Journal Articles

REPRODUCING REGIMES OF IMPUNITY: Fake encounters and the informalization of everyday violence in Kashmir Valley

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In India, the phrase 'fake encounter' refers to the extrajudicial killing of a civilian followed by the official claim that the victim was a Pakistani infiltrator killed in a legitimate military encounter with police or army forces. This article explores the widespread pattern of fake encounters in Kashmir Valley in order to shed light on the processes through which violence and terror become fictionalized and fantastic, with Kashmiri bodies gaining a heightened visibility in a falsified form within a cultural imaginary of national security interests and public safety concerns. Identifying Kashmir Valley as a state of exception, I examine how the suspension of the rule of law gives rise to new agents and hierarchies of power and authority and new patterns of criminalization and paramilitarization throughout Kashmiri society. I also consider how the informalized practices of forced disappearance, fictionalized terror, and impunity for violence are produced and reproduced through the strategic manufacturing of public consent for violence against Kashmiris throughout Indian society at large.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Cultural Studies

Call Number

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Publisher

Oxon, UK : Routledge Taylor & Francis Group., 2010

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

09502386

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 24, Issue 1 January 2010 , pages 110 - 132

Subject(s)

Law
justice
violence
Impunity
Disappearances

Specific Detail Info

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