Conflict in Kashmir: Psychosocial Consequences on Children

Abstract

Armed conflicts are no longer fought on well-defined battlefields, but in and around communities. As a result, communities suffer enormous material damage, such as losses of homes, schools, livelihoods, health facilities, and other infrastructure. War and violence not only disrupt social cohesion, but wreck the very foundation of communities. The burden of this social transformation fall disproportionately on children, who are defined under international law as people under 18 years of age and who comprise almost half the population in the war-torn countries. In many armed conflicts, particularly in the protracted ones that last a decade or more, children may grow up with violence as a constant part of their daily lives and have no reference point for conceptualizing peace. Violence affected Kashmir is not an exception. Since the initiation of armed conflict in Kashmir in 1989, many transformations at the micro and macro level have been evident with disastrous consequences on women and children. The nature of the Kashmir conflict is such that the exposure to actual armed conflict is limited, but its effects on the lives of children and their families are enormous in terms of repression, loss of security, income and service access, disrupted schooling, displacement, physical and psychological traumas among others. This paper brings into focus the wretched condition of children due to the armed conflict in Kashmir. Their protection needs are enormous and should be addressed with the utmost care and attention.