Experiences of Caste Discrimination Among Muslims: Marginalization of Ga’ad Ha’enz Community in Kashmir

Introduction

Caste is a deep-rooted social structure in India that has historically led to discrimination and marginalization. The caste system is an ancient social hierarchy that divides people into distinct groups or castes according to their birth (Dumont, 1967, 1980; Srinivas 1997). This system assigns social and occupational duties to each caste, with Brahmins (priests and scholars) and Dalits (formerly known as ‘untouchables’) occupying the highest and lowest positions, respectively (Ambedkar, 1945; Jaffrelot, 2006). Under this hierarchical social order, social status of individuals is assigned at birth without any mobility to move up in hierarchy (Srinivas 1962). Certain castes and communities have been marginalized as a result of this system’s perpetuation of social and economic inequality (Royce, 2018). Those of so called ‘inferior castes’ are frequently subject to systemic discrimination, exclusion and restricted access to resources and opportunities (Srinivas, 1997). For instance, practice of untouchability is one of the significant consequences of the caste system, in which certain castes are considered ‘polluted’ and immoral, which in turn results into social segregation and denial of basic human rights (Guru, 2009; Surukkai, 2009).

Apart from untouchability, the caste system also influences educational and occupational opportunities. Historically, higher castes have had greater access to education, resulting in disparities in literacy rates and educational attainment (Borooah, 2005; Deshpande, 2006; Hussain, 2018). Similarly, caste-based discrimination on the job market can limit employment opportunities for individuals from marginalized castes (Banerjee & Knight, 1985; Borooah et al., 2007; Thorat, 2007). In addition, the caste system intersects with other forms of marginalization, such as gender, religion and economic status, thereby exacerbating the marginalization experienced by particular groups (Omvedt, 1971). For instance, women from lower castes encounter multiple layers of discrimination and are especially susceptible to various forms of exploitation and violence (Agarwal, 2014; Deshpande, 2007; Omvedt, 1986). Despite the fact that the Indian Constitution prohibits caste-based discrimination and institutes affirmative action, such as reservations in educational institutions and government jobs, centuries of marginalization and discrimination have left their mark on Indian society (Art 17, Constitution of India). The caste system remains a significant issue in India, but there are ongoing efforts by various individuals, organizations and the government to combat caste-based discrimination, advance social equality and uplift marginalized communities.

Although the caste system originated in Hindu society, its influence has extended beyond Hinduism and impacted other religions practised in India. Caste-based hierarchies and discrimination can also be found among Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and other religious communities (Ali, 2002; Forrester, 2017; Jodkha, 2004; Nazir, 1993; Sato, 2012). It is essential to acknowledge that the extent and manifestation of caste-based discrimination may vary between religious communities. Despite the fact that these religions’ fundamental tenets may oppose caste-based hierarchies, cultural, regional and historical factors can influence the persistence of such practises. For instance, there exist not only separate churches or congregations based on caste or social status in some Christian communities, neither inter-caste marriages are approved nor are the ‘lower caste’ within the community given access to positions of leadership within the church (Ballhatchet, 2013; Forrester, 2017). Similarly, Sikhism which opposes the caste system in principle, the lived experience of the ‘lower caste’ Sikhs reflect the caste-based discrimination in their social interactions, marriages and religious gatherings (Jodkha, 2001, 2004; Sato, 2012). Islam scripturally promises equalitarianism and does not recognize any hierarchy in the form of the caste system, but the lived experience of Muslim communities in South Asia reflect caste-based divisions and discrimination (Ahmad & Chakravarti, 1981; Jodkha, 2010; Marriot, 1977; Werbner, 1989). Broadly the caste-based social hierarchy among the Muslim community in India is visible through a division between ‘Ashrafs’ and ‘Pasmandas’ (Ahmad, 1978, 2003; Anwar, 2005). Ashrafs are typically associated with the ‘upper caste’ or privileged Muslims, whereas the Pasmandas are associated with the ‘lower caste’ or marginalized Muslims. Rather than scriptural Islam, cultural and social influences are frequently blamed as this division is not based on Islamic teachings, but on a historical caste system-influenced social construct (Ahmad, 2003; Ali, 2002). Due to their perceived Arab or Central Asian ancestry, association with noble families, or occupations such as scholars, warriors, or rulers, the Ashrafs are believed to have a superior social status (Anwar, 2005; Sikand, 2004). Within the Muslim community, it is them who enjoy greater educational and economic opportunities, access to political influence and social prestige. In contrast, Pasmandas, or ‘backward’ Muslims are those who historically belonged to inferior castes or occupational groups regarded as menial or impure. They frequently experience socio-economic disadvantages, limited educational opportunities and exclusion within the Muslim community. Pasmanda Muslims face discrimination, social exclusion and limited access to resources on a regular basis (Ansari, 2009, 2018). Many Muslims reject the caste system and work to advance equality and social justice in their communities, in accordance with the Islamic principles that emphasize the equality of all believers. There are ongoing conversations and movements to raise awareness, promote inclusiveness, and challenge the social hierarchy that perpetuates the division between Ashrafs and Pasmandas (Alam, 2007, 2009; Ansari, 2023).

Caste Among Muslim Majority of Jammu and Kashmir

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is a demographically and culturally diverse region. Prior to the abrogation of Article 370 and division of state into two union territories in 2019, the region consisted of three main regions: Jammu, Kashmir Valley, and Ladakh, each with its own demographic makeup and social dynamics (Bhasin, 2022). Even after this division, the demographics of J&K are complex, consisting of numerous ethnic, religious, and social groupings. The Jammu region has predominantly Hindu population with explicit caste hierarchy. It is the ‘upper-caste’ Dogra Hindus and Rajputs who have been politically and socially dominant compared to the other ‘lower castes’ in Jammu (Bhatia, 2014).

Islam did not come to Kashmir as a faith of the conquerors but through sufi saints and therefore did not lead to the persecution of people belonging to other religious denominations (Puri, 1990) but many historians regard it as a part of liberation philosophy against the degenerated hierarchical caste structures of Brahminism and Buddhism in Kashmir (Ahmad, 1979; Khan, 1994). Thus, social hierarchy on the basis of class and caste does not enjoy religious legitimacy in predominantly ‘Muslim Kashmir’, but socio-economic class and caste divisions in Kashmir are well entrenched like other South Asian societies (Khan, 2017). The Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley has a profound history rooted in the caste system, although it may not be as prominent or rigid as in other regions of India (Bhatia, 2014). Rather than the traditional fourfold Varna system of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras, it is the occupation, ancestry and lineage that are frequently used to define social status. Therefore, some social groups in the Kashmir Valley are associated with specific occupations or professions, and hierarchical relationships may exist between them (Dabla, 2012). Historically, the Kashmiri Brahmins in the valley held influential positions and a high social standing. The absence of the ‘lower caste’ groups within the valley made the Kashmiri Muslims ‘other’ for them who would perform duties and jobs considered ‘impure’ by the Kashmiri Brahmins (Madan, 1989).

Although social hierarchy and occupational differences close to the pattern of caste system existed among Kashmiri Muslims, but it was after the migration of Kashmiri Brahmins in post-1990s period (Hassan, 2010), academic attention turned towards the Muslim population and the dynamics of hierarchy practiced among them (Bhatia, 2014). Kashmiri Muslim identity in the valley itself is not a monolith, there are differences in terms of sect, language and ethnicity. For instance, there are the Sunni Muslims, Shia Muslims, Gujjar-Bakarwals and Paharis within the Kashmiri Muslim community with their own identities and social hierarchies. Among the majority Sunni Muslims in the valley, there are social groups, such as the Hanjis and Watals, that have historically been regarded as inferior members of society. Despite not strictly adhering to the traditional fourfold Varna system, the Hanjis, which is the focus of this article, have confronted social and economic marginalization not only from the outside but from within the community as the Hanji community itself constitutes various sub groups which are based on different occupations, which Hanjis have been carrying on traditionally. According to Sufi (1949), the subcategories in which the community is divided are

Demb Ha’enz (Vegetable growers)

Research Design

It is essential to recognize that the social dynamics in Kashmir are complex and multi-faceted, and that the categorization of these groups may vary depending on the sources and points of view used. Nonetheless, it is essential to acknowledge that individuals and communities, experiencing the violent conflict for the last three decades, in the region are diverse, and that not everyone adheres to or engages in caste-based discrimination. Instead many individuals and organizations in J&K work to promote inclusivity, social justice and equality in an effort to overcome social divisions and caste-based practises (Moochi, 2022). In order to comprehend the everyday experience of the caste-based discrimination among the Kashmiri Muslims, this article looks at the case of the Ga’ad Ha’enz (fishing) community, which constitutes the sub-group of the Hanji community.

By taking a broader framework of marginalization and intersectionality, this article aims to establish a relationship between the marginalization experienced by the fishing community in Kashmir valley and the social caste groups with which they are associated. Marginalization is a process that signifies spatial, social and economic exclusion of groups relegated to societal peripheries and denied access to rights, resources and power structures, mostly because of their social identity (Sharma, 2017). Carried out in different forms and across spaces—economic, political and geographic, marginalization leads to unequal power relations (Teltumbde, 2010) and denial of entitlements for disadvantaged groups (Sarmah, 2017). Socio-economic marginalization based on caste identity is deeply built into Indian society (Deshpande, 2017). Most of the wealth in the form of land and capital is in the hands of ‘upper’ caste and ‘lower’ castes continue to serve as wage labourers (Guru, 2000). Even if minuscule of minority among the ‘lower’ castes attain the education and some capital, as a community they continue to experience what Ambedkar referred as a ‘system of graded inequality’. Caste and resultant marginalization is not exclusive to Hindu society; it is a defining feature of South Asia as a whole (Wessler, 2020). Even the Muslim-dominated societies, such as contemporary Jammu Kashmir continue to perpetuate certain features of caste identity, including caste-based social marginalization. As followers of Islam (religious identity) and belonging to the marginalized social caste of ‘Hanji’ community (caste identity), the vulnerabilities experienced by members of Ga’ad Ha’enz group in general and women in particular are different from ‘other’ High caste Kashmiri Muslims. So the intersectionality (Mattson, 2014; Mohanty, 1984) provides a scope to examine the different socio-cultural spaces where they experience the marginalization.

For the research of this article, semi-structured questionnaire in Kashmiri language was used to interview the participants (from Ga’ad Ha’enz fisherwomen) to obtain the information about their daily activities, problems faced in livelihood and the difficulties faced in their residential areas. The interview questions developed for this study included the items on occupation, family relations, work activities, income, aspirations, relationship with neighbours and customers, and government policies. In order to understand the daily experience of men and women from Ga’ad Ha’enz community, the Day Reconstruction Method was employed (Kahneman et al., 2004). It proved helpful to reconstruct the everyday life, from the dawn when they go for fishing to dusk when they complete their job of selling maximum portion of fish in the basket. Moreover, this method will be helpful to reflect upon the changes that occurred in the daily lives of those who were displaced from their original residential areas from Dal Lake and what kind of caste-based discrimination they experience from ‘High’ caste Muslim neighbourhood.

Experiences of Marginalization at Residential Areas

Though regarded as the aboriginal inhabitants and earliest settlers of the valley (as recorded in Kalhana’s Rajatarngni) but they continue to live in the depilated conditions and face discrimination from the people living in surrounding vicinity. The population of the Hanji community is spread across Kashmir valley, mostly in or in close proximity to water bodies. As already discussed above, Ga’ad Ha’enz are lowest in status among the various sub-caste groups of the Hanji community and in Srinagar, their residential areas in the close vicinity of Dal Lake. Caste-based discrimination experienced by this community has forced them to live in ghettos in pockets, locally known as Mohalla within Bud Dal and Lokut Dal municipal wards (Amin, 2012). These ghettos of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community are characterized by a high density of population, mud houses and tin sheds clustered together and congested lanes. These Mohallas vary in size and structure from one locality to the other, some as big as consisting of almost hundred households while others are as small as five to ten household only. Most of the houses are one-storey structures with two rooms, kitchen and a bathroom, which is shared among 10–12 family members. In most of the cases at the Tailbal area, more than two nuclear families live under the same roof, often ending up infringing each other’s privacy and family squabble. ¹

Compared to the nearby posh colonies, such as Zukura and Hazratbal where other ‘high’ caste Muslim communities reside, the Mohallas of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community lack basic facilities. The members of this community experience the challenges in everyday life as they have been relegated to the spaces with poor public services, like piped water, electricity, sewage and medical dispensaries. Though dwelling close to the water bodies, like Dal Lake, the households of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community lack the safe drinking water. Abdul Rashid, a resident at the Tailbal area of Dal Lake pointed out that only few household have a tap connection for water, rest of the household depend on the common tap in the Mohalla. ² He also pointed out the acute shortage of water during summers. The lack of proper water supply not only disturbs their daily household chores but also proves impediment in their livelihood as they require good amount of water for keeping fish in the vessels. At Tailbal area, around 70% of the household have formal electricity connection, where they have to pay the flat rate of 1400 rupees per month to the Jammu Kashmir Power Development Department. All these Mohallas fall in the category of non-metred areas and most often face the disruption in the electricity supply. Lack of sewage system keeps the alleys and by-lanes dirty and during rainy days, the dirty water creeps into the ground floor of the households. Although, for last one few years, the Municipal Corporation of Srinagar under its project of ‘Clean city’ collects the garbage in small vehicles from the Mohallas. Even the ‘cleaners’ from the Municipality have been given the responsibility to visit and clean the alleys and by-lanes on weekly basis. ³ But no such facility is provided to the Mohallas in the Tailbal area occupied by the Ga’ad Ha’enz community. Inefficient sanitation facilities and hygiene have made the members of the community, particularly women and children prone to disease. Jana Begum, a resident from Tailbal expressed that ‘most of the times, we use traditional medicine’. Further she says, ‘we avoid visiting to government hospital which is faraway and we do not want to lose a day of selling fish in the market’. ⁴ The vicinity does not have a working government medical dispensary, which shuts down the scope of free medical aid for the members of Ga’ad Ha’enz community.

The members of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community who used to live in a ghetto at the chinar bag area of Dal Lake experienced the displacement, which resulted into further marginalization. Ghulam Mohammad, whose family was displaced, describes it in one Kashmiri word—Meseibat—which loosely translated as tragedy. ⁵ In early 1990s period, the state government of Jammu Kashmir implemented rehabilitation programmes to assist the Ga’ad Ha’enz community, improve their living conditions, enhance their socio-economic standing, and promote their overall well-being. From one of the residential areas—Chinar Bag in the Dal Lake, the members of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community were displaced by the government on the pretext of saving the water body from the pollution. The families from this particular area were rehabilitated in the Boatman’s Colony at Bemina in Srinagar. This proved detrimental for this community. Apart from having an impact on their livelihood, they experienced caste prejudice in this new locality. The inhabitants were assured improved dwellings as part of their resettlement, yet were ultimately provided with dilapidated structures composed of mud and tin. The inadequate quality of housing has significantly exacerbated the challenges faced by individuals in their living conditions. At present, the colony consists of around 700 households and most of the houses in the colony are half constructed. Historically this area of Bemina used to serve as flood channel, so the rains cause frequent floods in the colony. Additionally, like the Tailbal area, the boatman colony too lack the public services, with lack of drainage system, posing inconvenience to the residents. Apart from having an impact on their livelihood, the displaced Ga’ad Ha’enz community experience caste prejudice in this new locality.

The failure to deliver on the promised rehabilitation has led to a significant impact on the livelihood of the rehabilitated Ga’ad Ha’enz community. Previously involved in occupations such as operating shikaras and engaging in fishing activities inside Dal Lake, now they have experienced a substantial decline in their means of earning a living. For men, it became difficult to reach to the water bodies in the early morning to catch fish and women had to search new market spaces selling a fish. The presence of marshy terrain renders the area unsuitable for agricultural activities, resulting in a dearth of employment prospects. The government made promises of employment opportunities, then failed to fulfil them, thereby compelling residents to engage in low-skilled labour in order to sustain their households. ‘Before settling at this colony, we lived in Chinar Bagh and other peripheries of Dal Lake in houseboats and shacks. They saved water bodies and left us to suffer. In the name of rehabilitation every comfort of ours was snatched’, said one of the elders from the community. ⁶ Being, closely bonded community, a shift to Boatman colony has disturbed their cultural and social elements of their lives that they used to experience in Dal Lake. The members of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community also experience the prejudice and stereotyping from the ‘High’ caste Kashmiri Muslim families living in the neighbourhood of Boatman’s colony. Considered as ‘dirty’ with foul language, the children from Ga’ad Ha’enz community are not allowed to use the common public parks in Bemina to play or mix up with the children from ‘high’ caste families. High-caste families in the neighbourhood associate the adults with unlawful activities, such as drug peddling, theft and stone-pelting but the formal police reports in the area does not support this kind of stereotyping. Umar, a young resident from the Boatman colony points towards this prejudice and says ‘whenever there is an incident of theft in the area, the police first comes to our area and detains young boys from our locality. At the end, all are released as police does not find any proof against our boys’. ⁷

Experiences of Marginalization in Livelihood

The livelihood of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community is mainly on fishing; however, due to decreasing number of fish, many have taken alternative jobs, such as selling of vegetables, de-weeding the inner channels of the lake, etc. The community’s men participate in the fishing while the women sell the catch. The selling of fish is carried out by the women of the community—called as Ga’ad-e-Wajeine—in different places in the Srinagar city. Most of these women travel to different places to sell their catch. Besides not everyone among the community is allowed to go for fishing in the Dal lake or nearby river Jhelum as per their wishes. The government has designated spots for fishing, and there is proper bidding for acquiring the permit to fish in those waters. ⁸ Often the big business people from non-fishing community get the licence for this; since they have no expertise in fishing, they employ the members from Ga’ad Ha’enz community to fish. The members of Ga’ad Ha’enz community, thus have turned into labourers in their own markets. One of the major challenges that the Ga’ad-e-Wajeine in Srinagar face is the absence of the designated space or a formal market. Since there is no formal fish market, Ga’ad Ha’enz sell the fish on the roadside or go door to door. Due to the lack of designated centralized marketplace, these women are compelled to operate in dispersed locations, reducing their market reach and sales opportunities. Not only this, but women have to navigate many obstacles due to the lack of a formal market. They are at the mercy of the administration, who at any time can evict them from the roadsides and other spaces which are usually used by them to sell fish. ⁹ Gulam Nabi, a Ga’ad Ha’enz (fisherman) whose wife and daughter sell fish at market near Hazratbal Shrine expresses the difficulties faced in market and he says, ‘we are not allowed to do our business peacefully. Sometimes, the police throws us out of market and destroys our fishes, throw them in water. The big problem is the lack of the formal designated space of fish market in the city. Presently even the shopkeepers harass us, even though we pay rent for the spaces we occupy. Often our women face castiest slurs. What can we do? How much can we tolerate?’ ¹⁰

Caste slurs are used by the ‘upper caste’ Muslims against the members of Hanji community to demean and insult them. To distinguish them from the ‘upper caste’ groups, the term Kameen-zaat (low caste) is used for the community to portray the lower status of the community as a whole in the social fabric of Kashmiri society. Individual members of the community experience various derogatory slurs on daily basis. The slurs like Na-paak (dirty and Impure) and Phakh (smelly) are used by the ‘upper caste’ Muslims for the fisherwomen selling fish in the market. Although many youth from the community have adopted different means of livelihood, such as jobs at the government and private offices. But these spaces are not free from the caste based discrimination where the members of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community experience the caste slurs. Abdul Rehman who works as section officer in the civil secretariat in Srinagar says that his ‘upper caste’ colleagues often pass degrading comments on him. He says that, being a professional I use fresh washed clothes every day for office but my colleagues taunt me with the slurs like Phakh-e-Haenz (Smelly fisherman). ¹¹ Children from the Ga’ad Ha’enz community face discrimination at the schools where jokes are cracked for the profession (fishing) of their parents. Moreover, they are mocked and ridiculed for the benefits of affirmative actions at the state level which these students avail for belonging to the social caste of Hanjis. While sharing the experiences of facing caste slurs, a student at the Central University of Kashmir shares comment passed on him by his class-mates, ‘Your place is at the fish market, like your mother. You are here only because of the reservation, otherwise you do not belong here’. ¹² Many students from the Ga’ad Ha’enz community during the fieldwork for this research work shared similar experiences where mockery, satirical humour and caste slurs are often used against them to target their self-confidence.

The spaces used by them are congested, without adequate basic amenities. They do not even have proper stalls, rather women sit on the side of the road with some of the catch and keep most of their catch in the water so as to keep it fresh. Insufficient facilities, however, make it difficult for Ga’ad-e-Wajeine to maintain hygiene standards. Without access to clean water, sanitation facilities and waste disposal mechanisms, fisherwomen struggle to guarantee the cleanliness and freshness of their products, which again has a negative effect on sales. The recent reconstruction of roads around the min city centre of Lal-chowk under the state’s smart-city project has adversely affected the spaces which were used earlier by fisherwomen to sell fish (Khan, 2023). Nabla Begum, who used to sell at Amira Kadal points out that ‘now the police and officials from Municipality do not allow us to use the roadside spaces where we sold fish for decades. They consider our business as ugly which does not go with their idea of beautification of the smart-city’. ¹³ Ga’ad-e-Wajeine’s inherent power dynamics and limited bargaining power result in unjust prices for their products, which decreases their profits. As a researcher, it was surprising to find out that after working hard every day, the average amount that they make will only be 400 to ₹600 per week. ¹⁴ The amount that they make will be used for daily expenses and the educational purposes of their children. Thus with the unavailability of resources, the members of Ga’ad Ha’enz community are pushed into indebtedness and low standards of living.

Seen as a women from the ‘low caste’ Hanji community, they experience exploitation in the market at the hands of the consumers, who not only bargain for less prizes but also use racist and casteist slurs against them. These women are also vulnerable to sexual harassment at the market spaces from the customers and the nearby shopkeepers. There is a dynamics of caste hierarchy and gender about the sexual violence which the women from Ga’ad Ha’enz community experience. Being a women from the lower social caste, they are characterized as ‘lose’ women and not Asel-Zanan (good women) by the male customers. Maimuna, who is selling fish for last one decade at Hazratbal market shares that she is being harassed by strangers by passing lewd comments and touching her inappropriately. As she puts it strongly, bei chhas Gade-wajjein sadke peth Gade Kenan, teim chhe soucchan bei chass Gaein (I am a fisherwomen, selling fish on roadside and they imagine that I am as good as prostitute). ¹⁵ Most of these women do not report to the police or share at family due to fear of social stigma. Other practical difficulty which is experienced by them is to reach to the market spaces, which are mostly at distant places from their residences. It becomes difficult for them to reach the market spaces with their big vessels in the public transport. At time, fisherwomen are not allowed to use the public transport like buses and shared auto-rickshaws with their vessels. Even if they manage to board a bus, they are hindered and ridiculed by bus drivers, conductors and the attitude of fellow passengers is almost similar. At market spaces, the customers from high-caste Muslim families associate Ga’ad Ha’enz community with filth and smell, and they often tend to cover their noses while buying from them, even if there is no smell around. Moreover, the absence of adequate storage facilities, such as refrigeration units, deteriorates the quality of their products to deteriorate, making it more difficult for them to sell their fish at reasonable prices. During the fieldwork for this research, it was observed that most of the new generation among the Ga’ad Ha’enz community were involuntarily dragged into this occupation due to poverty and lack of education. It was expressed by most of the families at Tailbal area, ‘we prefer our youngsters to follow the same livelihood of fishing as an extra earning hand would help them to meet their needs every day’. ¹⁶ The parents would force them to join the business of catching and selling fish in order to increase the income of the household. They, thus drop out from school in order to help the family to crawl out of poverty and to be an extra earning hand in the family. The members of the community also pointed out the depletion of quantity and quality of fish in the Dal Lake, which in recent times has led to the change in their occupation. In order to meet the daily demands of the family, the male members of Ga’ad Ha’enz community are forced to practice other part time jobs. They go for construction works, barbeque stall on boulevard road, and as tourist guides for earning extra income to support the family.

Development Programmes by State for Ga’ed-e-Haenz Community

One of the major problems that the Ga’ad Ha’enz community faced for years was about the proper housing. In 1996, a centrally sponsored National Welfare Scheme for Fishermen was introduced in Jammu Kashmir to provide low cost houses to the houseless fishermen. The initial cost of the scheme was ₹35,000/- which has been enhanced to ₹130,000/- per beneficiary. The members of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community had to register as a bonafide fisherman with the concerned department for at least five years. Fishing by the male members of Ga’ad Ha’enz community at the early hours of day is not easy task; sometimes it results in accidents. The problem of these accidents is addressed by the Free Insurance Scheme of the state which provides free insurance cover where in the event of death and permanent disability during fishing, the member of a Ga’ad Ha’enz community is paid ₹1.00 lac and ₹ 0.50 lac respectively. Some of our respondents have availed the construction of low-cost houses and some of the people have also availed the insurance scheme. Additionally, there are scheme sponsored by the Central Government, such as PM’s Package for creation of employment opportunities and Fisheries Training and extension for the propagation of fish culture in private sector to create employment and for professional training programmes to impart technical know-how of fishing respectively. It was observed by the researchers that these two schemes are not particularly for the Ga’ad Ha’enz community but, in general, can be availed by the bona fide fisherman of the state. Therefore, any person of any community can claim these schemes if he or she has a fishing license. What was shared by the members of the Ga’ad Ha’enz community to the researchers is this loophole that ‘the criteria for getting a fishing license is not based on the birth or the occupation of the person, but anybody can apply for the fishing license and become a fisherman and avail these schemes’. ¹⁷ Our respondents were aggrieved by the fact that most of these schemes meant for the poor section of the society, like Ga’ad Ha’enz, is availed by the more affluent and influential people as they have the license, thus cannot be claimed as non-fishing people.

Conclusion

For the last three decades, most of the academic works vis-à-vis Kashmir focused on the various nuances of the political conflict that this region witnessed. There has been no severe academic engagement on the questions of social structures, such as the operation of caste-like structures among the Muslim majority of Jammu Kashmir. Although the caste structure and social hierarchy is different from how they exist in mainland India, it also amounts to the similar marginalization of the ‘lower’ social caste groups, such as Ga’ad-Heinz community. It is well established from the interviews with the members of the community at the different locations that their ghettoization is the result of caste-based prejudice. Not only do the residential areas lack basic public services but they experience prejudice and discriminatory behaviour from the ‘high’ caste Muslims from the neighbourhood. High-caste Muslim neighbours hold a stereotypical imagination about the members of the community. Similarly, they face challenges in their main livelihood—fishing. They do not have facilities for storing fish or any designated market spaces. In addition, the fisherwomen from the community face caste-based slurs and sexual exploitation in the market spaces from ‘high’ caste customers.

Though marginalized, the Ga’ad-Heinz community in J&K plays an essential role in the local economy. Recognizing their significance, the Government of J&K has instituted several welfare programs to assist them, improve their living conditions, encourage sustainable fishing practices and enhance their overall well-being. The government provides subsidies to fishermen for the construction and purchase of fishing boats, fishing nets, and other fishing apparatus under the Fisheries Subsidy Scheme. These subsidies are intended to alleviate Ga’ad-Heinz community’s financial burden and encourage the adoption of modern fishing methods. For the proper storage and preservation of fish, government had planned to establish cold storage facilities and ice plants in various areas inhabited by Hanji community in general and Ga’ad-Heinz community in particular. However, these storage facilities have yet to be made available close to their residential areas. Moreover, the government of J&K provides insurance coverage for Ga’ad-Heinz community that seeks to provide social security and financial protection in the event of fishing-related accidents, disabilities or fatalities. All the government schemes and programmes for the upliftment and empowerment of the Ga’ad-Heinz community have brought some positive changes in the economic aspects of their lives. However, they continue to face discrimination in everyday social life.