Nationalist religious discourse and securitisation: the case of revocation of Kashmir autonomy

Abstract

The state of Jammu and Kashmir in India was revoked of its autonomous status in 5th August, 2019, by the Indian government on the grounds of rising terrorism in the territory. The thesis aims to analyse the actual motive behind the revocation of Article 370, the constitutional provision that secures Kashmir’s autonomy, through the application of securitisation theory. By applying the theory to the case, the thesis plans to show how the ruling Indian government securitised the state of Kashmir by creating a ‘state of exception’. The chosen method to analyse the empiric is Discourse Analysis; materials chosen for analysis consists of public speeches made by members from the ruling political party. The empirical analysis is achieved by studying public speeches made by key leaders of the members from the ruling Indian government. It is divided into three themes: securitisation of Muslims, Modi’s speeches on terrorism, and securitisation of Kashmir. The thesis concludes by stating the key findings that have been established from the analysis of the case.