital, and Pandit families in two villages in the Budgam district were massacred (Gill 2004). A few days afterwards, the Indian federal government dismissed the politicians whose policies had inspired the first wave of militancy and brought the region under direct federal rule (Bose 2003). The federal government assigned a When Jagmohan

bureaucrat, Governor Jagmohan to oversee Kashmir temporarily.

arrived to assume responsibility for the region on January 19, the Hizb-al Mujahideen issued another threat through the same newspapers (Gupta 2005). That night, the death slogans rang all across the valley again via mosque loud speakers. With an impotent government and escalating threats, the remaining Pandits quickly organized themselves to leave. Tens of thousands of Pandits stuffed their cars or cabs with family and

essentials and fled during the night. The Indian government attempted to instill order with paramilitary forces, but brutality ensued on both sides. Fields were burned, houses demolished, women raped, and children slaughtered at all times of the day and night.

Figure 4. Demolished house in Srinagar Source: KPLink.com 6

Finally, in April 1990, newspapers published an ultimatum from the Hizb-al Mujahideen that all remaining Kashmiri Pandits should leave the valley within two days or face death (Warikoo 2001). Pandits were lynched, branded with hot irons, drowned, raped and sometimes even sawed into pieces. Between the beginning of 1989 and the end of 1990, records indicate that 95% of all Kashmiri Pandits, some 242,758 people, fled the valley; an estimated 1,000 Pandits were killed (Global Human Rights Defense 2007). In the years since, the violence has far from subsided. Approximately 6,000 Indian soldiers, 25,000 civilians, and 19,000 guerilla fighters were killed between January 1990 and December 2004 (Bose 2007). Post-Displacement Life In spite of the widespread violence, the Indian government has not officially acknowledged the forced nature of the displacement. The government labels the Pandits as migrants as if they had left the valley to pursue economic opportunity instead of to preserve their lives. The international humanitarian community has recognized the

Pandits as Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs), people who have fled their homes under the threat of violence yet remain within the borders of their original country (Interal Displacement Monitoring Centre 2007). As the Indian government does not grant the Pandits the status of IDPs, they are not obliged to provide shelter and assistance by international covenants. Ignored by the government and unable to return to Kashmir in its state of turmoil, most Pandits sought refuge in the cities below. About two-thirds of the Pandits stopped in Jammu, a city 305 km south of the valley, while most of the remaining Pandits fled farther to New Delhi, the nations capital (PKM 2004). The cities had made no

preparation to accommodate the influx of displaced people, and concentrated them into open spaces. Tent cities sprang up in Jammu along the marshy wastelands, while the Kashmiri cultural center building in New Delhi became the new home of Pandits with no other recourse. The temporary, emergency accommodations remained in place as months and years passed. Slowly, the tents in Jammu gave way to government provided concrete and tin structures. In New Delhi, some Pandits still live in community center buildings, and sheets hanging from the ceiling serve as separators between rooms. In both cities, these poorly built and maintained areas house hundreds of families (see Table 1). Each family is allocated a space of about 100 square feet, the size of a small room. Electricity is sporadic, leaving the rooms frigid in the winter and burning in the summer. People often spend their afternoons outside as the temperature inside the rooms is unbearable. They rush to bathe and cook for the few hours that running water is available. Still, the Pandits make sure to wash the narrow unpaved alleys that run between the shelters themselves to ward off the diseases that fester in filth. Large walls and padlocked gates enclose the housing areas, isolating the Pandits from the outside community. Outside the walls, some Pandits attempt to run convenience supply stalls, hawking their wares to passersby. One gets the feeling in these areas, the camps as people call them, that everyone is just biding time, waiting for something better to happen.

Figure 5. Alley in Jammu camp Source: Photograph by author

Research background I visited India in the summer of 2007 to interview the Pandits about their experiences and their conception of the environment, both the one they left and the one in which they are now living (see Appendix 1 and 2). I conducted focus groups in the camps in both cities, though given logistical constraints, I spent most of my time in Jammu. Altogether, I spoke to 106 people in the camps (see Table 2). In the nineteen years since their initial displacement, most of the Pandits have been able to move out of the camps and into their own residences. I had the opportunity to interview a total of 35 such Pandits in the two cities I visited. I found that people were keenly aware of the differences between the environment of Kashmir and that of their new cities. Moreover, people associated changes in the environment with changes in their lifestyle and beliefs. This thesis investigates the Pandits' political, economic, and religious connections to the valley of Kashmir and whether these connections were broken, retained, or reformed after displacement. I will argue that the Pandits had incorporated their expectations about the environment into their culture and daily life in Kashmir. When these expectations went unfulfilled in their new lands, they became distressed and attempted to replicate parts of their old environment in their new ones. As one Pandit said in the torturing heat of the Jammu camps, "The way the environment is, people will become like that." In what follows, I explore the Pandits' conceptualization of their environment, and examine the ways these changed after displacement. My analysis repeatedly reveals conflicts between the

Pandits' desire to retain their environmental habits and preferences and the pressures to abandon them in a new setting.

Chapter 2

Political Territory and Personal Soil


The land of Kashmir has attracted many rulers. After medieval times, the

Mughal, Afghan, and Sikh emperors successively established control over Kashmir. The British came to power in the late 18th century, first via economic dominance and then officially under the political power of the crown. Britain viewed Kashmir as a

strategically important barrier between colonial India and the nomads of the north. When the colonial government yielded to the independence movement, both India and Pakistan claimed Kashmir as their own. To the newly independent countries, Kashmir was more than a piece of contested territory. It was and continues to be a symbol of religious tolerance for India and religious unity for Pakistan, the birthplace of many political leaders on both sides, and a cherished homeland for the Kashmiri people themselves. The two countries have fought four wars over Kashmir since independence, ravaging the land in the hope that they would establish their authority over its people. But for the hundreds of thousands of people left homeless and destitute by the constant warfare and accompanying atrocities, the Kashmiri land has been defiled. The Kashmiri people had a personal connection with the land, deeper than the relationship between conquerors and their conquest. The

Pandits displacement in 1989-90, in particular, provoked a bitterness that they articulate today in political terms. Having forged vital historical ties to the land, the Pandits feel entitled to its continued ownership.

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British Perspective on Kashmir Kashmirs strategic geographic location and abundant natural resources have been coveted by its many conquerors. Situated north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, west of the Tibetan Plateau, east of the Iranian Plateau, and south of the Taklamakan Desert, Kashmir sits at the crossroads of naturally bounded empires. Pierced by the sharp precipices of the Himalayan mountain range, Kashmir provides an ideal lookout in all directions. The mountains serve as an insurmountable natural barrier critical to defense, while the isolation and height of the mountains confer a significant advantage on offensive forces. The forbidding, icy mountain cover begins to melt in the spring, but what is lost in military advantage is gained ecologically. The meltwaters flow into the dozens of lakes and rivers of Kashmir, providing the primary source of freshwater to lands to the south and west (Mayfield 1955). The rivers erode minerals trapped in the mountain rocks and carry these nutrients into the valley, fertilizing soils along the way. The arable land in the valley yields at least twice as many of the most widely grown crops in the region than the plains below, and much more than the deserts above (Qazi 2005). The lush land and the temperate climate foster crop growth and sustain valuable livestock. In sum, the land is full of the riches that conquerors have wanted to extract.

Figure 6. Satellite Image of Kashmir Source: Geology.com

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For these reasons, a history of Kashmir is a history of invasions from all directions. The Mughals of the north invaded Kashmir in 1594, eventually stretching their empire from the tips of the Hindu Kush Mountains to the Bay of Bengal (Schwartzberg 2006). As the Mughal empire began to weaken, the Afghan empire ascended in the west. The Afghans overtook Kashmir in 1784 but ruled for less than a century. The burgeoning Sikh empire seized Kashmir from the south, and the peaks of the Himalayas became the crown of their territory in 1834. Their rule lasted less than four decades as British soldiers sought to eradicate all threats to the new jewel in the crown of Queen Victorias British empire, the Indian colony. The British defeated the Sikhs, and placed Kashmir under the rule of a loyal Punjabi prince in 1848. They thereby evaded the difficulty of ruling a land isolated from the rest of British India, but at the same time maintained a buffer zone between India and the Afghans to the northwest.1 The territorial acquisition of Kashmir was a pragmatic move by the British. They expanded their power while minimizing their efforts in an efficient system of control (Rai 2004). The British were not emotionally connected to the land; nor did they feel the need to own the land themselves. Even when British traders petitioned the colonial

government for the right to purchase land in Kashmir, the Viceroy did not pressure the Kashmiri monarch to grant them land ownership rights (Rai 2004). This was not an act of overwhelming generosity, as the British were not particularly concerned about the

. Lord Ripon feared any disturbances which continued misgovernment might create in Kashmir would be acutely felt on the frontiers of Afghanistan. Letter from Government of India to the Secretary of State for India, dated 7 April 1884, Foreign Department (Secret E)/Pros. May 1884/nos. 354-7, NAI. (Rai 2004: 135)

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Kashmiri people, whom they saw as disgusting and vulgar creatures.2 Rather, it was an indifference to the land beyond its utility as a buffer territory. Indian and Pakistani Perspective on Kashmir However, Indians and Pakistanis did value the land of Kashmir for more than its political value. As anthropologist Arjun Appadurai notes, space assumes more personal meaning for inhabitants than for its conquerors. He distinguishes between a personal conception of land as soil and a pragmatic conception of land as territory. Appadurai explains, While soil is a matter of a spatialized and originary discourse of belonging, territory is concerned with integrity, surveyability, policing, and subsistence (1996). Since residents feel an organic connection to the soil, their decisions encompass more than the utilitarian costs and benefits associated with property rights and the use of resources. Political decisions based on emotional connection to the land have a long history in South Asia, as expressed at the time of Independence. Leaders of the Independence movement articulated their personal ties to their native land in their patriotic slogans. Vande Mataram! or We bow to thee, mother(land)! became a rallying cry against British rule (Ramaswamy 2001). In 1937, the Indian National Congress adopted the first two stanzas of the song Vande Mataram as their national song. They translate as follows:

Historian Mridu Rai comments that in the eyes of the British, almost invariably, Kashmir and the Kashmiris seemed absurdly mismatched (2004: 3). She cites an 1846 letter by a Lt. Col. Of the British Army describing the Kashmiris as despicable creature[s] who behave in a whining and cringing manner. A travel guide published in 1910 by a British surgeon in India is slightly kinder: the Kashmirisremarkable for the possession of a fine physique, but little manliness; a quick intelligence but few moral qualities (Neve 1910: v). 13

My obeisance to thee, Mother India! With flowing beneficial waters, filled with the choicest fruits, Sandalwood wafts cool, Lovely mooned nights, o mother! My obeisance to you! This song evokes both a sense of belonging to the land and gratitude for its natural bounty. Similarly, the Pakistani National Anthem declares, Blessed be the sacred land, happy be the bounteous realm, symbol of high resolve, land of Pakistan. These words tie the wellbeing of the people to the generosity of the land. Since India and Pakistan both venerated the same land, conflict was inevitable. As the country underwent a violent and socially wrenching partition in 1947, Kashmir became a divisive issue. Ruled by a Hindu monarch, but populated by majority Muslims, the region was claimed by both India and Pakistan. While the monarch, Maharaja Hari Singh, was still hesitating on which country to accede to, Pakistani forces invaded Kashmir in October. The Maharaja turned to the Indian government for defense, and promised limited accession if they provided swift protection (Bose 2003). Though Indian troops quelled the uprising, the peace was only temporary. Since Partition, Kashmir has remained the greatest source of tension between the two new countries, flaring into war about once a decade. The territory of Kashmir assumed even greater strategic importance in the post-Independence era. During the Cold War, the worlds interest in Kashmir peaked as the territory could either solidify or break apart the communist belt starting in Afghanistan and ending in China (Jalal 1995). Kashmir borders the currently politically volatile regions of Tibet and southern China. The acquisition of Kashmir represented a tremendous geopolitical gain for both countries.

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Figure 7. Political map of Asia centered on Kashmir. Source: MapsToTravel.com

In terms of energy, sustenance, and security, Kashmir was seen as vital to the interests of Pakistan. As the geographical scientist Robert Mayfield posited in 1955, there were two main reasons Pakistan continued funding military missions to Kashmir: hydroelectric power and water for irrigation. The generation of electricity posed a major hurdle to future development, and Kashmirs high mountains and numerous rivers were prime locations for dams. Pakistanis also feared that Indian diversion of the rivers would leave them without water for their otherwise parched land. Mayfield insisted, No army could devastate a land so thoroughly as could India by shutting off Pakistans water supply (1955). This threat became a concrete reality in 1948 when an Indian

construction project cut off water from the Ravi river. The city of Lahore, now part of Pakistan, was left without water for five weeks. The Ravi and Sutlej rivers, the geographical features that demarcate the Line of Control, are particularly important to Pakistan as they are the only natural barriers that separate the country from India. Otherwise, the 700 miles of border that Kashmir shares with Pakistan can be easily breached.

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However, some of Pakistans concerns were unfounded as India did not have the power to inflict severe damage on Pakistan through Kashmir in the 1940s and 1950s. There were no reservoirs or canals along the Indus river that flowed into Pakistan, nor did India have the money to invest in dams that would cut off water flow to Pakistan right after independence. Also, with the Pir Panjal range just south of the Himalayan

headwaters of the rivers, water could not be diverted south in any significant quantity. Strategic possession of land alone thus could not account for Pakistans intense interest in Kashmir. Indian interest in Kashmir is even less comprehensible on the basis of territorial interests alone. Kashmir borders India for only 350 miles, half the length of its border with Pakistan. Moreover, the Indo-Kashmiri border is mountainous and impenetrable, save for a small 30 mile pass. Suggestions that India continues to fight for Kashmir in order to protect itself from Chinese threats are also suspect as there are two far easier routes into India which do not run through the disputed regionthe Zojila Pass in India and the Hunza Pass in Pakistan. If territorial interests alone are not the reason that India and Pakistan invest so much effort into Kashmir, then what is? Some political scientists think that the true importance of Kashmir lies in its political symbolism. As a majority Muslim state, Kashmir would have been the pinnacle of Indian secularism. Yet its religious

demographics ensured that Pakistan, with its Muslim mission and government, would also lay claim to it (Ganguly, Bajpai 1994, Hewitt 1997). While the political symbolism argument is valid to some degree, it too neglects other key factors.

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Kashmir has been of tremendous subjective and emotional, not just political, importance to the early leaders of India and Pakistan. Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was born and raised in Kashmir. When writing to his daughter in 1934, Nehru reminded her that Kashmir was their homeland and has a special claim on [us]Kashmir draws us still both by its beauty and its old associations. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, became the third Prime Minister of India. She had fond memories of Kashmir, having vacationed there as a child. She responded to her fathers exhortations to open her heart to Kashmir with long descriptions of the environment: In this wonderful land, no matter where you are you get a lovely view of the snow-covered peaks which surround it and the beautiful springs. I dont think the waters of Kashmir can be compared with those of any other country. They have a standard of their own. All the gardens have fountains in them, which play every Sunday. And on this day those near Srinagar are crowded with people of all descriptions, caste and creeds, even the poorest Kashmiris sally forth with their samovars. It was during one of her vacations in Srinagar that the 1965 India-Pakistan war broke out. Though Gandhi was warned that the Pakistani army was approaching, she stayed in Kashmir. She held press conferences reassuring India from her home base in the valley, drawing attention to her family ties to Kashmir. Similarly, the Pakistani leadership is deeply connected to Kashmir. The first politician to defend the separation of India and Pakistan on the basis of the legal implications of Islam, Sir Muhammed Iqbal, was an influential figure in Pakistani politics. He was born into a Kashmiri family and wrote beautiful poetry about the Kashmiri landscape. Iqbals poem Himalaya describes the mountains encircling the valley: The snow has bestowed on you a turban turreted high; Which bemocks the burning sun and his dazzling eye (Kanda, 2006: 25). His compatriot, the then Foreign

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Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, shared some of Iqbals passion for Kashmir. Bhutto told the U.N. Security Council on May 11, 1964, The voice of Kashmir, so long muted, is heard again, telling India clearly and unmistakably that Kashmir is not property, nor its four million people loot or booty. The newly independent nations shared the notion that Kashmir was emotionally, as well as politically, important. Pandit Perspective on Kashmir If Kashmir held special meaning for politicians who spent their careers removed from the region, then we might expect Kashmir to be that much more significant for the people who spent their lives attached to the land. Indeed, the displaced people were connected to the land in a way that was more than economic or physical. Sitting in front of his new clothing shop, one of my interviewees explained, We may eat well, we may live well, but something will never leave our minds--that is the valley. Another added, We remember it all the time, every second. While the interviewees could specify reasons why isolation from the land had hurt their monetary well-being or religious practices, they often ended discussions with sentimental statements, without examples or evidence, just expressing a lingering feeling of personal loss. Yet the Pandits did not enjoy a simple, idealized agricultural life in the valley. They could not have been entirely apolitical creatures as they lived under political rulers who enforced a system of land rights. The Pandits internalized these land rights as a natural order rather than a political construct, seeing their privileges over the land more as a birthright than as a political entitlement. The non-Pandit Kashmiris believed the post-Independence land distribution was inherently unfair, and the clashing ideologies over appropriate land rights contributed to rising militancy. Pandits declared the

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displacement of 1989 to be part of a pattern of unjust land seizures, and have maintained that their political claims to the land are valid. Land Distribution Before 1947, Kashmir was ruled by a British authorized Hindu Dogra monarchy.3 The policies of this ruling family overtly discriminated against the majority Muslim community. The monarchs also enticed the Kashmiri Pandits with tax-free or reduced tax land grants, in hopes that they would remain loyal and not convert to Islam. The Hindu Maharajas began granting chak hanudis, or grants of unused land, specifically earmarked for Hindus in the late 1860s (Rai 2004). The last Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, continued this pattern of bribery. Hari Singh solidified his power by granting jagirs, or large plots of land, to potential allies (Mayfield 1955). During the first five years of his rule, twenty-five jagirs were granted, of which only two were given to Muslims. As a result of Dogra land policy, Kashmiri Pandits owned 30 percent of the land in the valley, a striking figure as they only comprised 5 percent of the population (Rai 2004). This imbalance, combined with the strict exclusion of Muslims from other lucrative posts, fostered religious tensions in Kashmir. After Partition, the valley of Kashmir fell within Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir. The democratic politics of the newly independent state ushered populist

politicians into power. The dominant National Conference party resolved to reform land ownership and institute a more equitable distribution. These were not just empty

promises, as Kashmiri politicians were granted special control over land policy by the Indian federal government as part of the negotiation of its last minute accession (Bose The Dogras are ethnically distinct from the Kashmiri Pandits, speak a different language, and hail from the Jammu region. 19
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2003). Though the Indian government had enacted laws for a conservative land reform schedule and mandated some compensation for current land owners, Kashmir was not bound to such rules. The state government, radical in its speed and socialist tendencies, parceled out thousands of acres of land (Park 1952, Rai 2004). During the early 1950s, the state government passed the Abolition of Landed Estates Act. These laws mandated that all agricultural plots in excess of twenty-two and three-quarters acres were distributed to peasants or converted into state property. Approximately 9,000 landowners were affected by the land reform; 396 of them had held more than 125 acres each (Swami 2003). The land reforms allowed for these lands to be transferred to hundreds of

thousands of tillers. Between 1953 and 1986, the percentage of small land holdings (1 acre or less) skyrocketed from 42 percent to 73 percent of total holdings (Chandhoke 2005). The majority of the tillers were Muslim while the majority of the previous large land holders had been Hindu Pandits. Tense communal relations, already on edge

because of the partition, were further exacerbated. Yet this tension was not accompanied by systematic change in the economic status of the Kashmiri Muslims. Though the land reforms aimed to uplift the poorer classes and promote equity, they were largely unsuccessful. The new plots of land were too small to be efficient as the modern fertilization, pest-control, and irrigation techniques were better suited to large plantations than small farms (Chandhoke 2005). The

productivity of the land actually decreased after land reform. The poor Muslim farmers did not see their incomes rise significantly and felt that the politicians had cheated them with promises of equality. Those regions with the lowest economic potential became hotspots of turbulence. With no better prospects, youth in the districts with the greatest

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unemployment quickly turned to militancy (Verma 1992). Meager yields were not the only issue, but they were important. Political disenfranchisement fueled anger against the predominantly Hindu state government, and after a fraudulent election in 1988, militant groups gained in power and legitimacy. Insurgency and the Transformation of the Political Landscape These militant groups made and carried out threats on the Pandits lives. They circulated statements that Pandits should leave the valley or be forced to suffer the consequences. Thousands of Pandits fled while these threats were still mere rumblings in 1989, after a few months, pillaging, rape, and murder became common news. Militants were even advised to chop up the bodies of Pandits before leaving them to rot. Fearing for their lives, hundreds of thousands of Pandits fled the valley. The brutal insurgency tainted the Kashmiri environment for those who remained behind. Scenes of bloodshed were overlaid on the remembered landscape, blurring previous memories. One anonymous writer poignantly described his new environment: I cant drink water because I feel it is mixed with the blood of young men who die up in the mountains. I cant look at the sky because it is no longer blue, it is painted red. I cant listen to the roar of the gushing stream, it reminds me of the wailing mother next to the bullet-riddled body of her only son. I cant listen to the thunder of the clouds, it reminds me of a bomb blast. I feel the green of my garden has faded, perhaps it too mourns. The sparrow and cuckoo are silent, perhaps they too are sad. (Bose 2003) The devastating realities of war forced the residents who chose not to flee, those who kept their political land ownership rights, to change how they related to the environment. Their homeland, important for its personal, subjective significance, was reconstructed as a landscape of war.

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Those who were forced to sever their personal ties to the land also transformed their perception of their past environment. While once, Kashmiri Pandits believed, as Nehru did, that the land had a special claim on [them], now they demand rights over the land. The first Pandit political conference was held in July 1990, only a few months after the exodus began. The delegates proclaimed that The Kashmiri Hindu has an ethnic, moral and legal right over Kashmir. They corroborated this claim with their conception of political history. In the conference, the Pandits represented themselves as the original inhabitants of Kashmir, and disparaged their Muslim neighbors as invaders from the north. An often-told story in the community dates back to the 1300s when Muslim rulers oppressed Hindu inhabitants so violently that most fled for the southern plains (M. Koul 2008). Eleven Pandit families are said to have persevered through this trying time, forming the genealogical ancestry of all present-day Pandits. Today, the Pandits take pride in this story of resilience and view themselves as the aboriginal people of Kashmir. They see their current displacement as part of a larger pattern of loss (Aggarwal 2007). The Pandits disparage the land reforms enacted in the 1950s as covert displacement and begrudge the state government for limiting the potential owners of land in Kashmir to only those who were born in Kashmir, as their own children will no longer be able to purchase land. They believe that their exile is not only inhumane but unjust. The 1990 conference was followed by the Margdarshan Convention, a larger, better-organized Pandit political gathering held in Jammu in December 1991. The

Margdarshan Convention passed a resolution that has become the focal point for Pandit demands. Maintaining the assertion of aboriginality, or first settlement, the conference proclaimed that since Pandits have equal rights to the land of their birth [sic] they stake

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their claim to be an equal party to any future deliberations in the process of normalization and ultimate solution of the Kashmir problem (PKM 2004: 329). The ancestral claim on the land was politicized, and the first recommendation the conference made was to establish a separate homeland for Pandits in Kashmir, in a sparsely populated area northeast of the main river Jhelum. They requested government support for this

homeland in the forms of protection, infrastructure, and assurance that all Pandits might return. The Homeland Resolution, as it was called, sparked a revolution in Pandit politics. All official documents and petitions after this convention assert that Kashmiri Pandits have an inalienable right to the land, and they will not rest until it is restored to them. Political speeches and demonstrations following the Homeland Resolution distinguished Kashmiri land as necessary to the survival of the Pandit ethnicity. In a political protest in 1999, hundreds gathered to memorialize those murdered during the turmoil ten years earlier. Their spokesperson, Dr. K.L. Choudhary, reiterated their

resolve for a separate homeland. The group born out of efforts like this named itself Panun Kashmir, or Our Kashmir, in reference to their ultimate goal, namely, a separate homeland. In the Panun Kashmir literature, Pandits are represented as part of the Vedic heartland of India [who have] lived in Kashmir from time immemorial and were uprooted and thrown into the wilderness (2004). This theme has been adopted by Kashmiri political advocates outside of India as well. Mr. Vijay Sazawal, former

president of the Indo-American Kashmir Forum, a political organization that seeks redress for the displaced Pandits, writes that Kashmir is the land of their ancestors and that as aborigines of Kashmir, the Pandits have every right to return (1995).

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Since the Pandits claim on Kashmir is based on both personal ties and political rights, their organizations attempt to incorporate both kinds of arguments into their platforms. However, the organizations must choose a dominant tone to project to the public. Though Panun Kashmir has broken into three factions since the early 1990s, leaders of all three maintain strong positions about the necessity of a separate homeland. Mr. Ashwini Chrungoo, Dr. Ajay Chrungoo, and Mr. Agni Shekher are three professional career men turned politicians. I interviewed them in their homes in Jammu over the summer, and found commonalities in their interpretations of displacement. They all view the Kashmiri land as a life-giving force, displacement from which creates severe psychological and social as well as economic hardship. Dr. Chrungoo said that the entire culture was an emergent property of a geographical place, having evolved with the land over hundreds of years. Since they are simply asking for a return of natives to their political habitat, as Mr. Agni Shakher described it, they believe the request for a homeland is completely justified. Panun Kashmirs political message is deeply personal. Their website asks Pandits to join their cause when the displaced start feeling the pangs for your land - your Kashmir, rather than for your house, property and job. And we will talk to you about Homeland." The politicians have embraced the concept of the land in more than just utilitarian terms. They advocate for a return to their native soil rather than to their rightful territory. Yet other political figures question whether such personalization of Pandits political requests is effective. Mr. Ashok Pandit, a political advocate and documentary film maker, maintains an emotional perspective on the displacement, warning that the Kashmiri Pandits will decay very soon unless we are replanted in our own soil. He

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explained, We have been totally wiped out of our roots and have to fight to get them back. Our roots include everything- food, culture, community. Yet, despite the

emotional nature of the loss, Mr. Pandit warned, the IDPs could not afford to be merely sentimental in their requests. Mr. Pandit reflects, My generation has been too emotional about [their political action]. In Delhi, the youngsters are putting something [different] together. Young New Delhi politicians receive Mr. Pandits approval because he

believes they are professionally handling the situation with media coverage, political negotiation, and a clearly articulated platform. They operate on the assumption that change is to be won with reasoned political arguments rather than stories of personal ties to the land. Personal Perspective on Politics Are either the more personal arguments or the more sterile legal ones backed by the support of the displaced people? My interviewees in both the camps and the

residences were typically hostile or indifferent to politics. They did not believe that politicians made any decisions to benefit their environment or their welfare. As one interviewee commented, all politicians care about is politics. Save for the most

educated, the interviewees did not understand how the Kashmiri land could be important to India or Pakistan or the complicated process of negotiations between them. The Pandits believe that the land is much more significant to them than to any government. One interviewee in New Delhi was frustrated by the lack of progress in securing Kashmir and in aiding the displaced people. He listed several pilgrimage sites he used to frequent and then said, Few temples have been protected by the army. Every Kashmiri Pandit had his own house and landboth fields and orchards. All of the fields and orchards

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have been overtaken [by the people remaining in Kashmir]... We have lost our savings, business, everything. Our future is not going to be good. I am on the roadside earning a living. There is so much uncertainty. Everywhere you see the [the displaced people] they are uncertain about when they will go back. We are being humiliated in all ways. The state was not protecting his interestsin the land or otherwise. However, his greatest concern was that his children would not carry on his traditions. We dont mind for our property loss. Our daughters are losing culture. Someday we will be extinct. For the displaced Pandits, land loss is a matter of losing cultural integrity. The Pandits' ownership of the land might go back historically to their personal relationship as caretakers of the land, but it was codified through a political process. Political land rights reinforced their personal claims on the land. Today, some Pandit politicians narrate the story of displacement as a reversal of the moral order, minimizing the impact that legal control over the land had on their emotional connection to it. Other politicians neglect the Pandits' personal bonds and present data on their aggregated material loss. Neither political angle conveys stories of individual suffering. After nineteen years, displaced Pandits are largely apathetic to the aims of politics and are more concerned about losing their ways of life, customs that were traditionally tied to uses of the land.

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Chapter 3

Land and Livelihood


Land has historically provided the most basic human necessities. Natural

resources are, after all, resourcessuppliers of wealth in the form of food, water, minerals, and medicines, among other things. When there is wealth of any kind, Land ownership

including land, there is the possibility of its unequal distribution.

enabled economic stratification, especially after the advent of agriculture, and economic hierarchies based on ecological dominance continue to exist today. When people are displaced from their land, for many a fundamental source of economic power, they lose both their wealth and their economic status in society. Displacement has brought many of the Kashmiri Pandits severe economic hardship and accompanying shifts in power. Economic Hierarchies and the Environment In his best-selling 1997 book Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond popularized the theory that ecological dominance gave rise to societal hierarchies. He explains that humans began as hunter-gatherers, always chasing after their food. With the innovation of agriculture, humans were able to create permanent settlements around their fields. The stability of these settlements and the efficacy of agriculture allowed humans to collect and store food surplus. Such a surplus in turn enabled labor specialization: people who could be fed with the surplus could pursue non-food producing activities. The positions of king and chief were established to dole out the surplus in orderly fashion, professional soldiers were hired to protect the food, and priests were paid to provide spiritual justification for wars.

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In South Asia, this specialization became rigidified into the caste system. Ecologist Madhav Gadgil and social historian Ramachandra Guha, respected South Asian ecological thinkers, posit that agriculture created four distinct societal roles that evolved into castes (1992). The influx of agriculturalists, emigrating from the north, threatened the hunter-gatherers who once exclusively populated the Indo-Gangetic plain. With their efficient methods of food production, the cultivators quickly gained control over food surplus. The agriculturalists rose in power as they were able to dictate the terms on which others received aid. In order to appease the dominant new agricultural class, aboriginal tribes performed specific tasks beneficial to the food production and distribution system. The priests who guided others in spiritual fulfillment became known as Brahmins. People who defended the land and the agriculturalists became Kshatriyas, or warriors. The traders of the new agricultural goods became Vaishyas, or merchants. The peasants who worked on the land and the high-class artisans became Sudras. All others were excluded from the caste system and were simply dubbed untouchables. These labor roles eventually evolved into the caste system, a still powerful structure of social stratification in India. Though this system of occupational labeling is now

hereditary, and hence deeply discriminatory, it was once based on different forms of duty. Once entrenched, the caste system produced a cycle of environmental exploitation. The peasants grew crops for the warriors, who rationed out food to the other castes in order to maintain their power; the priests lived largely from the labor of those lower in the caste hierarchy. Modern society has many more roles than the four laid out in the historical Indian caste system. However, Gadgil and Guha believe that people still can be broadly

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classified in terms of their interactions with the environment (1995). The majority of Indians, in these authors way of thinking, are ecosystem people, people who depend primarily upon the environment for their economic needs. They are the rural farmers, the herders, and the fishermen of impoverished India. When these ecosystem people are displaced from their environments, they become ecological refugees. Indias

innumerable development projects and intermittent wars have resulted in the displacement of as much as one-third of its current total population and the creation of hundreds of millions of ecological refugees. The relatively thin stratum of the remaining one-sixth of the population consists of omnivores, the office-working elite of rapacious consumers. Gadgil and Guha describe these three classes of people as populations in and around metaphorical islands of prosperity: The omnivores inhabiting these islands are securely on firm ground. The bulk of Indias ecosystem people are submerged in the sea of poverty. The ecological refugees are hangers on at the edges of the islands of prosperity, somewhat like mudskipper fishes hopping around on the muddy beaches fringing mangrove islands. From time to time the tide swallows them; they manage to clamber back on to the mud, but can never make it to dry land. The omnivores, whose occupations are least tied to the land, are most assured of their place on the islands of prosperity, while those who work the land must be content to float around the wealth. The two South Asian hierarchies, the caste system and the ecosystem structure that Gadgil and Guha describe, both characterize people based on their relationship to the environment. It would seem at first glance that caste distinctions have transformed in modern India into ecosystem categories. Those who worked the land in one system

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remained those who work the land in the other. However, after thousands of years of societal flux, the caste system does not map so cleanly into the socioecological structure. In the case of the Kashmiri Pandits, Hindus displaced from the valley, caste did not dictate their primary economic role. Though they are Brahmins, the priestly duties of disseminating spiritual knowledge was but a small part of Pandit lives in Kashmir. Pandits were accorded the respect and privileges of Brahmins, including grants of land, but unlike most landowners in the rest of the subcontinent, they also cultivated the land themselves (Rai 2004). Instead of being itinerant omnivores, they were in this respect ecosystem people. Pandit Economic Activities The natural bounty of Kashmir helps explain the prevalence of ecosystem people in that region. With so many natural resources at their disposal, Kashmiri Pandits

profited from their connection to the land. Agriculture dominates the Kashmiri economy, employing approximately 80 percent of the population whether as laborers, land owners, traders, or related workers. Agricultural products constitute about 40 percent of the state domestic products and 60 percent of the total state revenue. The Pandit agriculturalists I interviewed owned on average 2-3 acres of land in Kashmir, and mainly cultivated rice and maize, though a handful also grew saffron. The farmers were able to live

comfortably on their agricultural income, earning enough money to provide their families with the basic necessities and the luxuries of weekend trips, large houses, and frequent parties. Rice cultivation was a sensible endeavor for the Pandits in Kashmir. Rice is Kashmirs most important food crop, as approximately 75 percent of all the rice in the

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state is from the valley (Qazi 2005). Approximately 374 thousand acres, or about 10 percent of the land in the valley, is dedicated to rice paddies. Traditional knowledge surrounding rice cultivation has been passed down for generations, allowing paddies to thrive even at elevations as high as 2500 meters above sea level. Locally produced rice is the staple food in the Kashmiri diet, and the surplus is exported to the rest of Asia.

Figure 8. Rice fields in Kashmir Source: Guardian.co.uk Many agriculturalists supplemented their agricultural income by growing maize in Kashmir. Statistically, maize is grown even more widely than rice in the valley. The mere 440 thousand acres of maize fields in the valley produces approximately 4 percent of all maize grown in India on only .05 percent of the countrys land. Maize is mainly grown on the hill slopes and can tolerate lower quality soil. The mountainous people on the edge of the valley consume maize, but it is mostly produced for fodder, or ground into flour or oil.

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A small minority of the Pandits I interviewed also produced saffron. Saffron is a purple flower that produces the expensive red condiment used in festive dishes for its flavor, color, and aroma. Rice and seafood dishes around the world are sprinkled with this spice. In ancient Sanskrit, saffron was known as Kashmirajanman, meaning product of Kashmir. The small region of Kerewas of Pampore in Kashmir is the traditional hub for saffron growing, though a few experimental plots have been planted in other areas. Saffron cultivation is a laborious process, as the stigmas of each flower must be picked by hand to obtain true saffron. The rest of the flower is then processed to obtain lowergrade saffron used for its red coloring or scent. One acre of saffron flowers yields less than one kilogram of both kinds, but farmers in Kashmir sell that kilogram for approximately $1,500 (Kashani 2007). In addition to their rice paddies and vegetable fields, Kashmiri agriculturalists also owned orchards. The wide variety of fruits grown in Kashmir includes apples, cherries, plums, pears, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, almonds and walnuts. Apples are the most important fruit crop, constituting fully 98.8 percent of the total fruit export by weight. Kashmiri walnuts are famous for their thin shells, which can be broken by hand (Qazi 2005). The total fruit export is 4.5 million kilograms produced on 130 thousand acres of land in the valley, or more fruit on a smaller land area than any other region in Central Asia. Landowners augmented the income from crops with livestock products. Cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and ponies are all raised in Kashmir. Livestock produce milk, milk products, wool and meat and also aid in fertilizing and plowing the land. In urban Srinagar, few households own livestock, but all other provinces of Kashmir average

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between 4 and 10 livestock per household (Qazi 2005). The famous cashmere wool comes from the goats of the mountainous region of Ladakh, populated mainly by Tibetan Buddhists, rather than the valley of Kashmir itself, so this product is not very important to the Pandit population. Most of their livestock is of local, non-professional breeds, and products are used mainly for household consumption. Beyond being integral to the livelihood of the farmers, the environment was also essential for business-oriented Pandits as a magnet for tourism. Most of the Kashmiri agriculturalists operated small businesses on the sides of their fields. These business people, as well as the shop-keepers, traders, and service providers lining the streets of resort locations, derived much of their profit from the flow of tourists. According to the Jammu and Kashmir State Government Department of Tourism website, between 1979 and 1989, an average of 600,000 tourists visited the valley each year, about half the annual tourist traffic that Bali receives now.

Figure 9. Tourists in Kashmir Source: KashmirOnline.net 33

Some of the Pandit villagers were also employed in professional vocations, providing them with ample income independent of the land. Government employees,

engineers, doctors, educators, journalists and other professionals would commute to their offices from their homes. They would work only thirty to forty hours a week outside the home, and still supervise fieldwork during the afternoons and evenings. Within the past few generations, some of the Pandits gave up their economic dependence on the ecosystem and moved to the city of Srinagar, becoming full-time urban professionals. Even those professionals who lived in the cities, however, would still grow small vegetable gardens in front of their houses, maintaining some connection to the ecosystem. Though some Pandits were becoming less economic dependent on the land, they still treasured their heritage as landowners and agricultural workers. Post-displacement Economic Roles After displacement, the agriculturalists did not feel valued as they were not able to contribute to their own or their communities economic worth. As ecosystem people, their chief means of subsistence had been their land; without it, they had nothing to produce. One wizened old man I interviewed compared his economic situation to that of a useless beast: We are just like animals living in these camps. Another stated his predicament numerically: There I used to spend 100 rupees a day [for non-essential goods]. Here I can hardly spend 100 rupees a month. Without the means to support themselves, the displaced people have become dependent on aid. They have no access to arable land in the camps, and the government has neglected its promises of compensation for lost land. The state government has pledged to compensate the IDPs for the loss of their land, offering half of the lost value as assessed by government officials, up to a

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maximum of 100,000 rupees. However, a survey of New Delhi IDP families indicates that only 21 percent of registered displaced families have received monetary compensation for their lost property from the government (PKM 2004). No family has been granted any compensation for the loss of their moveable property--their agricultural tools, stocks of seed crops, furniture, and so forth. Police reports insist that the IDPs took these properties with them during displacement or neglect to mention any such property (PKM 2004). Since the IDPs usually fled under the cover of night in crowded taxicabs, it is highly unlikely that they were able to bring all transportable property with them. Even without their equipment, some former farmers mentioned to me in the interviews that they tried to grow rice in the land around Jammu. They enjoyed very little success, as this crop does not grow as well in the unfriendly climate and poor soil of Jammu. The yield per acre of rice in Jammu is half as much as that in Kashmir (Qazi 2005). This may be caused by the cool temperature requirements of rice. Rice must be sown in temperatures of 21-27 C during the month of June, and ripens best in 35-37 C weather during the following three months. The temperatures in Jammu are on average 10 higher. As rice paddies must be flooded with water, rice is best grown on impervious soil that retains water. The clay soils of the valley are ideal for the crop, whereas the sandy soils of Jammu are better suited to wheat cultivation. Moreover, the variety of rice grown in Jammu is coarser and fetches a lower price. As most agriculturalists in Kashmir also operated side businesses that were less dependent on the land, the IDPs attempted to turn their secondary occupations in Kashmir into their primary ones in Jammu. An estimated 5000 Kashmiri Pandits were traders in the valley, but their main commodities of crops and tourist items are not widely produced

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in Jammu and New Delhi, and established business families dominate these areas. The shopkeepers who thrived on the tourist trade have opened small convenience, medical, or food stalls in the cities, but they complain of lack of compensation and an inability to attract enough business to earn a living. The government has made loans available to displaced traders and entrepreneurs seeking to start businesses in Jammu, but they must compete against each other and existing establishments (PKM 2004). Though Pandits were not significantly involved in the production of traditional Kashmiri crafts like shawls and paper machie in the valley, they have attempted to collaborate with the Muslim families that sell these wares in the popular markets of New Delhi (Duschinski 2007). Despite these efforts, thousands of the agriculturalists cum business people are still languishing in the camps. In the nineteen years since displacement, most IDPs have found steady work in their new locations and been able to move out of the camps (see Table 1). Those who have been able to purchase or rent their own residences are typically more highly educated than those living in the camps. Most of the residential interviewees I spoke to had degrees in engineering or the sciences or had obtained government positions in the cities (see Table 3). Former government employees are somewhat better off than those with other professions as the government has been paying them leave salaries or pensions. Families that must make do with this income alone are still living in the camps. New government positions have been hard to find in Jammu and New Delhi, though a small minority of previous government employees have found new posts. The most ecologically adaptable of all displaced Pandits, the professionals from Srinagar, have suffered the least. Though there are some displaced city-dwellers who

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still live in the camps, the vast majority of camp residents are former villagers. The urbanites ability to survive in the new environments reflects their economic independence from the environment of Kashmir. Almost all of the residential

interviewees were displaced from urban environments in Kashmir where they did not farm for a living. Though they had owned some land, enough for a small kitchen garden, and though they still bemoan the loss of the vegetables they used to grow, these residential IDPs have achieved economic stability because their skills were not localized and hence were transferable. New Economic Hierarchies The unequal economic impact on the village agriculturalists as compared to the city-dwelling professionals has affected peoples sense of their relative worth. In

Kashmir, these two groups did not interact daily. Some villagers worked in the city and some city-dwellers held land in the villages, but the two groups were socially separate. When asked about their economic situations in Kashmir, interviewees compared themselves only to other people in the same village, calling themselves the richest person or part of a well-off family in their specific locality. After displacement, they have been thrown together in new locations. As Dr. Ajay Chrungoo of Panun Kashmir explained, In Kashmir, everyone was dispersed. Here in only 3 square kilometers, you have 150,000 Kashmiris. As the displaced people live in such close proximity, they can easily compare themselves to their fellow IDPs. In these socially compressed areas within their new cities, the difference between the city-dwellers and the villagers is evident. As one man perceived, Differences are therein style of talking, in neighbors, in language also. The two groups of Pandits

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speak with different accents and levels of formality, have differing levels of education, rationalize the causes, and experience the effects of displacement in different ways. The camp dwelling agriculturalists feel not only poor but helpless, as they lack the skills necessary for finding work in their new cities. One middle-aged man who used to own three acres of land explained, We had a good life there. We fell down here. He noted that without any land to farm, he cannot lift his family out of poverty and move them out of the camps as others have done. The displaced farmers are not only aware of their relative poverty, but also angry about the social dislocation. After the first man finished his story in a focus group, another observed that all of these changes were causing hatred and jealousy. Several Pandits angrily asked me why the people who had moved out of the camps were still receiving aid when it should be obvious, they believed, that those hi-fi people had much less need for it. The hierarchies in Kashmiri villages were based on wealth in the form of land. Those who had vast land holdings felt rich and those without did not felt poorer. After displacement, land ownership became paradoxically a predictor of poverty, as landless people were better able to procure jobs with their transferable skills. The collision of villagers and city-dwellers in the new, concentrated locations caused a fusion of village and city hierarchies, instilling in the villagers bitterness at their ill lot. The urbanites retained the same basic social stratification; the most educated, most experienced people in profitable sectors still owned the largest houses and drove the nicest cars. Displaced from the land, the basis of their power, the villagers had to adapt their hierarchies to the new conditions.

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Inverting Environmental Importance Striving for a respectable place within this new hierarchy, villagers are learning new skills after displacement. They do not see farming as a viable, or even desirable, option in their new locations. As one man I interviewed said, the displacement has shown us a new way to develop ourselves. In their new cities, the IDPs have been exposed to different livelihood options. The unexpected positive change that the

interviewees most frequently cited was the increase in educational opportunities. The former Secretary of Secondary and Higher Education in the Indian Ministry of Education, M. K. Kaw, initiated many college admissions aid programs after displacement. Specifically, 2600 seats per year have been reserved for IDP children at engineering, management, and agricultural colleges around the nation. Young adults are looking to careers in business or engineering, and their parents are supporting their efforts. Though the IDPs are willing to change their economic relationship to the land to pursue more lucrative options, they acknowledge that such shifts are accompanied by social changes. In Kashmir, boys would go to help their fathers in the fields after finishing their schoolwork and girls would cut herbs and small vegetables in the gardens. Though their work was hard, the time they spent outdoors was also enjoyable. As one elderly former farmer noted, We had a lot of land-- fields, orchardsour family would work [the land] together, the paddy fields and picking vegetables. We were, of course, happy there. Now, we have nothing. We were always with our family. Alongside them, we were happy. The younger generation of farmers gleefully recalled how they would play tricks on their siblings in the fields, and often get in trouble. It was a time for family

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bonding. The displaced people understand that pursuing professional careers instead of agriculture will change their family dynamics. Still, parents are proud of their children who are studying or working in distant cities, even while bemoaning the difficulty of seeing them. Without the land to hold them together, families are being spread apart. The environment has decreased in its importance as social glue. Ironically, the city-dwellers whose careers were independent of the land in Kashmir are actually better able to convey their connection to the environment to their children. Parents with professional careers spend more time outdoors than their village compatriots. Financially more stable, members of the urban class are more likely to own their own residences after displacement. In Jammu and New Delhi, as in Srinagar, they maintain small gardens outside their residences. They continue to tend to their small amounts of land as a form of recreation. One displaced urban woman even commented, We have much more land here than we ever did there! The urbanites were more nostalgic about the Kashmiri environment and less pragmatic, as losing their land did not mean that they lost their ability to earn a livelihood. They prioritize spending time in the gardens because they are not forced to work outdoors, but enjoy themselves there all the more. It is important to the displaced city-dwellers that they teach their children the value of the environment. One Srinagar native insisted that the Pandits must Keep kids connected with the earth, connected with the environmentIf my son does not feel the sunlight, he will not develop fully. We have emerged from this soil, why keep so far away from it? While the villagers are exhorting their children to study hard and procure urban jobs in their new locations, the urbanites are teaching their children the value of the

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environment. Economists have proposed that after a certain point, the richer countries get the better their environmental quality becomes because people have more means to care for the environment (Grossman and Krueger 1993). The displaced Pandits are displaying similar behavior on a personal level. Those who live in their own residences, whose basic needs have been taken care of, are more concerned about retaining their positive relationship with the environment. The omnivores of Guha and Gadgils system have become more concerned about articulating ecosystem values than the ecosystem people themselves. By their actions, the city-dwelling Pandits have made clear that the Kashmiri environment was significant to them for more than just its economic value.

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Chapter 4

Space and Spirituality


A plainly dressed, freshly washed, middle-aged woman sat on a worn rug in one of the camp rooms. The paint on the walls had faded and the door was cracked open enough to show a sliver of gray pavement outside. The woman began describing the environment she had left behind in Kashmir, The rivers were filled with cold water, there were flowers of every type, and so many fruit trees. We thought that God was there, definitely. Whatever we asked from God, he gave us, so naturally we thought that God was there. I asked her if she thought that God existed in her new environment. She responded, There is nothing here that was in Kashmir. It doesnt seem like God is here. I asked all the interviewees the same question about Gods presence in the environment. People always responded in the same way: of course, they said, God is everywhere, in everything. However, after displacement, people felt like they had

nothing; they were unsure of Gods role in causing their sufferings and whether Gods presence infused the environment outside the valley. In Kashmir, religion was deeply connected to the environment. After

displacement, people were severed from their physical and spiritual landscapes. Still, their belief in the existence of God in nature was too strong to be abandoned altogether. The displaced people transformed their new environments to match their previously held beliefs. In so doing, they were able to assert their agency after displacement had made them feel powerless.

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Ecological Thought in Modernity Humans have exerted their power over the environment in drastic ways, particularly in the last few centuries. They have crisscrossed the earth with railroads, drilled deep into mineral mines, even elevated the sea level of entire nations. The standard story of modernity pits technology against nature, and technology emerges the winner (Marx 1970, Merchant 1989). Rational, scientific modes of analysis dissected environmental processes, leaving people with no opportunity to simply marvel at the wonders of nature (McGrath 2002). This disenchantment allowed for a guiltless exploitation of nature and eventual despoliation of the environment (White 1967). Yet this reading of modernity is based largely on Western experiences. In India, the dominant modes of discourse are not completely secularized, sterilized to be free from affect and emotion, or exclusively scientific. Alongside India's rapid development and technological progress are thriving religious communities that continue to value and relate to nature in deeply spiritual ways (Coward 2003). The continued strength of Indian religious thought into modernity is reflected in the sustained sacredness of nature. Ecological Thought in India In Indian religious traditions, humans are expected to be humble before nature. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism all preach that God and nature are unified and to harm one is to harm the other. In these traditions, God and nature are manifestations of the same divine force, connected by the cycle of death and rebirth (Coward 2003). The universal character of the life force manifests itself in plants, animals, and humans (Sharma 1998). The transformation among these life forms occurs as people are reborn

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as animals or even rocks, thus prompting humans to treat all of nature with the respect they would accord themselves or their gods. The complicated relationship between man, nature, and God in Hinduism can be traced back to the oldest set of scriptures, the Vedas. One of its best-known hymns, the Purusa Sukta, celebrates the rise of gods, heaven, and earth from the purusa, or primal elements (Veeraj 2006). The interconnectedness of God and earth is also seen in the Vedic term prakriti. Conventionally translated as nature, prakriti literally means

placing before the rest, and has come to be defined as origin, source, and nature. Vedic nature is infused with the power of procreation, as it is the mother of all things on earth, including humans (Chaubey 1970). The power of nature over humans manifests itself as changing weather and destructive disasters, among other phenomena. Stefano DeSantis postulates that Vedic seers were inspired by natural phenomena like lightning and progressing seasons, and named innumerable gods after celestial bodies and natural elements (1995). These

nature-inspired deities are some of the most important in the Hindu pantheon. Indra, the god of lightning, thunder, and rain is the king of the Vedic gods, while Surya, the sun god, is said to be the witness of all actions. Not only celestial bodies and atmospheric processes are infused with a divine presence; geographical features assume religious significance in Hinduism as well. The Vedas include 50 hymns praising the river Saraswati and its associated goddess of learning (Chapple and Tucker 2000). In Hindu mythology, the river Ganges springs from the god Shivas own head. Other stories cite its origin as Vishnus divine foot or Brahmas holy waterpot (Kinsley 1998). Such deification of nature led to the creation of

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pilgrimage sites scattered throughout the Indian landscape.

They range from the

Himalayan mountain Kailash, revered as the abode of Shiva, to the southern island of Rameswaram, thought to be the location of Ramas bridge to Lanka in the Hindu epic Ramayana. In fact, the entire country of India is taken to be an embodiment of a goddess herself, the mountains, her bones and the rivers, her veins (Kinsley 1998). In the Bharat Ma temple in Varanasi, the main icon is not a deity, but a relief map of the country, thought by devotees to signify India as a goddess. Sacred natural forms grow from this deified landscape. Trees are especially holy, as they represent the cosmos, and their leaves, the Vedas (DeSantis 1995). In the

Puranas, a collection of post-Vedic Hindu histories, we learn of an annual tree festival in which golden fruits are offered to trees (Chapple and Tucker 2000). The famous

pilgrimage site of the Tirumala-Tirupati temple in South India has incorporated the sacredness of trees into its daily services. The fifty thousand devotees who visit the temple every day once received sweets as prasada, or traditional offerings given by priests after services. Now the priests bless them with saplings to plant in their homes or on temple grounds (Narayan 1997). Since all nature is sacred, humans must value and protect all its forms. The Laws of Manu, a codification of social rules, prohibits humans from exerting their power to destroy nature (Coward 2003). The text asserts that it is humans dharma, duty to self and society, to protect the environment. If not, the karma, or consequences of their actions, will lead to harmful effects. In modern times, villagers in rural Rajasthan have used a similar rationale to explain disastrous droughts (Gold 2001). They believe that if they do not maintain their forest land with devotion, they cannot expect bountiful

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harvests. The adivasis pastoralists of the Jharkhand region of India, also presume it is their duty to conserve the land (Parajuli 2001). They leave patches of forest land in tact to accomodate the siman-bongako, or boundary gods that protect the people. In both Rajasthan and Jharkhand, people must fulfill their duty of conserving the environment before they may appeal to the gods. Nature and Religion in Kashmir The Pandits similarly believe that god exists in all places in the Kashmir valley. Many of the Pandits I interviewed recalled the divine origin story of the valley. They began the story proclaiming that Kashmir was once filled with water. Indeed, such a lake referenced in the Nilamata Purana, as Satisaras, or lake of the goddess Parvati, consort of Lord Shiva (Gadoo 2001). However, a demon named Jalodhbhava had overtaken its waters and thrashing about, killed everything in its path. In order to defeat this demon, the sage Kashyap undertook ascetic penances near the shores of the lake. The goddess Parvati was so pleased with his unwavering dedication that she took the form of a myna bird and flew over the lake, dropping a pebble from her beak onto the demon. The pebble became a mountain and crushed the demon under its weight. When the demon was dead, sage Kashyap entreated Lord Vishnu to drain the lake. Vishnu assumed the form of a unicorn and pierced a pass through the mountains, allowing the land to be reclaimed. The Pandits believe that since Kashyaps efforts made habitation possible, he is the namesake of the valley, Kashmir. The Pandits further believe in the presence of god in the more fleeting natural forms of animals and plants (Munshi 2008). The Srichakra fish, which flitted its way through the rivers of the valley, is worshipped as the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu on

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earth.

Another water-based organism, the lotus flower, is revered for its beautiful

emergence from murky depths. Pandits recognize the lotus as a symbol of purity and model their lives after its perseverance. They also believe that ancestors of the Devadaru trees, also known as Himalayan pines, provided shade to Shiva and Parvati during their endless meditations. The divine aspect of nature makes natural objects particularly suitable for use in worship. The Bhoj tree produces bark for the inscription of scriptures and is thought to imbue them with a special power. Kasturi, the musky scented secretion from male deer, and kesar, or saffron, are offered in prayers to Shiva. The cycle of offering divine gifts of nature to divine entities has long historical precedent in Kashmir. One of the most beloved poets in Kashmir, a woman named Lal Ded, articulated the Kashmiri conception of god and nature in a 14th century verse: You are the heaven and You are the earth, You are the day and You are the night, You are all pervading air, You are the sacred offering of rice and flowers and of water; You are Yourself all in all, What can I offer You? (Kachru 2008) According to Kashmiri Hindu thought, all of nature was Gods abode, even the flowers collected as religious offerings. Kashmiri Pandits had a duty to protect nature at Gods behest, and also offer natural gifts in appreciation to God. In her other verses, Lal Ded admonishes people not to kill animals or consume frivolously, but to recognize and appreciate all of Gods forms. Majhoor, the poet of Kashmir, wrote about five hundred years after Lal Ded. Despite the increasing population stress and industrialization in the valley, Majhoor insists that God not only tends to nature, but is inspired by it as well. Comparing Shiva to a gardener, Majhoor writes: Come, o Gardener, get excited by the new spring; When flowers will blossom and bulbul will dance, create that consciousness

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(Kachru 2008). Though God created nature, it is still an appropriate gift because it inspires God to create further. Pandits often paid homage to the gods at numerous pilgrimage sites centered on natural forms in Kashmir. To the east of the capital city Srinagar lies a small hill known as Hari Parbat or the hill of the goddess Sharika, a form of Parvati. Pandits believe this hill to be the result of the pebble Parvati dropped into the lake to suffocate the demon Jalodhbhava (Kashmiri Overseas Association 2008). On the western slope of the hill, there is a temple dedicated to Sharika, worshiped as the presiding deity of the capital. This hill is strategically important to the protection of the city, and a fort was constructed on the site. The Pandits living in Srinagar would visit this temple almost weekly. Pandits living further away from the capital would visit other pilgrimage sites over long weekends. Lord Vishnus feet are said to be seen in a spring flowing from the mountain Baramulla, at the outskirts of the valley. A temple has been erected to the god and pilgrims sprinkle rice into the river to feed its sacred fish. Baramulla was packed with thousands of devotees every weekend in the spring.

Figure 10. Painting of Hari Parbat Source: Harappa.com 48

The strength of Pandit belief in the spiritual power of natural sites is evident in their customary journeys to Amarnath Cave. Amarnath means Deathless Lord Shiva, an immortal symbol of the Pandits most revered god (KOA 2008). Legend has it that Shiva revealed the secrets of creation to Parvati in this cave on a particular day at the end of summer. Pilgrims believe that to commemorate this occasion, water drips from the top of the cave all summer until an ice-stalagmite reaches its full form at the end of August. This ice-stalagmite is a representative of Lord Shiva in his lingam or phallic form. Two smaller ice-stalagmites stand next to the large central one, understood to symbolize his consort Parvati and their son Ganesh. Every summer, approximately 100,000 pilgrims, from Kashmir and throughout India, undertake the 45 km journey through the Himalayas in order to pay homage to Lord Shiva. The pilgrimage takes four days and three nights, all of which are passed at holy sites said to represent sacrifices made by Lord Shiva in his own journey to the cave. The starting point of Pahalgam is mythologized as the place where Shiva left his devoted bull Nandi. The first nights stop at Chandanwari is where Shiva released the moon from the tangled locks of his hair, represented by a sparkling spring. The second nights stop at Lake Sheshnag is the location that Shiva released the snakes he wore on his wrists. The third nights stop at Panchtarni is where he left behind the five elements--earth, water, air, fire, and sky. Finally, the cave itself is said to be the site where Shiva narrated the story of creation to Parvati, thinking they were in total isolation. However, a birds egg remained in the cave, and having overheard the story, the birds hatched from the egg became immortal. Pilgrims pay homage not only to the ice-lingam, but also to the birds along the journey, symbols of Shivas divine knowledge.

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Figure 11. The ice Shiva lingam at Amarnath Cave Source: Kaveeta Kaul, Sachiniti.wordpress.com Kashmiri Pandits aspire to make the pilgrimage to Amarnath every summer on the full moon day at the end of July or beginning of August. The journey is so arduous that leaders of the shrine suggest pilgrims start training for it at least a month in advance. For four days, pilgrims walk on rocky and hot soil, often barefoot. Every summer,

approximately a dozen people die from exhaustion, heat strokes, or heart attacks, and many others are injured. In recent years, terrorism has made the pilgrimage even more dangerous. Approximately 19,000 troops are employed for two months to maintain security in the area, but they are not always effective. A grenade attack this summer left 18 people injured and one dead (Deccan 2007). Since 1989, escalating militarism has left Pandits afraid and unable to devote themselves to their spiritual environment.

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Environment and Religion After Displacement Physically separated from the land, the displaced people felt spiritually severed as well. As one middle-aged man explained, Nature is God, what else is it? When the seasons change, how else does that happen? He commented that the seasons changed in his new environment much differently than they had in Kashmir; it was too hot, too humid. We think we must have committed a big sin to get stuck in this place, he said. The man believed, like many other displaced people that God had forsaken them in their new land. He did not see nature conform to the pattern he knew and since he believed in the connection between God and nature, he concluded that his relationship with God must have changed too. As another man said, We know that God is in nature because how else would things be born or die? But outside the fields of Kashmir, in their new locations, few plants sprouted, few babies were born.4 The cycle of life changed after displacement, and the God charged with maintaining the order of life had abruptly changed course in the eyes of the Kashmiri Pandits. People hesitated to believe that God existed in their new dreary surroundings, and they also could not seek out God in natural formations the way they had in Kashmir. Memory had to make do for experience. When naming their village or city, interviewees would often contextualize their location by giving their proximity to a famous pilgrimage site nearby. Every interviewee immediately named at least five and often ten religious destinations when asked where they had traveled in the valley, Baramulla and Hari Parbat usually among them. The interviewees recalled being told stories about the origins of The Pandits did suffer a precipitous drop in natality after displacement; there is currently a very small percentage of the population is aged 0-6 years. (Bhan 2007, R. Koul 2003). 51
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these lands when they were children and wanted to pass these tales along to the next generation. They would visit these sites for health and recreation, but also because they wanted blessings for their families, their land, and their future. In the cities, few places spiritually motivate the displaced Pandits to travel. As one elderly man explained, There are temples here, but they are artificial. In Kashmir, there are natural temples. Kashmir can never come out of our minds. The temples of Jammu and New Delhi are small and placed above gray parking lots instead of green meadows. The journey to the most famous temple in Jammu, the Kali temple, involves hiking up a paved pathway covered with soot and smog, only to reach a small stone temple overlooking the new concrete aquarium. The displaced people feel uninspired to visit this temple, as it does not compare to the springs and mountains to which they made pilgrimages before. They also feel languid in the humidity, too poor to afford travel, and unsure of the route. Though some concede that the higher security around the temples in Jammu facilitates travel, the Pandits largely agree that there is not much worth going to see in their new locations. Since the Pandits could not feel Gods presence in their new lands, they could not understand some of their duties either. One young man I met in a Jammu camp believed that his dharma, or social duty, was to worship God in all possible forms. He explained that in the valley, he could understand that Shiva, the masculine form, was snow, and Shakti, the feminine form, was water. However, in Jammu, there was no snow. This man had to rely on natural images he only knew from Kashmir in order to understand God. In Kashmir, the Pandits took pride in worshipping at natural spots. One elderly man recalled that marble statues of the goddess were inserted into hollowed out trees. He

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used to pour water on those statues in the service of God. In Jammu, there are no tree shrines. He passes by what few trees there are without searching for an emblem of God in them. The scraggly trees in Jammu would not beckon to him to stop and worship. Without the stories and symbols that elevate nature to a transcendent plane, the environments outside Kashmir seem spiritually impoverished to the Pandits. They could have abandoned their beliefs about nature and God or simply stated that their prior beliefs did not apply in their new lands. However, none of the interviewees said outright that God was not present in Jammu or New Delhi. Instead, they tried to construct their new physical environments to match their spiritual beliefs. The displaced Pandits introduced trees and temples into their new lands so that they would be reminded of the presence of God. Arguably the most religious of the displaced Pandits I met was a practicing priest living in Jammu. He still believed the word of the Vedas that the universe is like a tree. Further, he believed that people, as part of the universe, are also like trees: We take time to grow and resettle in new environments. In his old land, he felt that it was his dharma to take care of the land and share its beauty with others. On the priests plot in Kashmir, he had planted 400-500 willow trees so that all his neighbors could enjoy the sight. In Jammu, the priest has been able to buy a small house with a tiny garden in the front. He has planted a tree on every inch of the land. He says that he goes on, planting this seed, that seed. It helps me. The elements of all knowledge emerge from trees. This [belief] is from our own religious traditions. The priest was able to cope with spiritual impoverishment by bringing trees from his old land into his new land.

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No matter how poor, Kashmiri Pandits continue to pay homage to their auspicious trees with striking dedication. When I asked one reserved, spectacled, elderly man about God and nature, he said that he had something to show me. The entire group and I went outside, walking past the decaying, uniformly rectangular camp buildings. In the midst of them all was a small lawn, with a few broad, leafy trees towering above the structures. The man explained that almost a decade after displacement, he had gone on a pilgrimage to Kashmir and brought a few chinar saplings back with him on the bus. He planted them in his camp, both in the lawn in front of which I was standing, and next to the camp temple. Without his constant attention, these trees would not have survived in the dry climate of the plains, but he loves the trees. A shy man, he quietly explained that the greenery in Kashmir emanated a sense of religious purity. There was no such greenery in the camps in Jammu; the environment seemed totally different to him. When he first started to dig holes for the trees, he found the soil was too rocky and sandy. He went out to buy clay for the trees and finally plant and care for them. I asked him why he went through so much trouble for these trees. He responded, We love nature and the

environment from where we came. We want to create that environment here too. This tree will purify the area. We will think of Kashmir. Many other interviewees living in the camps had planted a few flowers outside their rooms or businesses. All the

interviewees who own their own residences had planted some trees or flowers familiar in the valley in their new gardens. When these people were asked about god and nature, they responded that god was everywhere in nature, even in their little plants outside.

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Figure 12. A displaced Kashmiri Pandit man stands in front of the chinar saplings he planted in the Jammu camps Source: Photograph by author The displaced Pandits even changed their built environments to remind them of their religious places in the valley. At Faridabad, a city outside New Delhi, an enclave of Kashmiri Pandits banded together and started building steps on a hillock in a neighboring village. Eventually, the Pandits built enough steps and bought a statue of the goddess Sharika, and they consecrated the hillock, the statue, and the steps as symbols of the new Hari Parbat (Sentinel 1999). They have continued to landscape the hill, adding plants and flowers to inspire devotees to meditate. The Pandits had faced tremendous opposition to acquiring the hill, as the nearby residents were wary of development. The leader of the project, J.N. Koul, had to convince the villagers that this hill was a holy spot. He spoke 55

with such passion that the villagers began having dreams that the goddess had appeared on the hill, and allowed him to proceed with the project. For the Pandits, the hill location was imperative because it mimicked the hill of Hari Parbat in Kashmir, the hill that grew out of Parvatis pebble during the creation of the valley. Building a temple alone would not have been satisfying, as the hill itself is the important religious symbol. Similarly, in Bhawaninagar, a neighborhood near one of the camps, displaced Pandits erected a new temple dedicated to the goddess Bhawani. This temple is almost identical to the one in the village of Tulla Mulla in Kashmir, save for its lack of natural features. Tulla Mulla means the trunk of a mulberry tree, a particularly auspicious symbol in Kashmiri Shaivism (KOA 2008). The original Bhawani temple is located next to a spring that is said to change color by the grace of the Goddess, and runs a foreboding black when calamity is about to strike. Even without the spring and the mulberry trees, the Bhawani temple in Jammu still inspired the Pandits. As I was leaving a residential interview in a house near the temple, a kind man and his son politely inquired as to whether I had seen the temple myself. They insisted that I must go; after all, they thought, it was so beautiful and such a testament to the Pandits religious devotion.

Figure 13. Replica Bhawani temple in Jammu Source: Photograph by author

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The displaced peoples camps are also centered on religious sites. The Pandits have raised money themselves to erect temples in every camp. The temples serve as community halls where camp residents gather for daily prayers, religious festivals and large meetings. These buildings invite people in during the day, as they have the most reliable electricity generators, allowing their fans to run even when the rest of the camp is burning in 110F heat. The priests who run the temples are also actively involved in other aspects of the camp residents lives. Two of the camp temple priests had organized pilgrimage trips to Kashmir in recent years. However, the temples with all their functions are still only poor substitutes for the ones found in Kashmir. One man recalled, there were big festivals there. We were celebrating like that, gesturing with his hands wildly above his head to convey the enthusiasm of celebration. Here, we have no time, we are always working, we have no money. Though the Pandits attempt to celebrate all of their religious occasions, the temples only have enough space for a limited number of people and the residents can only buy a limited amount of supplies. The attempt to create a permanent religious structure within the camps could not replace the religious life of Kashmir. The literature of the displaced Pandits conveys a sense of mourning for their lost religious environment. One Kashmiri Pandit living in New Delhi composed a poem Home, My Home about the valley, recalling the serene lake reflecting the eternal Trinity (P. Kaul 2001). Another compared displacement from the valley to the

Pandavas banishment from their kingdom by the unfortunate gambling of Duryodhana in the epic Mahabharata (Masarrat 2001). On a trip to the valley after the displacement, one Pandit stood before the Himalayan mountains, pondering their divine origin. He

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wrote, I could not help feeling sorry about how Gods had given this near perfect land to Kashmiris and what [the Kashmiris] did to it (M. Kaul 2002). Kashmir was a divine gift that had been taken away or neglected, and in either case, the Pandits lives were spiritually emptier for it. Displacement left the Pandits with a sense of extreme loss--both of their land, and of the ability to control their lives. As one man said, We have no home, no village, no mountains, no gardens, no walnut trees. We miss [Kashmir] very much. We remember it often and it hurts us a lot. The land is not available. How can we make it again or live like that again? It is not possible. This mans sense of hopelessness and helplessness typical for uprooted people whose voices often go unheard after displacement (Kirin and Povrzanovic 1996). Having viewed the world from the vantage point of the valley, the Pandits are uncertain and afraid of their prospects in a new land. Implications of Pandit Spiritual Thought The Pandits' spiritual connection to the valley has been forged over centuries. The current generation learned the religious myths about Kashmiri pilgrimage places from their parents and grandparents, who had absorbed them from their ancestors. The natural imagery evoked in religious precepts had evolved during a time of close connection with the environment. The Pandits retained their spiritual beliefs about nature over long periods of time because the environment continued to support them. The beauty, grace, and fertility of the land suggested the beneficence of an omnipresent God. Spiritual beliefs in nature were so widely held throughout Pandit society that they became the basis of community building. When the Pandits celebrated the auspicious omens seen in springs or the birthdays of deities said to have blessed their land, large

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social groups would join together in merriment. As one Pandit recalled, "We used to do everything with our family and friends. There were big events two or three times a year." Their pilgrimages were not individual journeys but enjoyable communal outings. The Pandits continued to celebrate and to worship God's presence in nature partly for the sake of these pleasurable experiences. Displacement from their spiritual environment caused the Pandits to question whether the beliefs their ancestors had passed on to them simply no longer applied. Since their new, environments did not reinforce their beliefs, the Pandits questioned whether god even existed in their new locations. Yet they hold on to many of their religious myths and values for spiritual relief and social order. They were uplifted by the trees they planted and reassured by gatherings at the new temples and pilgrimage sites. The sacred spaces allowed them the opportunity to interact in ways similar to those they has known in the valley. The Pandits' attempts to recreate their spiritual landscape enabled them to feel in control of both their inner thoughts and their social relations. While displacement

initially left them feeling desperate and depressed, they were able to reshape their bleak external environments to encourage some positive emotions. As one displaced man involved in the construction of the temples said, "This is a bad place, this city. We can paint to make it better here." After trees were planted and temples built, the Pandits' new environments were physically beautified and psychologically more secure. The Pandits felt a connection with the environment of their past and the people who had passed their experiences of the environment down to them.

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The Pandits' ability to recreate their environments and retain their beliefs filled them with a sense of pride. After they had been forced from their homes and

communities, the Pandits held on to religious values that could not be physically removed from them. Their God was their own, not the property of the government, like the camp land, nor of their unfamiliar new neighbors, like the stores they leased. Their tenacity symbolized their resilience as a community. The Pandits believed that if they held onto their spiritual principles and facilitated the next generation's absorption of them, their culture would live on, and they, in turn, would live on as a people. This idea gave them the strength to struggle through the present for the sake of their future.

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Chapter 5

Fulfilling Environmental Needs


The valley of Kashmir is layered with meanings for the displaced Pandits. It is at once the land that had been snatched away from their ancestors countless times before, the rice paddies that kept their families fed year after year, the source of eternal blessings and the impetus to celebrate with friends and family. After nineteen years, the Pandits memories have mixed together into an idealized image of the environment that they have lost. As one elderly man recalled, his eyes blurry with nostalgia, the climate, the religious places, our daily activitiesthe environment is the main thing we have missed! Yet the official initiatives of both the Indian government and the Pandit organizations have not adequately addressed displacement as the loss of an environment that served multiple purposes, emotional, material, and spiritual. The Pandits feel that they have lost everything, and politicians are attempting to respond to parts of the displaced peoples loss. Humanitarian literature offers a useful framework for

understanding how displaced peoples make sense of their losses. In the human security model, loss is broadly understood as a negative impact on peoples ability to function productively in society, or on human security (Leaning, Arie and Stites 2004). This lack of human security may be caused by the want of basic necessities--food, shelter, water. Psychological losses are also accounted for in the model. Displaced people experience grief because they have lost a sense of their future, their community, and most importantly for this study, their home. All aspects of loss must be addressed in order for people to regain human security. Though the Pandits loss of environment has been

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addressed as a matter of their basic needs, their future, and their community, it is only beginning to be understood as a loss of their home. Rehabilitation Programs Pandit political organizations have valued the environment as a symbol of hope for the future. They articulate a moral claim upon the land that Pandits band around. Their demand stems from a long political history of land ownership that Pandits have incorporated into their personal connection to the land. The Pandits believe this

emotional bond to the land reinforces their claim to exercise political ownership rights. In making this claim, Pandits have regained some control over a sense of their future. They are planning for a time when their emotional connection to the land will be recognized through the award of a homeland. The Pandits are acting productively, writing papers and issuing demands, because they conceive of the Kashmiri environment as integral to their future. To a limited extent, the Indian government has also recognized displacement from the Kashmiri environment as a problem of fulfilling basic necessities. The government has acknowledged that the displaced Pandits need shelter and water, and have provided these things, after much urging and in inadequate form. The government has also

admitted that the environment was the basis of thousands of Pandits livelihoods, and has established education programs so that those young people who would have otherwise become farmers can receive training for professional vocations. Yet even those Pandits who were not economically dependent upon the land still feel affection for it that government programs are not addressing.

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The Pandits own spiritual recreation of the environment addresses their loss of the sense of future, community, and home more than any of the other programs. Their maintance of spiritual beliefs in the wake of displacement fills them with a sense of pride and continuity with their past. The replica temples, pilgrimage sites, and newly planted trees awaken their spiritual beliefs and allow them spaces and reasons to congregate. The Pandits bring their families to these places, and greet their neighbors with pleasure. They can celebrate together in similar, if scaled-down, ways. The replica places are also important for the sense of home that they bring the Pandits. In human security terms, home is a place people feel attached to and feel like coming back to. The camp temples give the Pandits something to feel proud of, and they increase the sense of communal well-being. The Khir Bhawani in Jammu and the Hari Parbat in Faridabad are products of the Pandits own initiative. The presence of these places anchors the Pandits thoughts on their present location, their new environment. Proposed Policy Solutions The displaced Pandits are still suffering from poor levels of human security in all aspects. Their hope for the future, basic needs, and community cohesion could all be greatly increased by policies that would transform their new lands. Improving the

Pandits sense of home is the most difficult need to address, but innovative initiatives could make a great deal of difference in their lives. The Pandits hope for the future has been tied to proposals for regaining their old land. However, the call for a homeland is unlikely to progress in the near future. The Pandits should have hope for that their futures will improve outside the valley, however long they may stay in their new lands. The government can address the Pandits sense of

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a positive future by imbuing their Pandits new spaces with greater permanence. The camps have lasted far longer than expected, yet the Pandits continue to live in rooms with only curtains for walls and tin roofs. Though larger, more permanent apartment

structures have been built in Jammu for the Pandits, no one has been allowed to move into the apartments. The government insists that there are structural instability problems with the buildings, but has not pursued any further construction or relocation of the buildings. In order for the Pandits to regain a sense of the future in their new lands, they must be treated as if they have a future, and not as temporary squatters. They should be provided with accommodations that have not already exceeded an average lifespan.

Figure 14. Pandit woman sits in a New Delhi camp room Source: Photograph by author

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The basic needs that displacement from the environment has left the Pandits unable to fulfill should be adequately addressed by the government. The Pandits have received promises for limited compensation, and the government should not renege on its agreement. Moreover, the former farmers who now live in the camps should receive training to work in urban industry. The camps themselves should be rebuilt to livable standards. Families should have more space, clean running water, and access to more constant electricity. These are simple things that the Pandits require from their new environments that the government should strive to provide them with. The government can also enable people to feel a greater sense of community in their new lands through a variety of methods. It can make an effort to rebuild community by housing extended families living in the camps in the same areas. The government can also provide areas within the cities for the celebration of Pandit festivals so that the camp temples and replica pilgrimage sites are not overwhelmed. Endowing the Pandits with a sense of home even after displacement is most difficult because even though the government can and should ensure that all of its citizens live in humane conditions, it cannot mandate emotional attachment to the land. In order for the Pandits to become productive members of society, they must come to appreciate their new lands as homes, even if they still hope to return to their former homes. Without this conception of home, the Pandits will remain in a transitory state, distressed and uneasy. The Pandits have already made strides towards gaining this sense of being at home by recreating parts of the previous environment. In a way, the Pandits have transferred their affection for their old homes into their new landscapes. However, they

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have yet to see inherent value in their new environments. The government can improve the displaced peoples sense of home by adopting policies that encourage pride in the land. Such policies include joint ownership of camp land with residents who maintain or improve the land, facilitating communication and travel within the new lands, and recognition of the Pandits efforts to transform the environment as cultural contributions that enhance the diversity and vitality of their new communities. Broader Significance of Displacement Environmental loss is a significant problem for more populations than the Kashmiri Pandits. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre of the respected Norwegian Refugee Council, more than 24.5 million people are displaced within their own countries the world over (2006). India alone accounts for over 600,000 IDPs. Refugees, people who have fled their own countries and sought protection in others, number in excess of 9.2 million people (Daillo and Chabake 2006). These IDPs and refugees have lost the environments that they once knew and are struggling to build their lives and regain their human security in new ones. By understanding how these people relate to the environment, the international community will be better able to assist them in finding physical support and psychological meaning in their new lands. Refugees and IDPs are not the only people who struggle to adjust to new lands. One only needs to look around any major city in the world to notice how increasingly globalized, and displaced, the human community has become. According to the United Nations, 175 million people live outside the country of their birth, and one out of every ten people in developed nations is an immigrant (2002). People do not abandon their beliefs about the environment when translocating. They expect that their environments

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will produce certain goods and motivate certain feelings. However, every environment has unique characteristics that cannot be authentically reproduced in other places. If people understand how they conceptualized their previous environments, they will be better able to identify the gaps they feel in their new environments and address them accordingly. Environments are not simply the agentless projections of people's beliefs. Rather, environments reinforce people's spiritual and economic commitments by providing them with resources or moving them along particular trajectories. Displacement is not the only way that people may experience divisions between their external environments and their inner expectations. As environments undergo drastic transformations under humaninduced pressures, these external changes may lead people to question their basic beliefs. It has long been held that people cause the environment to change, but in the future it may be the environment that causes people to become different

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Tables
Table 1: Exodus and Rehabilitation of Pandit Families (Panun Kashmir Movement 2004 and R. Koul 2003) Jammu (families) Registered as Displaced in 1989-1990 Remaining in camps by end 1990 Remaining in camps by end 2003 46525 6082 4500 New Delhi (families) 19338 X 230

Table 2: Subject Profiles Focus Groups in Camps Age (years) 18-38 39-59 60-80 Total Men 14 34 14 62 Women 10 31 2 43 Residential Interviews Men 0 20 8 28 Women 0 5 2 7

Table 3. Professions and Living Situations of Subjects Profession in Kashmir Urban Professional (government employee, doctor, engineer, etc.) Agriculturalist Rural Agriculturalist cum Professional Current Living Arrangements Camps Private Residences 6 5 47 17 2 9

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Appendix 1: Methodology
The relationship between people and their environment cannot be easily dissected by a single disciplinary perspective. It must address multiple layers of meaning, multiple possible histories of the land and its people. The nature of the problem requires a multifaceted approach (Clayton and Opotow 2003). In this thesis, I focus on the case of the Kashmiri pandits, the Hindu population of the region, displaced from their homes in 1989-1990. To start with, I collected available geographical facts about Kashmir and the displaced Pandits new environments and numerical information about the Pandits economic losses. However, I concluded that analysis of these facts alone cannot paint an accurate portrait of the displaced peoples environmental experiences. I therefore

conducted an extensive literature review about conceptions of the environment, particularly for people in South Asia, I read the myths behind the places, the poetry describing family homes and gardens, the history of political turmoil, the newspaper articles that conveyed the emotional experience of displacement, and the political statements that suggest a unique connection to the lost environment. Over the summer of 2007, I traveled to India to speak to the displaced people in person. I conducted focus groups in the camps and personal interviews with those displaced people who have since acquired their own homes. I chose to conduct focus groups in the camps because this research method has the benefits of both quality and convenience. People are more likely to feel comfortable in a group setting and respond to others responses (Krueger and Casey 2000). Focus groups are also useful for validating data, as stories are corrected and shaped by others in the group. Moderators can delve

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deeply into ambiguous responses and expect multiple clarifications. On the minus side, moderators have less control over the course of conversation in focus groups than in oneon-one interviews, and they must analyze data in the context of a social setting in which people may not feel comfortable discussing sensitive subjects with their peers. Overall, focus groups allow simultaneous interaction with a small number of people who provide relatively reliable information. The camps also provided a concentrated collection of people from which to draw focus group participants. Displaced people living in their own residences were often separated from other displaced people by more than a few minutes walk, and gathering together in a single location would have been inconvenient for them. For this reason, I also decided to conduct individual interviews with displaced people in residential settings. Since my thesis focuses on the changing relationship between people and the environment, I focused more on the populations within the camps than in separate residences. Preliminary data indicated that displaced people who owned or lived in their own residences were more likely to have lived in the large city of Srinagar in Kashmir. As city-dwellers, they were already partially isolated from the environment as they did not work in the environment daily. I hypothesized that the greatest impact of changes in human-environmental interactions would be found among the camp inhabitants, and my interviews corroborated this hypothesis. In both the focus groups and the interviews, I used pre-designed, semi-structured interview protocols to ask questions about the environment, its significance, and its role in peoples lives. After informing the potential subjects about the process and receiving their written consent, I proceeded with a set of questions that addressed economic,

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recreational, political, and religious uses and conceptions of the environment (see Appendix 2). Each interview and group had a different dynamic since I asked people to elaborate on the topics they were most passionate about. I asked questions in both Kashmiri and English, and people were free to speak in Kashmiri, Hindi, or English; in many groups, all three languages were spoken at once. Responses made in Kashmiri and English are of my own translation, and I was accompanied by relatives and local contacts provided Hindi language support as needed. Because of time constraints in New Delhi, I conducted only two focus groups of camp residents. Through my personal contacts, I arranged for interviews with displaced people living in their own residences in New Delhi, and conducted four such interviews lasting approximately one hour each. My small sample size in New Delhi prevents me from drawing conclusions specific to displaced pandits in that city, but as their responses were qualitatively similar to those of people in Jammu, I can make claims about the displaced community in India as a whole. My research in Jammu was more extensive. I spoke to a total of 97 people in four camps and conducted 31 residential interviews. A local contact accompanied me to each of the camps, where he introduced me to residents at a large, public meeting in an open space. The largest space in each camp was the area set aside for religious worship, and I made my announcements about the focus groups during the morning or evening prayers. After the preliminary announcement and introduction, I was approached by several camp residents, self-sorted by gender and age, and arranged convenient times to come back to speak to them. In this manner, I spoke to displaced people from the Mishriwala,

Purkhoo, Muthi Phase I and Muthi Phase II camps. As in New Delhi, I was also

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introduced to displaced people not residing in camps through personal contacts, and I visited their homes with one of my relatives. These interviews lasted from half an hour to one hour and provided different perspectives on the environment than the ones put forth in the camps. I took hand-written notes during all of the interviews. Though I had intended to tape record these discussions, I found that people were intimidated by the recorder and that voices were difficult to discern in the tapes. I conducted a cross-cutting analysis of common responses to standard questions and quantified occupational and age data about the subjects.

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Appendix 2: Interview Questions


1. Were going to be talking a lot today about the environment. What does that term mean to you? How would you define the environment? 2. How would you describe this environment in Kashmir? What sorts of features do you recall? And here? 3. Did you interact at all with the environment in your professional job before migration? Do you do so now? 4. Did you spend any recreational time in the environment in Kashmir? What sorts of activities did you do? And now? 5. Did you travel at all when you were based in Kashmir? If so, where and for what purposes? 6. Did you find anything in the environment to have any religious or spiritual meaning? 7. Did you spend time in the environment with your family and friends? What did you do together? 8. Do you remember reading anything about the environment in school or for pleasure? What did you think of these portrayals? 9. Do you think that the environment is important to politics in Kashmir? Why or why not? 10. What do you think of your new environment? Has it changed you in any way?

11. After a brief summary by the moderator: Did I correctly describe what was said? 12. We wanted to find out from you more about how the environment figures into your daily lives. Is there anything we missed? Is there anything that you came wanting to say that you didnt get a chance to say?

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