https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i4.108
Kashmiri Refugee Narratives: Displacement, Trauma, Identity, and the Politics of Belonging
TARIQ MEHMOOD
Senior Research Fellow
Department of English and Comparative Literature
Central University of Kerala, India
Email: tariq.lec072102@cukerala.ac.in
Abstract: Kashmiris became refugees in their own homeland after the 1947 partition of British India. Subsequent wars and the 1990s insurgency made their lives miserable and compelled them to live in refugee camps. They seek refuge across the Line of Control (LoC) area between the Indian and Pakistani refugee camps in different areas. They were forced to migrate across the border areas of the Jammu region and POK, where they tried to find shelter and safety for their family members. These refugees are insecure in their camps and uncertain about their future generation. They are psychologically traumatised and suffer psychological trauma, stress, fear, anger and PTSD. Due to their temporary settlement, inter-generational trauma has now been generated among these people in their own homeland. Their narratives include the border stories, traumatic memories, testimonies, literary works, and cultural expressions through which they articulate their experiences of exile, loss, identity, trauma, and belonging. This paper analyses the experiences of their displacement and exile, also to investigate the psychological impact, and examine how refugee narratives articulate their traumatic memories. These narratives emerge from various communities affected by conflict and displacement, including Kashmiri Muslims (Muhajir), Sikh refugees, and West Pakistani refugees, displaced by violence along the Line of Control, and members of the Kashmiri Pandits who were displaced from the valley at the time of insurgency. This study tries to compare the narratives of different displaced communities as refugees. Their narratives can be viewed as sites where identities are continuously negotiated across borders. The focus of this qualitative paper is to portray the life narratives of Kashmiri refugees, the dilemma of statelessness, and their humanitarian discourse in contemporary time.
Keywords: Refugees, Narratives, Dilemma, Identity Crisis, Insecurity
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