Dissertation Defense: Displacement of the Kashmiri Pandits: Dynamics of Policies and Perspectives of Policymakers.

The magnitude of the social phenomenon of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) is a daunting humanitarian challenge with twenty-five million people currently in displacement. Based on the premise that the displacement of over 250,000 Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley, beginning in 1989, had ruptured the very fabric of this community, this study investigates the impact of positions and perspectives of the policyholders, the host community and the IDPs and scrutinizes the resulting three-way dynamic. Through semi-structured field-based interviews with high level officials, the business leaders of the host communities and the IDPs living in a myriad of camps, this study unfolds the many political, social, cultural and psychological dimensions of this displacement.

The findings reveal that the policymaking process is a direct function of the perception of the policymakers about the IDPs and their mindset about the reasons for their displacement. In addition, the official positions and labels preclude long-term solutions for those internally displaced and spillover into the IDP/Host dynamic. The ambiguous narratives meant to favor the elite, have the potential to empower the IDPs, which negates the policy impact. Armed with an understanding of the key variables that shape the policymaking process and the IDP/Host dynamic, the findings are key to policy formulation and societal reforms. The study identifies specific roles for the international community as well as the national governments in addressing and in the handling of internal displacement and empowers the Conflict Resolution practitioners with tools to perform an accurate diagnostics of the displaced communities worldwide.