Seventy years after the Indian subcontinent gained independence from the British Raj and was divided into the newly-formed countries of India and Pakistan, the shadows of the past still linger. The State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), often defined as the “unfinished business of partition,” remains an unresolved issue and has been in a situation of perpetual war.[i] As their land is the primary bone of contention between the two South Asian giants, the people of J&K have grown up in the most militarized zone in the world.[ii] Two major wars were fought over it, in 1948 and 1965, and their harsh effects have left an imprint on the people of the border areas, shaping their collective identity and memory. J&K is surrounded by two sets of borders: the Line of Control (LoC) and the permanent international border. After the 1948 war, a delegation of military representatives from both countries…

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