Jammu and Kashmir: Living with violence along the border
Jammu and Kashmir: Living with violence along the border
WRITTEN BY DEEP PAL
15 December 2022
An incident in the Arnia sector of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on 6 September 2022 broke a 19-month ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan. The February 2021 reaffirmation of a 2003 ceasefire agreement by the two countries had led to a sharp reduction of ceasefire violation (CFV) incidents in villages along the border, easing restrictions, and normalising life. However, while reduced violence has made life easier, the impact of decades of violence on people, infrastructure, and institutions continues to be felt in communities along the LoC and the International Border (IB). Existing policies prioritise security concerns over development, leaving a wide gap in the delivery of public goods.
Even though data on casualties due to CFVs is available, little attention has been paid to the impact of violence on everyday life. As a result and despite the violence affecting the lives and livelihoods of a large number of people, specific policies to protect their interests are missing. As many as 5.5 million people or 44 per cent of the population of J&K live in border districts — Kathua, Samba, and Jammu along the IB as well as Poonch, Rajouri, Baramulla, and Kupwara along the LoC. A large part of this population lives in close vicinity to the border. The prospect of good health and well-being, opportunities for quality education, and availability of economic opportunities, encapsulated within the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 4, and 8, respectively, are useful for examining how everyday lives in border areas are affected by cross-border violence.
The effects of violence
The most obvious effects of CFVs are death and mutilation caused by firing, shelling, and mortar fire from across the border. Additionally, landmines laid to deter enemy combatants and infiltrators, along with undetected shells fired from across the border can cause injuries even in peacetime. Between 2014 and 2020, 125 civilians died and almost 700 were injured in such incidents. While the violence increased incrementally between 2014 and 2017, it rose sharply after that, to 3,479 incidents in 2019 and 5,133 in 2020.
For locals as well as security agencies, the current ceasefire, without resolving underlying issues, is temporary at best. This is evident in the fact that in over 18 months without CFVs, permanent security structures along the border have not been dismantled.
Beyond death and injuries, CFVs damage critical infrastructures, such as primary or secondary health centres, schools, and places of employment. In 2017, over 260 students and teachers were trapped in their school in Rajouri district due to cross-border shelling. They were eventually rescued, but the events were repeated the very next year when hostilities started again. Such incidents shut down schools and health centres for weeks and keep farmland near the border inaccessible. Even when people are evacuated, farm animals are often killed or injured, causing economic distress.
Evacuations after CFVs are a major cause of disruptions. In 2018, almost 160,000 people were displaced from border villages and housed in temporary camps and army barracks due to shelling. In 2015, over 7,000 villagers were evacuated for similar reasons. Such incidents interrupt life beyond the violence-hit areas, as school buildings and other infrastructure in unaffected villages are used as shelters and thus no longer available. Students in these villages often travel long distances to attend school, which becomes impossible when violence breaks out. Even when the violence stops, families keep their children home out of fear of further incidents. While the 2021 ceasefire has helped ease these concerns, most students have missed out on months of schooling.
Although the current pause in violence has normalised life, there are long-standing impacts of CFVs that persist. Many of these emanate from the measures taken to tackle violence. As much as 70 per cent of the population in J&K depend on agriculture, followed by horticulture and handicrafts. Over years, security forces have taken over cultivable land to lay mines, and build bunkers, watchtowers, and access roads. Areas close to the border are fenced off, limiting access for locals. This affects communities like the Pahadis or Gujjars who depend on woodwork or grazing for their livelihoods. In some places, the fencing extends up to several kilometres inland, boxing-in villagers between the fence and the border.
CFVs have also left imprints beyond those that are immediately visible. These second-order effects include the psychological impact, which some have described as a constant feeling of living in a conflict situation. Médecins Sans Frontières, which has worked extensively in the region has reported greater incidences of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety in border districts. Other research suggests that long-term exposure to a conflict can be connected to substance dependence and abuse.
Additional resources and economic development can assist in addressing these issues, but the constant threat of violence has impeded investments in technology, training, and facilities. Beyond the economic realm, this is evident in schools and health centres, where remoteness and the possibility of violence are cited as the reason for staff not wanting to be posted. Schools have sometimes been shut for weeks due to the absence of teaching staff. Similarly, health centres suffer from staffing shortages and often redirect patients to private facilities.
Taken together, this indicates a long-term atrophying of the civilian infrastructure tasked with administering civilian life and providing public goods. This has left residents dependent on the military, which prioritises security responsibilities. Even during the current ceasefire, villagers need to carry identity cards for security forces to check and have to schedule their movements according to when gates and security barricades are open.
Finding ways to operate despite violence
Both the central and state governments have acknowledged the impact of violence. Since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019, the Indian government has focused on development projects in J&K. However, unique problems along the border remain unaddressed. The question of compensation for crop loss as well as damage to property and livestock has been discussed in parliament but remains unresolved. Even though border districts have been identified as underperforming in education, no special measures for border communities have been devised. Schemes launched to increase empowerment, encourage entrepreneurship, and ensure employment are rolled out for all of J&K and not customised for the challenges that are unique to border areas.
At various times, the central government has established special consultative groups with experts from within and outside the government to examine the region’s specific problems. In 2006, such groups recommended measures related to employment, compensation for death in CFVs, and promotion of cross-LoC trade. While the last was implemented in 2008 as a confidence-building measure, it has been suspended since 2019. Similarly, in 2017, problems faced by border communities were examined, and the construction of bunkers for civilians and adequate compensation for crop damage was recommended. Since then 8,500 bunkers have been completed, while the issue of compensation is still unresolved.
The Border Area Development Programme (BADP), a central government initiative, is the key vehicle for delivering development projects to border districts. However, it is designed to address development requirements in several states with varying social, economic, and political conditions, and there is little scope for customization for J&K. The funding too, has not increased in decades. It currently averages INR 400 million (USD 5.5 million in 2021 rates) per year, marginally increased from INR 350 million (USD 4.8 million in 2021 rates) in 2001-02. In fact, the current spending is far lower than in 2002-03 when INR 1 billion (USD 13.6 million in 2021 rates) was released to J&K under the scheme.
As the major stakeholder in the region, the Indian Army helps to provide health facilities, education, and employment. Locals are often employed as porters, which, despite being seasonal, is highly sought after due to assured pay. Much of the army’s contributions to the community are channelled through the prominent military-civic action programme Sadbhavana or “goodwill”. This includes free health camps close to the LoC, veterinary check-ups, minor surgeries, vaccinations, and drug de-addiction sessions. The army runs 46 schools across J&K, benefiting 14,000 students. Additionally, career guidance talks and technical training camps are organised.
However, the ad-hoc nature of the Sadbhavana initiative and its existence outside structured policy ecosystems inherently limits its ability to emerge as a viable alternative. Moreover, as local army commanders are the key decision-makers for projects, priorities change when they are transferred and new officers take over.
The way ahead
Even in J&K, which suffers from poor state capacity, the experience of border communities stands out for the extent of disruption to the fabric of life that years of violence have caused. For locals as well as security agencies, the current ceasefire, without resolving underlying issues, is temporary at best. This is evident in the fact that in over 18 months without CFVs, permanent security structures along the border have not been dismantled.
Beyond temporary prescriptions through the BADP and Sadbhavana, specific policy initiatives customised for the communities living along the IB and the LoC are required. The development of physical and digital infrastructures with a specific focus on border areas is a good place to start. Additionally, specific policy measures for these communities ranging from remedial classes for students to steady employment opportunities for locals are crucial. While current trends towards normalisation are encouraging, lasting change is only possible when the effect of the mechanism to respond to violence is understood and acknowledged along with the effect of violence.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Author biography
Deep Pal is a post-doctoral fellow at Ashoka University India, and a researcher on the project “Living on the Line of Control: Mapping Lives, Violence, and Development”. Image credit: Wikimedia.