Settler Colonialism and Ecocide: How India is destroying Kashmir’s natural heritage

Kashmir is an ecological wonder. The watershed is the home of the Indus River, one of the world’s most important rivers. Kashmir is also home to the Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum, and Sutlej Rivers – rivers vital to Kashmir’s food production.

The region sits at the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, containing at least a dozen mountain glaciers that feed these rivers and provide fresh water for hundreds of millions of people.

India’s illegal occupation has accelerated the destruction of this vital ecosystem, and it not only destroys the lives of native Kashmiris but places the world at risk as well. Examining the multifaceted impact of India’s settler colonialism reveals the extensive plundering of Kashmir’s natural resources and highlights the far-reaching consequences for the entire world.

How ecocide becomes a holocaust

India and Pakistan are both nuclear powers, and they have fought four wars since 1947. While those conflicts were fought with conventional weapons, there is no guarantee that a fifth war won’t spiral into a nuclear conflict.

Ever since India invaded Kashmir in 1947, it has been using water access to the Indus as a geo-political bargaining chip over Pakistan. Clean, fresh water is the most important resource on the Earth. While the probability of war remains low, it is not zero.

It’s possible to imagine a scenario where frequent droughts, accelerated by climate change, lead India to drastically reduce the flow of water into Pakistan. With nationalist sentiments running high and water running out, war is the only answer for Pakistan. The war is fought with conventional weapons, but since both countries are possess matching nuclear weapons and are within a short distance from each other, they can turn to their nuclear arsenal to “even the score with India.”

Tit-for-tat strikes lead to a full nuclear exchange, millions die, and the resulting nuclear winter impacts the world.

While this scenario is far from inevitable, it increases as India plunders Kashmir’s resources for itself.

Destroying the environment in the name of saving it

When India hosted the G-20 in 2023, it hosted some meetings in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The agenda for those meetings included discussions on energy transition, environment, climate sustainability, and proposals for increased tourism.

At the same time, India has irrevocably destroyed the ecology of Kashmir.

Forests under the management of the Indian Army have been clear-cut to supply the army with sources of fuel for cooking and heating, but also for building bases for luxurious settler colonies for Indian civilians as well as retired military personnel.

While India promoted tourism in the Himalayan mountains, the mountain glaciers were polluted with tons of toxic plastic waste. This ecological disaster gets heightened during the Hindu religious pilgrimage during summer up into the Himalayan mountains.

Recently six million tons of lithium were discovered in the Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir. Lithium is an important resource in the manufacture of batteries, not only for consumer electronics but also for electric vehicles.

Lithium mining is ecologically catastrophic even when it’s regulated, and Indian companies are seldom regulated. They can bypass environmental impact studies, and the ruling authorities do not oversee their projects.

One thing is certain, Indian companies and executives will profit from the mines, and the people of Kashmir will be left to clean up their mess.

Colonialism: Stealing the wealth of Kashmir

It has been less than 100 years since the British ended their colonial rule of India. Yet, India sees no irony in repeating the experiment in Kashmir. The Brits built railroads to steal wealth from Indians and the Indians do the same to Kashmiris.

Natural resources create the wealth to build a nation and enrich the people. India has plans to settle over 3.2 million non-natives from the whole of India in Kashmir.

The Indian army clear-cuts forests, Indian companies strip mine the land, and Kashmiris are left with nothing. Indian companies often refuse to hire Kashmiris, and those that do are left to work at starvation wages.

Natural resource extraction purposely excludes native Kashmir, and often the state prohibits them from participating in the economy. Kashmiris are prevented from participating in openly bidding for natural resources.

After Modi’s 2019 invasion, Kashmiris were prohibited from opening their businesses, and a communication blackout was enforced. Kashmiri farmers were prohibited from selling their crop, particularly apples to India and their produce was left to rot in trucks.

The message they are sending to Kashmiris is this: Kashmir belongs to India, so starve and be quiet.

Final Thoughts: Colonialism and the Great Greenwashing

The environment of Kashmir is being destroyed. The collective effects of the settler colonialism project have annihilated forests, accelerated glacier melting, infusing them with microplastic waste, as the air and water quality drop throughout the valley. Yet, one can’t help but shake their head at the audacity of the occupiers as they declare it necessary for a greener, sustainable future.

The West is looking to decarbonize and preaches sustainability but doesn’t care if it ruins the global South with industrial waste and ruin. The exploitation of Kashmir and untold millions are left to live in poisoned lands and fallout to clean up.