This paper analyses the formation of contemporary political Hindu identity in Jammu region of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. There are varied manifestations of heterogeneous identities in the Jammu region as opposed to the dominant Kashmiri political identity in the context of Kashmir conflict. The non-engagement of Kashmiri political elite with the Jammu region combined with the rise of right-wing forces in India have played a significant role in the making of this aggressive Hindu identity. The Kashmir conflict is understood by many in the academic and the political sphere as an unfinished project of Partition and locates the roots of the conflict in it. However,the contemporary developments of the conflict are marked by the inner-complexities of different regions, Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir, which constituted the erstwhile State. This development can be observed through the regional dimensions embedded in the contemporary articulations of identities. Kashmir-centric politics and dominant articulations have invisiblised various other manifestations of the identities and their politics. The politics in Jammu region is marked by the issues of regional discrimination and reactionary political attitude towards Kashmiri nationalism. The politics of separatism failed to generate the same passion in the Jammu region as it generated in the valley. On the contrary, the politics of Jammu region has more or less revolved around greater integration with the Indian state. The paper argues that the resentment against the lack of engagement of Kashmir movement with the heterogenous identities in Jammu region combined with the military response of the Indian state has resulted in the making of different communal subjectivities. In this backdrop, the paper seeks to understand the changing dynamics of identities, communal consciousness and the intervening role of state in it.
