Paper Prepared For The 48

Paper prepared for the 48 th

ISA Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, USA February 28 – March 3, 2007

A VEIL OF TERROR: A Detailed Case Study of Political Terrorism in Kashmir

Sophia N. Johnson Global Affairs Division Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey This paper examines the psycshological impact of terror-related violence on Kashmir’s social environment. Historically, both state and non-state actors have resorted to the same approaches in terrorizing civilian populations, while using different weapons and techniques. For both, the goals of terror are political. However, the challenges of social and economic order cannot be adequately undertaken unless we clearly understand the psychology of political violence. These concepts in many ways guide domestic and foreign policy, but have clear distinctions. On the one hand, a distinction can be made between violence undertaken because persons have a right to defend their home, and actions undertaken supposedly to “alter the behaviors and attitudes of multiple audiences,” 1

whether they are ‘conspiratorial’ or not. Kashmir’s experience could prove important in analyzing the psychological impact of political violence. Together with its atmosphere of fear, the Kashmiri militants have created an atmosphere of widespread discontent. In this regard, “the secrecy of planning and the visibility of results” may be illustrative of a more general phenomenon in which individual and population vulnerability to violence is linked to terror. At least this has been the position of researchers who have been active in the field, and the particular

case of Kashmir.

1

Crenshaw, Martha. (Ed.) Terrorism in Context. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 4. Author’s note: Sophia N. Johnson is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Global Affairs Division at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and an adjunct professor at the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University. This paper is a work in progress. Do not cite without author’s permission.

He who murders a man…it is as if he murdered the entire human race; and if anyone saves a life, it is as if he saved the lives of all mankind. -Qur’an The violent oppression, and injuries of great persons, (and I would add nations) are not extenuated, but aggravated by the greatness of their persons; because they have least need to commit them. -Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

These two statements – the first found in the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam, and the second by Thomas Hobbes, a seventeenth century European scholar – express a dominant theme of contemporary writings on modern political terrorism. Political terrorism, we are told, wrestles between the role of ideas and its political organization.

On the one hand, powerful ideological forces are creating a complex movement, “especially under the banner of Islam” 2

thus diminishing the traditional significance of the nation-state. On the other hand, political organizations command “moral inhibitions” 3

as a reasonable alternative “to alter the attitudes and behavior of multiple audiences.” 4

As one writer has put the issue however, “terrorism and our conceptions of it depend on…context…and on how groups and individuals who participate in or respond to the actions we call terrorism relate to the world in which they act.” 5

Kashmir’s experience could prove important in contextualizing political terrorism. Terror-related violence has left a death toll running into tens of thousands and a population brutalized by fighting and fear. Together with its atmosphere of fear, the Kashmiri militants have created an atmosphere of widespread discontent. In this regard, 2

Reich, Walter (editor). Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 3. 3

Ibid. pp. 10. 4

Crenshaw, Martha. (Ed.) Terrorism in Context. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 4. 5

Ibid., pp. 3

“the secrecy of planning and the visibility of results” 6

may be illustrative of a more general phenomenon in which individual and population vulnerability to violence has created a veil of terror. At least this has been the position of researchers who have been active in the field, and the particular case of Kashmir. The advent of political terrorism has put the question of the relationship between ideas and political organizations in a new guise, but it is in fact an old issue. In the nineteenth century for example, “the failure of nonviolent movements contributed to the rise of terrorism.” 7

The result is paradoxical. Terrorism works as a “protest leading to reform of underlying conditions;” 8

and, it works to “destroy the infrastructure” 9

of the society. In effect, “the nonstate or substate users of terrorism – are constrained in their options by the lack of active mass support and by the superior power arrayed against them.” 10

Let’s consider the Palestinian-Israeli struggle. “Terrorism followed the failure of Arab efforts at conventional warfare against Israel.” 11

Whereas the Palestinians gave primacy to “winning their struggle through violence,” 12

Israel emphasized political 6

Crenshaw, Martha. (Ed.) Terrorism in Context. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 4. 7

Crenshaw, Martha. “The Logic of Terrorism” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, and States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998., 11. 8

Crenshaw, Martha. (Ed.) Terrorism in Context. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University

Press, 1995. pp. 22 9

Ibid., pp. 22. 10

Crenshaw, Martha. “The Logic of Terrorism” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, and States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998., 11. 11

Ibid., pp. 11. 12

Post, Jerrold M. “Terrorist Psycho-logic” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 38

determination for relations. “Decoded, the grievance can be summed up to the social and economic conditions in the country.” 13

These issues are as central to human destruction, as both opening statements with respect to the subject of modern political terrorism, as it is important to deconstructing the milieu of fear in Kashmir. Whereas the Qur’an advocates altruism, Hobbes discusses and describes what humankind is capable of. In Kashmir, what appears to one as the logical and desirable seems to another, a matter ideological irrationality. This paper will first look at the impact of terror-related violence on Kashmir’s social environment. Then, assess the overarching goal of political terrorism in Kashmir. Taken together, this paper examines the trajectory of terror-related violence, its historical associations, and reaches in mental health. The Impact of Terror-related Violence The study of terrorism focuses undue attention on the state level impact. These realist and neo-realist notions of security position states as unitary actors and the most

important entity in the international system. That said, the idea of terrorism is generally considered one and the same with protecting the territory and national interests of a state from external and increasingly internal aggression or interference. Only threats to the security and existence of states have been considered detrimental to global security and thus worthy of global action. However, the factors that engender insecurity among the people living within states are not limited to the perpetuation of the state. The mental health and broadly speaking security of people within states are related to their quality of 13

Rapoport, David C. “Sacred Terror” in Origins of Terrorisms: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies and States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 106

life, and therefore terror-related violence must include a number of social and economic issues. According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2002 World Report on Violence and Health, more than 1.6 million people died because of violence, including collective violence such as conflicts within or between states. This complex notion of political terrorism wrestles between a relationship of terror-related violence and social fear. In contextualizing the issue, “it is critically important to assess the effects of terrorism on society and on the political process, as well as the responses to terrorism by society and by political structures.” 14

On the one hand,

politics largely determines the framework on social activity and channels it in directions intended to serve the interests of the public. On the other hand, the political process itself tends to create an “imbalance between the resources terrorist are able to mobilize and the power of the incumbent regime.” 15

This in turn leads to a transformation of the political system and social environment. It also fosters a reciprocal interaction between politics and fear of “violence in the pursuit of change.” 16

A number of varying and somewhat overlapping definitions of terrorism exist. This concept focuses on the politics of the people. Martha Crenshaw defines political terrorism in terms described as “the direct activity of small groups.” 17

To provide a perspective on the nature of political terrorism, Crenshaw points to the social, political and economic context of the individual political actors. “There is nothing automatic about the choice of terrorism. Like any political decision, the decision to use terrorism is 14

Crenshaw, Martha. Terrorism in Context. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 6. 15

Crenshaw, Martha. “The Logic of Terrorism” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies and States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 11. 16

Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. pp. 43. 17

Crenshaw, Martha. Terrorism in Context. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 1995., pp. 4

influenced by psychological considerations and internal bargaining, as well as by

reasoned or strategic reactions to opportunities and constraints, perceived in light of the organization’s goals.” 18

Walter Reich, in an analysis of the psychology of terrorism borrows his definition from the U.S. State Department: “Premeditated, politically-motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub national groups or clandestine state agents, normally intended to influence an audience.” 19

This definition, like Crenshaw’s tending to isolate the condition under which decisions are made, which Reich defines as the act of “premeditation.” Others prefer to look at terrorism as a conscious design “to create power where there is none or to consolidate power where there is very little.” 20

Of course, these analyses are not without emphasis on the last half of the nineteenth century but it captures the increasing complexity and difficulty of defining the issue. For example, since 1947 the conflict between India and Pakistan over the territorial rule of Kashmir has shaped attitudes towards terrorism. What started as essentially an indigenous popular uprising against external rule has created a social environment “beleaguered by terrorism, repression, misery and destitution.” 21

Political terrorism has been largely characterized as a “movement of political violence….fueled by ethnic, religious and linguistic factors.” 22

The inconsistencies and failures of government policies in Kashmir have allowed “social elements to encourage 18

Ibid., pp. 5. 19

Reich, Walter. “Understanding the Terrorist Behavior” in Origins of Terrorisms: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies and States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 262. 20

Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. pp. 44. 21

Fai, Ghulam Nabi. “Free, fair elections in Kashmir” Commentary. The Washington Times: Sunday

September 15, 2002, B5. 22

Wallace, Paul. “Political Violence and Terrorism in India: The Crisis of Identity” in Terrorism in Context. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995, 352

votaries of political violence through passive as well as active support.” 23

Further, “peasants in villages formerly under the militants’ sway have been disillusioned with killings, rapes, and criminal activities.” 24

It is in this context that the concept of political terrorism can be best understood. In Kashmir, political terrorism is largely characterized by “movements of political violence directed against the state, and in turn, involves repressive measures that are often seen as a state of terrorism.” 25

Goal of Political Terrorism in Kashmir Kashmir has been the source of conflict between neighboring India and Pakistan for more than 50 years. Currently the boundary – Line of Control – divides the region into two, with one part administered by India and one by Pakistan. India promulgates the formal establishment of an international boundary, with some modifications. Pakistan and Kashmiri activists reject this plan. At the helm of this bitter debate, has been a growing and violent separatist movement against Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989. Both want greater control over the region. In 1947-48, India and Pakistan fought their first war over Jammu and Kashmir. Under direct United Nations (UN) supervision, both agreed to ceasefire along a line, which left one-third of the state – compromising what Pakistan calls Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the Northern areas administered by Pakistan and two-thirds Jammu, Ladakh, and the Kashmir Valley, administered by India. Although the United States and

the United Kingdom also favor the Line of Control, Pakistan refuses, arguing against a predominantly Muslim Kashmir Valley becoming a part of India. Further, formalizing 23

Ibid., pp. 352. 24

Ibid., pp. 404. 25

Ibid., pp. 352

agreement, does not take account of the goal of Kashmiris who have been fighting for one end: Independence for the whole or part of the State. The Social Context The dispute in Kashmir has derelict the social environment. According to researchers at the University of Kashmir’s Population Research Center, based in the Indian administered capital, Srinigar, the demographic and health picture of the State constitutes a cause for “serious and urgent” 26

concern. “The dispute…continues to have an adverse affect on the health of Kashmiris.” 27

Researchers at the International Institution for Population Sciences (IIPS) agree. In 1998-99, at the height of the separatist movement, field officers conducted a study of ‘important aspects of health.’ The project, titled National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) covered a number of topics with important policy implications such as nutrition, primary health care, reproductive health, women’s autonomy, and domestic violence. They collected information from 2,786 households between April 22 1999 and September 20, 1999, and interviewed 2,744 eligible women in these households. One health investigator on each survey team also took blood samples to assess the prevalence of diseases in Jammu and Kashmir. The

findings suggest health and other societal neglect may be a consequence of terrorrelated violence. For example: 26

Ahmad, Syed Khursheed and Muneer Ahmad. “A Study of the functioning of the Health Centers in Kashmir Valley.” Population Research Center: Department of Economics, University of Kashmir, Srinigar – 190006. January, 2001. pp. 2. 27

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) India 1998-99. Jammu and Kashmir. Mumbai, India: International Institute for Population Sciences, October 2002. pp. xxv.

• 49.8 percent of Women reported accessing government health facilities for sickness; • 69.8 percent of Women are reportedly illiterate; • 55.5 percent of Women are involved in making decisions about their own health care, but only one-fourth make these decisions by themselves, and only about one-tenth of Women do not need permission to go to the market or to visit friends or relatives. • Under 5, childhood mortality rate is 80.1 percent. “Male children are much more likely to have received all vaccinations than female children (61 percent compared to 50 percent).” 28

In addition, “twenty-two percent of ever-married Women have experienced beatings or physical mistreatment since age 15, and 9 percent experienced such violence in the 12 months preceding the survey. Most of these Women have been beaten or physically mistreated by their husbands.”

29

Researchers suggest that the proliferation of political terrorism has “led to the neglect of the preventive, promotive, public health and aspects of health care.” 30

Two theoretical perspectives explain the role of political terrorism on the health of Kashmir. First, “terrorism is assumed to display a collective rationality.” 31

That is, “the benefits of a successful terrorist campaign would presumably be shared by all individual 28

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) India 1998-99. Jammu and Kashmir. Mumbai, India: International Institute for Population Sciences, October 2002. pp. xxiii. 29

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) India 1998-99. Jammu and Kashmir. Mumbai, India: International Institute for Population Sciences, October 2002. pp. xxiv. 30

Ahmad, Syed Khursheed and Muneer Ahmad. “A Study of the functioning of the Health Centers in Kashmir Valley.” Population Research Center: Department of Economics, University of Kashmir, Srinigar – 190006. January, 2001. pp. 3. 31

Crenshaw, Martha. “The logic of terrorism” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 8.

supporters of the group’s goals, regardless of the extent of their active participation.” 32

The second perspective is strategic choice. “The wide range of terrorist activity cannot

be dismissed as irrational and thus pathological, unreasonable, or inexplicable.” Since Women are the inactive participants, expected to benefit from the struggle, insulating society from access to quality health services seems a reasonable sacrifice for all. In Origins of Terrorism, Crenshaw pushes the argument a step further with evidence that in a similar context, “terrorism can be understood as an expression of political strategy.” 33

Political terrorism she argues “is a willful choice made by an organization for political and strategic reasons, rather than as the unintended outcome of psychological and social factors.” 34

A strategic analysis report conducted in New York and Germany indicates however that “average citizens may adopt a collectivist’s conception of rationality because they recognize that what is individually rational is collectively irrational.” 35

For example, “the central question about the rationality of some terrorist organizations, such as the West German groups of the 1970s or the Weather Underground in the United States, is whether or not they had a sufficient grasp of reality – some approximation, to whatever degree imperfect – to calculate the likely consequences of the courses of actions they chose.” 36

This is not to suggest terrorist activity is ‘reasonable’ or ‘rational.’ Rather, “rational expectations may be undermined by fantastic assumptions about the role of the masses,” 37

and “the misperception of conditions can lead to unrealistic 32

Ibid., pp. 8. 33

Ibid., pp. 7. 34

Ibid., pp. 8. 35

Ibid., pp. 9. 36

Ibid., pp., 9. 37

Ibid., pp. 13

expectations.” 38

The reasoning suggests, “that the belief that terrorism is expedient is one means by which moral inhibitions are overcome.” 39

Mechanism of Moral Disengagement 40

Conflict influences health outcomes, and is used as a perpetual mechanism of moral disengagement. To borrow a thought of David Rapoport, researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the most ‘arresting’ issues of political terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir has been the “revival of terrorist activities to support religious purposes,” 41

and the mitigating role “self sanctions plays…in the regulation of inhumane conduct.” 42

The demographic health picture is a good indicator of the State, and constitutes a case for this analysis. It suggests normal “self-sanctions can be disengaged by reconstructing conduct as serving moral purposes, obscuring personal agency in detrimental activities, disregarding or misrepresenting the injurious consequences of one’s actions, or by blaming and dehumanizing the victims” 43

as has been evidenced by the Kashmir study. Religion is an important aspect of the dispute. Partition in 1947, gave India’s Muslims a State of their own: Pakistan. This common faith underpins Pakistan’s claims to Kashmir, where many areas are Muslim dominated. The Muslim population of the 38

Ibid., pp. 13. 39

Ibid., pp. 10. 40

Bandura, Albert. “Mechanism of Moral Disengagement” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 161. 41

Rapoport, David. C. “Sacred Terror: A contemporary example from Islam” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 103. 42

Bandura, Albert. “Mechanism of Moral Disengagement” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 161. 43

Ibid., pp. 161.

Indian-administered State, Jammu and Kashmir is over 60 percent, making it the only State within India where Muslims are in the majority. The argument of religiosity is also important because of the dichotomy in Islam. The Shia and Sunni Muslims have distinct ideology. For example, “formal religious education is a pattern common throughout Sunni Islamists movements; which unlike Shia counterparts, are profoundly hostile to the religious establishment.” 44

In the case of Kashmir, the majority of Muslims are Sunni. Second, according to Albert Bandura the overarching relevance of religion suggests ‘intensive psychological’ mechanisms at play for the actors involved in this

context. On the one hand, religion does not play a role because “victims are incidental to the terrorists’ intended objectives and are used simply as a way to provoke social conditions designed to further broader aims.” 45

On the other hand, third party violence (Women and children in Kashmir who do not access health care services out of fear) “is a much more horrific undertaking than political violence in which particular political figures are targeted.” 46

In effect the “threat to human welfare stems mainly from deliberate acts of principal rather than from unrestrained acts of (religious) impulse.” Third, research by Crenshaw and others point to the fact that political terrorism bears some economic logic. “Terrorism has an extremely useful agenda-setting function.” 47

Crenshaw insists that individual actors calculate the cost and benefit. “If it provokes generalized government repression, fear may diminish enthusiasm for 44

Rapoport, David C. “Sacred Terror: A contemporary example from Islam” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 105. 45

Bandura, Albert. “Mechanism of Moral Disengagement” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 163. 46

Ibid., pp. 163. 47

Crenshaw, Martha “The Logic of Terrorism” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 17.

” 48

but, “if the reasons behind violence are skillfully articulated, terrorism can put the issue of political change on the public agenda.” 49

In Kashmir, the benefits of the struggle for independence of the whole or part of the State; outweighs costs of health, especially for Women. “By spreading insecurity – at the extreme, making the region ungovernable – the organization hopes to pressure the regime into concessions or relaxation of coercive controls” 50

by India and Pakistan. “Political opportunism and internal rivalries sharpen the emphasis on militant politics, particularly when religious symbolism and revivalism are used to mobilize followers.” 51

However, “given the existence of so many psychological devices for disengagement of moral control, societies cannot rely entirely on individuals, however righteous their standards, to provide safeguards against (socially) destructive ventures.” 52

Interpretations of Political Terrorism Another important aspect of terror-related violence in Kashmir is its associations and contemporary interpretations. “In its contemporary form, political violence raises new issues of public policy for the State and necessitates a reexamination of societal and economic processes.” 53

There are several groups pursuing the rival claims of Kashmir. Not all are armed, but since the dispute erupted in 1989, the number of armed separatists 48

Ibid., pp. 17. 49

Ibid., pp. 17. 50

Ibid., pp. 18. (Crenshaw in Origins)

51

Wallace, Paul. “Terrorism in India” in Terrorism in Context. Edited by Martha Crenshaw. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 406. 52

Bandura, Albert. “Mechanism of Moral Disengagement” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 191. 53

Wallace, Paul. “Political Violence and Terrorism in India: The Crisis of Identity” in Terrorism in Context. Edited by Martha Crenshaw. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 352.

has grown from hundreds to thousands. The most prominent are the Pakistani Hizbul Mujahideen. November 1999: “Today, I announce the break-up of India, Inshallah. We will not rest until the whole of India is dissolved into Pakistan.” 54

Indian-administered Kashmiris have also been victims of “brutal…Human Rights violations.” 55

Sources claim “four hundred thousand Kashmir Pandits have been pushed out of the Valley by the terrorists.” 56

This fact is corroborated by the sharp increase in the incidences of domestic violence and infant mortality during this period. Another “twenty thousand people have been killed in Kashmir alone since 1990.” 57

The strategy of political terrorism has been “one of surrogate warfare,” 58

especially on the part of Pakistan. Walter Laqueur: “Pakistan helped to transform the conflict between communities in Kashmir into a jihad, a holy war, complete with Islamists vying for martyrdom.” 59

In this regard, the social environment is considered “more vulnerable to full-scale attack.” 60

In 1998, both India and Pakistan declared nuclear powers, and threatened attack. Although the United States intervened, “the incidence showed how dangerous the situation had become and how easily a major terrorist attack could have led to war with incalculable consequences.” 61

Further, “the 54

Laqueur, Walter. No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-first century. New York: Continuum, 2003. pp. 184. 55

Ibid., pp. 184. 56

Ibid., pp. 184. 57

Laqueur, Walter. The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. pp. 150. 58

Ibid., pp. 151. 59

Ibid., pp. 151. 60

Ibid., pp. 152. 61

Laqueur, Walter. No End to War: Terrorism in the Twenty-first century. New York: Continuum, 2003. pp. 184.

rising fear has led the international community to initiate a covert process of bringing Kashmiri militants and moderates together in order to discuss ways of resolving the conflict peacefully.” 62

One scholar suggests “independence and freedom are very different, and all too often the attainment of one meant the end of the other, and the replacement of foreign overlords by domestic tyrants, more adept, more intimate, and less constrained in their tyranny.” 63

Along with the high rate of population growth and displacement, the mortality rate for Women and children are distressingly high. Almost one third of the total deaths occur among children below the age of 5 years; infant mortality is around 65 per thousand live births. And, the severity of malnutrition is exceptionally high. Wallace suggests that unless government abandons “heavy-handed military action” 64

with militants, these “problems, including political violence…come back full circle to politics.” 65

According to the IIS report, awareness of AIDS is particularly low among women from households with low standard of living, Women who are not regularly exposed to any media, and illiterate Women. “Less than one-third (32 percent) of Women in Jammu and Kashmir have even heard of AIDS.” 66

Among Women who have heard of the

disease, 46 percent learned from the radio, suggesting that government efforts to promote AIDS awareness have been marginal. Only 2 percent reported learning about the disease 62

Mahjoor, Nayeema Ahmad. “Who really represents Kashmiris?” BBC Urdu Service online. Website: www.bbc.co.uk 63

Lewis, Bernard. The Crisis of Islam: Holy war and unholy terror. New York: The Modern Library, 2003. pp. 149. 64

Wallace, Paul. “Political Violence and Terrorism in India: The Crisis of Identity” in Terrorism in Context. Edited by Martha Crenshaw. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 406. 65

Ibid., pp. 407. 66

National Family Health Survey (NFHS-2) India 1998-99. Jammu and Kashmir. Mumbai, India: International Institute for Population Sciences, October 2002. pp. xxv.

at a public health facility. With only one in four women allowed exposure to mass media in Jammu and Kashmir, AIDS programs will have to find innovative ways of reaching these hard to reach Women. Another feature of the findings is that health centers across the Valley lack basic infrastructures and are not well equipped with the basic facilities to provide health. The majority of health centers does not have their own buildings and are functioning from rented or abandoned buildings, which do not have proper sanitation, water supply, and electricity. The conflict has created a major problem to the general health, and a widespread epidemic threatens all. Since Kashmiris are reluctant to travel for health services, a strong community outreach initiative is needed. Wallace rightly suggests the “dangers involved in repression as well as militant factionalism provide powerful inducements to seek a safer style.” 67

Conclusion The threat of terror-related violence and the factor of fear make the Kashmir dispute potentially “one of the most dangerous disputes in the world.” 68

Historically, both state and non-state actors have resorted to the same approaches in terrorizing civilian populations, while using different weapons and techniques. However, the social environment is inextricably linked to politics. Political terrorism is undertaken because persons have a right to defend their home, and supposedly to “alter the behaviors and 67

Wallace, Paul. “Political Violence and Terrorism in India: The Crisis of Identity” in Terrorism in Context. Edited by Martha Crenshaw. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 398. 68

In depth: The Future of Kashmir? BBC News Online looks at possible solutions for Kashmir. Web page: “Q & A: Kashmir Dispute” Website: www.bbc.co.uk

attitudes of multiple audiences,” 69

whether they are ‘conspiratorial’ or not. In its ends, it is sometimes seen as a “reasonably informed choice among available alternatives” 70

It remains to be seen to what extent India and Pakistan will yield to the dispute. There is gross inadequacy of health and social services, and negligence. In most of the health centers the abandoned and dilapidated facilities that have been supplied to health professionals are so old that they have either become redundant or are a health risk. Another important aspect of the findings in the studies reviewed is that proper records are not being maintained by the health centers, and health awareness materials are not being duly distributed due to illiteracy, violence and fear. As these and other issues are central both to the contemporary debate on modern political terrorism and to the argument of this paper, Kashmir’s experience is very important in contextualizing political terrorism and deconstructing the milieu of fear. Terror-related violence has left a death toll running into tens of thousands and a population brutalized by fighting and fear. Together with its atmosphere of fear, the Kashmiri militants have created an atmosphere of widespread discontent. In this regard, “the secrecy of planning and the visibility of results” 71

may be illustrative of a more general phenomenon in which individual and population vulnerability to violence has created a veil of terror. Terror-related violence is paradoxical. Terrorism works as a form of “protest leading to reform of underlying conditions;” 72

and, it equally “destroys the 69

Crenshaw, Martha. (Ed.) Terrorism in Context. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 4. 70

Crenshaw, Martha “The Logic of Terrorism” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. pp. 11. 71

Crenshaw, Martha. (Ed.) Terrorism in Context. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995. pp. 4. 72

Ibid., pp. 22

infrastructure” 73

of the society involved. In effect, “the nonstate or substate users of terrorism – are constrained in their options by the lack of active mass support and by the superior power arrayed against them.” 74

Just as the Qur’an advocates altruism, and Hobbes synthesizes what humankind is capable of, likewise, these issues are central to the conflict in Kashmir. What appears to one as the logical and desirable seems to another, as undoubtedly unfair. “Those who make peaceful evolution impossible, make

violent revolution inevitable.” 75

The implications of this vexing analysis are that the trajectory of terror-related violence on Kashmir’s social environment has significant reaches on the mental health of the society.

73

Ibid., pp. 22. 74

Crenshaw, Martha. “The Logic of Terrorism” in Origins of Terrorism: Psychologies, Ideologies, Theologies, and States of Mind. Edited by Walter Reich. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998., 11. 75

President John F. Kennedy addressing an Organization of American States Heads of States Meeting

in Punta del Esre, Uruguay. 1961

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