Memory, Temporality and Representation: Remembering Kunan and Poshpora

In recent times, Memory Studies has emerged as a distinct field of inquiry within academia. From history to politics and war studies, this new discipline has witnessed significant interest among researchers. Memories are invoked by different states, groups or individuals for different purposes, frequently utilized to shape narratives, and at times deployed for personal gain. This essay traces the politics of formal commemoration in the context of the twin villages of Kunan-Poshpora, and the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS), an organization that over the last few years has been responsible for commemorating the alleged mass rape of women by Indian security forces during a search operation in Kunan-Poshpora (Kupwara district, Jammu & Kashmir) on the night of 23/24 February 1991. The essay interrogates the ‘representation ’and ‘mis-representation ’of the victims ’traumatic memories by JKCCS, and questions how the ongoing practice of today commemorating the Kunan-Poshpora assault at a plush hotel in the state capital Srinagar-a physical location far from the actual site of atrocity-affects not only the public memory of that gruesome violence, but also profoundly affects the the victims/survivors, who have so far not received adequate reparative justice. The key question here is whether a commemoration event held at a privileged venue can appropriately mirror the agony of the victims, all from disadvantaged rural families. Is it even possible for their trauma narratives to resonate in an opulent space of commemoration that is completely disconnected from their socio-cultural and economic realities? The essay argues that this modality of remembrance overwrites the actual context and landscape of the Kunan-Poshpora incident, and thus actively enables a distortion of historical truth.