CYNTHIA KEPPLEY MAHMOOD

“If there is a heaven on earth,” a Mughal poet wrote of Kashmir, “It is this, it is this, it is this.” But the splendid terrain straddling India, Pakistan, and China is marred now with the blood of a conflict entering its sixth decade.

I had the privilege of accompanying Daniel Philpott, another Kroc faculty member, on a mission of faith-based reconciliation in Kashmir this March. Dan works closely with the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy based in Washington, D.C., and had been traveling to Kashmir for several years to facilitate a series of seminars in which Kashmiris would come together to discuss the moral, civil and spiritual transformation necessary for peace. ICRD had conducted more of these workshops on the Indian side of Kashmir’s contested Line of Control than on the Pakistani side; this time, we were coordinating what would be only the second meeting in Pakistani or, as they say, “free” (Azad) Kashmir.

A non-governmental organization called the Kashmir Institute for International Relations partnered with ICRD to invite people from all parts of Azad Kashmir to come for our conversations. Muslim women came in full burkhas (Islamic dress); professional men came in three-piece suits; students came in that universal student attire, denims. This motley and initially suspicious group was brought together through workshop activities. People were invited to talk about their grievances, express their hopes, and explore the ethical grounding for forgiveness and reconciliation in the Abrahamic traditions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

It was this last area that proved most powerful. In a region where cycles of violence and counter-violence have conditioned thought for so long, we noted the sense of surprise with which participants greeted, meditated on, and eventually embraced, the concept of forgiveness. A moving moment came when one participant whose ancestors had been Hindu Dogras — held responsible for selling Kashmir to the British in 1846 — stood up and apologized. His words, emotion-laden, were received as epiphany.

People we met were clearly moved by the unexpected presence of Americans who cared enough to be in Kashmir, a place of travel advisories and danger. Dan and his ICRD colleague, Brian Cox, made up for dozens of U.S. blunders in the region by their presence. Working in partnership with Kashmiris to change hearts and minds, to create a more fertile grounding for peace, will not bring peace to South Asia. Peace will come when heads of state in New Delhi and Islamabad, and probably other capitals, are able to transcend strategic interests to finally come to a compromise that will assure an end to this protracted conflict over territory, history, and national identities. But when those kinds of treaties are signed, the sustainability of the peace they may bring will surely depend upon hearts and minds in Kashmir not scarred by war, but healed by reconciliation.

Cynthia Keppley Mahmood is an associate professor of anthropology and director of graduate studies at the Kroc Institute.

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