Kashmir: A Region of Contrasts Between Growth and Turmoil

Kashmir is a complex region. As a disputed border territory contested by India and Pakistan for over seventy-five years, it remains one of the world’s most militarized and divided areas. For Bollywood filmmakers, its legendary beauty and turbulent history serve as rich material for stories of love, longing, and conflict.

Since 2019, when the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi tightened its control over the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir, promising security and economic development, the region has emerged as a popular tourist destination, attracting millions of visitors annually. Within the government’s narrative, Kashmir is portrayed as a shining example of progress.

However, local residents tell a different story: one marked by deep-seated alienation, which has been intensified by last month's brutal terrorist attack. For years, Kashmiris have lived under the constant watch of security forces and faced severe restrictions on their democratic rights.

In response to the attack, Indian troops have launched an aggressive and wide-ranging manhunt for the perpetrators—actions many of the region’s Muslim-majority population view as collective punishment. Authorities have detained thousands for questioning and demolished the homes of at least ten individuals accused of involvement.

Sheikh Aamir, a lawyer from northern Kashmir, said, “We are treated like suspects. Whenever something happens, we all suffer the consequences.”

India has asserted that the terrorist attack, which claimed 26 innocent lives near Pahalgam, involved cross-border links, implying the participation of neighboring Pakistan.

These developments have sown fear among Kashmiris, many of whom already felt alienated from the rest of India, as right-wing Hindu groups have vilified them and portrayed them as aggressors.

Following the attack—which killed mostly Hindu tourists—Hindu nationalists, including some government officials, have intensified their demonization of Muslims. This has led to harassment and targeting of Kashmiri students studying elsewhere in India, many of whom reported retreating to their rooms in fear.

Rohan Gunaratna, an expert on international terrorism, observed, “The Kashmir attack has rapidly escalated into widespread Islamophobia.”

Before the massacre, Kashmir had experienced a period of relative calm since the Indian government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and established direct control, deploying thousands of soldiers.

Despite government claims of restoring normalcy, many Kashmiris expressed outrage, dismissing such assertions as propaganda.

According to political scientist and Kashmir scholar Sumantra Bose, normalcy in Kashmir has always been “superficial and deceptive,” describing life there as a “hybrid of Orwellian and Kafkaesque realities.”

Driven chiefly by local grievances, the insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir began in the 1980s. Experts note that Pakistan supported and sheltered some militant groups. Initially, attacks targeted Hindu minorities, forcing many to flee the region.

The insurgents’ goal—that Kashmir should become an independent state or join Pakistan—has largely faded, as most Kashmiris have abandoned separatism.

Siddiq Wahid, a humanities professor at Shiv Nadar University near Delhi, said militancy has been replaced by profound alienation from the Kashmiri political system.

This estrangement, combined with harsh security forces showing little mercy to innocent Kashmiris in their pursuit of militants, could either lead to the emergence of new militant groups or push disaffected Kashmiris away from militancy, analysts say.

“Villagers just have to look the other way and not report anything,” Gunaratna noted. “So they close their eyes.”

Following the killing by Indian forces of a young Islamist leader from a banned organization in 2016, there were signs of possible “passive support” for militancy, Gunaratna added.

Yet the Indian government became complacent, “believing its own arrogance,” he said. Less than three weeks before the Pahalgam attack, Interior Minister Amit Shah claimed that the Modi administration had “paralyzed the entire terrorist ecosystem” in Kashmir.

The attack exposed a major security failure for a government that had heavily promoted Kashmir as a dream tourist destination, operating under the assumption that militants would avoid targeting tourists since they are vital to the local economy, Gunaratna explained.

Approximately 10 million people live in Indian-administered Kashmir, with around 90 percent identifying as Muslim, according to the 2011 Indian census. It is the country's only Muslim-majority region.

India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in its entirety but control only parts of the territory. The dispute has led to several wars over the decades.

India’s defensive posture has resulted in the continuous deployment of military and paramilitary forces, effectively turning Kashmir into a police state.

Analysts estimate there may be up to 500,000 Indian soldiers stationed in Kashmir. Security forces have often used excessive force to combat militants. Thousands of innocent Kashmiris have died amid demolitions and shootings, while others have been kidnapped, disappeared, or killed in extrajudicial encounters. Official government estimates place the death toll at 45,000, though human rights groups argue it is significantly higher.

Terrorism-related deaths have declined significantly over the past 25 years, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. Militant attacks and border shootings have shifted from headlines to footnotes.

However, analysts warn that conditions for a resurgence of more intense terrorism have been building in recent years. Modi government tactics, including revoking Kashmir’s limited autonomy, have fueled resentment among the population.

New land laws passed after 2019 allowed non-residents to buy property in Kashmir for the first time in decades. Though the government said these laws aimed to boost investment, many Kashmiris view them as attempts to alter the region’s demographics.

Censorship has also increased, with laws frequently used to ban public gatherings and other activities under the guise of public security.

Kashmir remains a favored travel spot for Indians, renowned for its lakes and boat rides, and holds a central place in India’s political identity.

Yet, according to Ashiq Husain, a resident of Pahalgam, local people have often been excluded from the images and portrayals of Kashmir made by outsiders. “The people have been used merely as backdrops,” he said.

In the wake of last week’s terrorist attack, the true face of Kashmiris has come forward, said Aamir, the northern Kashmir lawyer. In the absence of security forces, locals were the first to assist the wounded, and the entire Kashmir Valley has expressed solidarity with the victims and their families.

“There is mourning in every home,” he said, “yet we continue to be seen as enemies.”