Beyond identities? Commoning solidarities with and within the Kashmiri freedom movement in Britain

In this paper, I use the concept of political solidarity to rethink the ethnographic case study of the transnational Kashmiri freedom movement beyond questions of identity politics. Given the social, political, cultural and religious differences of the people and groups belonging to the disputed and divided state of Jammu and Kashmir (Kashmir for short) between Pakistan and India, the Kashmiri freedom struggle has long been driven by the aim of forging political solidarities across different identities and positionalities and between Kashmiri and non-Kashmiri groups in Kashmir and transnationally. These solidarities are intricately linked to identity politics and the Kashmir conflict. While Kashmiri political activism draws on contradictory notions of Kashmiri identity, activists also mobilise around Islamic and leftist notions of “common humanity” for what they see as the inalienable right of Kashmiris to political self-determination.

In this paper, I draw on my ongoing research with Kashmiri activists and their allies in Britain to show how the notion of the “right to political self-determination” has become a critical means of commoning solidarities with and within the Kashmiri freedom movement. This notion has not only enabled British Kashmiris to mobilise public protests, forge alliances with local and national politicians, and call on the British government to support the Kashmiri freedom struggle, but has also played an important ambivalent role in bridging differences between Kashmiri groups and navigating their contradictory political aspirations for freedom, such as Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan or India, greater autonomy within these states, or complete independence from both states.