Abstract
Refugees have been a subject of interest and concern in South Asia. However, engaging with this subject in the region is complex as states such as India and Pakistan are not signatories to major international conventions on refugees. Refugee studies as a field has also been affected in the region by the existence of other categories of displaced persons, such as, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and the impact of historical events, such as, the Partition of India, the 1971 Bangladesh War and the Sri Lankan civil war, which have worked as ‘limit’ cases in shaping the analytical lenses employed. This fascinating ethnography by Cabeiri DeBergh Robinson demonstrates the nuances of the refugee condition in South Asia, combining interests in anthropology, refugee studies and area studies. This book provides insights into the case of Kashmiri refugees who were displaced from their homes due to the ongoing conflicts and persecution in Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistani administered Jammu and Kashmir or better known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Jammu and Kashmir, a former princely state during British colonial rule, was caught between the establishment of the nation-state of India and that of Pakistan. Subsequently, the region has been the primary reason for two full-fledged wars and has been the site for nationalist movement and ongoing border conflicts between India and Pakistan (Van Schendel, 2007). This has resulted in various displacements, comprising refugees who cross international borders or become Internally Displaced Persons (e.g., Evans, 2002). Robinson has studied the Kashmiri refugees, who are not of a single cohort but consist of different waves of refugees from the wars of 1948 and 1965, and those Kashmiris who fled the Kashmir valley to escape Indian state persecution since 1989. Critical to the crossing of the border for Kashmiris is the emergence of a new politics as some refugees take up arms and become Mujahedeen. While anthropologists have discussed how refugees have been critical to the emergence of a politics of resistance elsewhere (e.g., Peteet, 2005), Robinson brings this approach to a South Asian setting.
Robinson’s ethnography is divided into three parts: the experience of displacement and becoming a refugee, the interaction between Kashmiri political activity and the Pakistani state, and the subjectivities of Kashmiris caught between the demands of refugeehood and jihad. While these are the three main themes of the book, what emerges clearly is the discussion of critical categories such as that of the refugee, produced within the interaction between the modern refugee regime and popular notions of displacement among Kashmiris. Anthropologists who have explored refugee lives have often described the unequal dialogue between humanitarian agencies, states and refugees (Harrell-Bond, 1986; Malkki, 1996), and the humanitarian discourse has been pivotal in shaping how refugees are perceived (e.g., Feldman, 2008). However, the case of the Kashmiri refugees is different. The refugees have had to contend with the fact that there is no single refugee regime, which has led to humanitarian action involving a range of agents from international organizations, the Pakistani state, and especially political organizations within the community of refugees. The definitions of refugees by the humanitarian and state organizations is limited as Kashmiri refugees over time inherit the category ‘refugee’, but more so it is a term that becomes intrinsically tied to their experiences and history. Often critical to the translation of refugee beyond humanitarian definitions, is the Islamic concept of hijarat (broadly translates to refugee) or protective migration and the category of the mujahir, a person who participates in hijarat. Robinson’s ethnography depicts how Kashmiri refugees bring these categories into a mutually transformative dialogue. While Kashmiri refugees are housed in camps and settlements in AJK, her work ends up moving across a range of sites from camps to settlements in various cities in Pakistan.
Scholarship on partition refugees has been critical in engaging with categories that emerge from within communities, and which often exceed the meaning of refugee. This comes out very clearly in Chakraborty’s (2000) discussion of East Bengali Hindu refugees who draw on notions of sharanarthi, or those at the mercy of god, and udvastu, or lacking foundations. Similarly the term muhajir is well known in discussions of Muslim refugees in South Asia. First, Robinson’s discussion provides a deeper engagement as she points out that these are Islamicate terms which draw on Pan-Islamic ideas but are localized or reflect regional concerns (pp. 69–80). Second, humanitarianism has been seen by different scholars as being potentially apoliticizing (e.g., Fassin, 2005). By drawing on discussions of hijarat and muhajir, Robinson not only depicts a deep discussion within the community of refugees with respect to the meaning of refugeehood and consequently victimhood, but also follows the political activities of the refugees, the foremost being the participation of refugees in militant and political movements.
From muhajirs, Robinson tracks those who become jihadis fighting against the Indian state in Jammu and Kashmir. The move from hijarat to jihad is skilfully charted through ethnographic descriptions of meetings, debates and discussions with her respondents, avoiding conventional understandings of jihad and Islam currently circulating. This also opens up a discussion of human rights, as formed in the interaction between global discourses and local contexts. Especially interesting is how the book engages with jihad across a range of sites, from camps to urban settlements and family spaces, in relation to gender, and with those actively involved with diverse organizations. In the process, the book also provides a glimpse into how jihad, as a larger phenomenon that affects various Muslim societies, is also regionalized in the context of Kashmiri nationalism. On the whole the ethnography demonstrates how refugee populations engage with different regimes and ideologies and are able to develop a politics of their own. In the process this book also raises the need to further explore how displaced groups engage with the categories and language of displacement.
The existing literature on Jammu and Kashmir is largely dominated by disciplines such as history, political science, strategic studies or even long-form journalism. Robinson’s study is a valuable addition to, and example of, the contribution anthropologically informed studies and ethnographic approaches can provide to our understanding of the conflict. Furthermore, studies on Kashmir are often caught up in the political divide. For scholars engaging with Kashmiris in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, Robinson provides a much needed view of the other side of the ‘line of control’ so to speak. Furthermore, while there have been studies on the motivations of why some Kashmiris take up militancy (e.g., Mahmood, 2000), Robinson provides a layered discussion, situating potential jihadis in the context of their biographies, the political spaces they occupy, their location in larger kinship networks, and their negotiation of diverse political organisations and interests. In conclusion, this book is a significant contribution to a range of topics such as refugee studies, Muslim societies, Jammu and Kashmir studies, political violence and anthropology and ethnographic approaches. Most important of all, Robinson provides a sense of the complexity faced by refugees caught between competing state led nationalisms in South Asia by bringing out into the open a critical language of refugeehood that is already in practice in the region.