This study examines the lived experiences of Tibetan Muslims in Kashmir. They witnessed active and passive forms of exclusion during pre and post-migration. Though they enjoyed a dignified life ...before Tibet was conquered by China, once China colonised Tibet and its people, the Tibetan Muslims migrated for safeguarding their lives. Their post-migration settlements in different parts of India could not help them live life the way they lived in Tibet. To understand the challenges and exclusion they face, we conducted this study on 50 participants (comprising 30 men and 20 women) from the Tibetan Muslim community living in Kashmir. These participants were recruited with the help of a key informant. A mixed-method analysis was used to get comprehensive information about the research problem. The results of our study reveal various forms of exclusion: (a) caste-oriented, (b) marriage practice-related, (c) family-related, (d) exclusion in higher education, (e) occupation-based and (f) exclusion from various items listed in the Tibetan Muslims Deprivation Index in Kashmir. The authors attempted to understand their sense of being excluded, discriminated against and alienated on many grounds by meticulously attending to various narratives obtained through face-to-face interviews.
Summary
We conducted this study to examine the nature of treatment-seeking behavior among carpet weavers in Kashmir. We used a grounded theory approach to gain an in-depth understanding of the ...phenomenon. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 35 research participants recruited through purposive and theoretical sampling techniques. Based on the primary data, our study reveals that carpet weavers approached different agencies and used multiple methods for seeking treatment for their illness(es). The majority of the participants relied on spiritual healers, followed by traditional methods, Unani treatment, compounders and self-medication, while modern medicine was the last option for seeking treatment. We also found that participants base their choices about when and where to seek treatment on multiple socio-economic and cultural factors like financial constraints, perception towards illness, no provision for leave, costly and lengthy medical treatment, side effects of modern medicine, the nature of the disease, lack of infrastructure and insecurity due to conflict. These findings are relevant to employers and various government as well as non-government organizations. Additional implications of these findings for carpet weavers, public health, for practice and research are also discussed.
The children of incarcerated parents remain a highly vulnerable and underrated population in academic discourses, and very little is known about the impact of parental incarceration from the ...perspective of the children in Kashmir. The passing glimpse into children's experiences comes from some previous studies that have researched conflict-linked incarceration and its impact on family members, including children. To fill this gap in research, the current article was designed to explore and document the lived experiences of children of incarcerated parents imprisoned for purely nonpolitical offenses or offenses under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Data was collected by interviewing the children of 17 prisoners. The analysis of the data led to the emergence of the following key themes: denial vs shame, ambiguous loss, impoverishment of the prisoner's family, experiencing stigma, living in constant fear of reprisal from the victim's family, and coping mechanisms used by the children to overcome the challenges developed due to their parental incarceration.
This study examined the changing character of the last honours of those who died of COVID-19 in Kashmir and the life experiences of the families of the deceased. A semi-structured interview schedule ...was used to collect information from 21 participants. Using qualitative data analysis approaches, five key themes were identified vis-à-vis the impact of COVID-19 on burial rituals and customs; effects on bereaved families, shades of grief, bereavement care, community response, and coping with loss. Based on examining the pandemic-induced changes related to customs and rituals around death, the study found that the bereaved family members were in danger of marginalization, economic burdens, psychological traumas, and overall reduced quality of life. This study would be a credible addition to the existing literature on death practices as there is a shortage of research on funeral rituals during the post-pandemic period in Kashmir.
The issue of political detainees remains an unrecorded and unaddressed subject in Kashmir. Amid the ongoing political conflict, hundreds of children bear the brunt of political repression resulting ...from the detention of their parents for political reasons. The current study tries to look into the impact of parental incarceration on Kashmiri children. The study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Approach (IPA) to explore the lived experiences of children of incarcerated parents and is based on the narratives of 12 children with a parent(s) in detention. The interviews that lasted between 50 minutes and 2 hours were held with the children in their respective homes and focused on the experiential dimension of parental incarceration and its consequences on their lives. The data revealed that children having parents in detention face myriad sufferings and hardships. Parental incarceration affects children’s psychological and social well-being and puts them in a disadvantaged position. These children also experience heightened vulnerabilities emanating from socio-economic difficulties.
