Balancing Inclusion and Incursion from Kashmir’s Rail Bridges
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
In March of 2023, the final tracks of the Chenab Bridge were laid down, signaling another milestone in the completion of the world’s highest rail bridge. Passing over the Chenab River, this steel and concrete arch bridge is part of a nationally-funded rail line in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, located in the Himalayas. This rail line will enhance connectivity between Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of India, especially during winter months, when the highway becomes unserviceable.
The completion of this bridge has received praise from the press and demonstrated the advancement of structural engineering in a region prone to high winds, seismic activity, landslides, and temperature fluctuations. While the Chenab Bridge may seem necessary for the transportation of people and goods, the current political situation in Jammu & Kashmir shows that large-scale infrastructure projects, funded by the national government of India, may serve not only to expedite economic development but also consolidate power over the territory.
Jammu & Kashmir forms part of the greater Kashmir region (referred hereafter as simply Kashmir), which is currently split between India, Pakistan, and to a small extent, China. As a battleground of geopolitical rivalry, Kashmir has become one of the most militarized places in the world, especially in Jammu & Kashmir. While exact numbers are unknown, Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez, chair of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, estimates that around 700,000 security personnel have been stationed there. Human rights abuses by these troops include rape, torture, and extrajudicial killings. The desire for independence, or at least autonomy, runs deep in Kashmir, which has been ruled by non-indigenous populations since 1589. All of these rulers have generally been viewed as exploitative, with exorbitant tax policies, forced labor practices, and rampant discrimination. Recent militarization in Jammu & Kashmir, especially since 2019, has only contributed to the issue. Any project that attempts to connect New Delhi with Kashmir should be viewed with skepticism, as the appearance of economic progress may be nothing more than a means of policing.
To better understand the situation that Kashmiris experience, a parallel may be drawn between Kashmir and the United States. In the 1800s, transcontinental railroad lines accelerated American westward expansion, opening land for miners, farmers, and ranchers. To a businessperson, this was market growth; to a railroad engineer, this was an in-demand career; to William Tecumseh Sherman, a U.S. Army general, this, “would enable the Military Authorities to maintain peace and order among Indians,” which in reality meant military occupation and decimation of their food supply. Such examples of military action coupled with imperialist economic development through rail have been displayed in colonial projects such as the subduing of Vietnamese anti-colonial guerillas by the French, and the British expansion of railroads in India to finance military campaigns like the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
Illustration Showing the Disruption of Native American Life by the Transcontinental Railroad
Photo Credit: Library of Congress
Critical assessment of the Chenab Bridge is more complex than other projects, as police routinely interrogate writers and photographers from Jammu & Kashmir for criticizing the Indian national government. Fahad Shah, founder of The Kashmir Walla magazine and a recipient of the Human Rights Press Award in 2021, was arrested in 2022 under the charge of “anti-national” activities. Khurram Parvez, a recipient of the 2023 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, has been in jail since 2021 for “waging war against the state.” Although these restrictions have reduced the credibility of local newspapers, Kashmiri journalists writing for foreign media have stayed resilient, so their work provides the most accurate evaluation of the bridge.
Freelance journalist Aakash Hassan, who was detained by immigration officials in 2022 to restrain dissident reporting, wrote an article for the Christian Science Monitor, where he compared the benefits of the Chenab Bridge to its drawbacks. He came to the conclusion that, although certain traders such as apple growers will benefit from better market connectivity, according to statements by army officers, the largest beneficiary by far would be the Indian military. Junaid Kathju, another independent Kashmiri journalist, says that most Kashmiris fear that this bridge will tighten New Delhi’s control over Jammu and Kashmir, in an article for Foreign Policy. Sheikh Showkat Hussain and Siddiq Wahid, political observers from Kashmir, say that the railway connection to Jammu and Kashmir will allow non-Kashmiris to settle in the region more efficiently, a policy of the national government, which some have compared to the proliferation of Israeli settlements in Palestine’s West Bank. The actual effects of the rail network remain to be seen, but if national policy supports settlement and military occupation, all-weather connectivity with Jammu & Kashmir will almost certainly aid these goals.
Human Rights Activist Khurram Parvez on His Way to Kot Balawal Jail
Photo Credit: Sameena Mir
Such local apprehensions do not seem to be noticed by businesses that have been involved in the construction process, which focuses on the technological aspects of the structure. For example, the consulting firm AECOM, which contributed to the design and construction of the Chenab Bridge, has highlighted the “ring of aerial security, online warnings and a monitoring system on the bridge,” as well as the use of blast-proof steel, to design for “a region prone to terrorist attacks.” This description states that the bridge itself has the capability to resist terrorist attacks, yet does not address the wider impacts that it will have on terrorist activity. According to the International Crisis Group, New Delhi’s greater control of the region has resulted in a rise in targeted killings against religious minorities, so the bridge could indirectly increase the amount of terrorism through its political effects. Without addressing the impacts of infrastructure on the local population, other characteristics such as technological enhancements will take over the conversation.
Infrastructure can perpetrate injustice through the generations when they are viewed as attractions rather than drivers of social change. In California, elementary school students have been visiting and building models of Spanish missions for decades, with few students learning about the missions’ role in facilitating Spanish militarization and cultural repression of Native Americans. Many will visit casinos owned by Native Americans without understanding their effects on economic inequality, and others will stay in Hawaiian hotels, without analyzing their effects on affordable housing for Native Hawaiians. Such infrastructure has been marketed as harmless recreation, yet the reality is far more complex. Likewise, the Chenab Bridge has been portrayed as an engineering accomplishment, though the political motivations tell a different story.
The Chenab Bridge demonstrates that we can no longer hide behind vague interpretations of a structure’s function, such as connectivity or economic development– we must discover the truth of their political and social contexts for ourselves. Businesses, governments, and universities will idealize engineering advancements as gifts to society, while the people that experience them may tell a different story. Our advancements in technology, severed from political context, will only widen the gap between those who claim to change the world, and those who are changed.
