Conflicts inherently affect, even reshape, the social fabric of any society in ways both positive and negative. Apart from changing livelihoods and behavioural patterns, prolonged conflicts also affect the lexicon and language of a particular society. As certain institutions become increasingly active in conflict situations, this dynamic in turn enriches and irrevocably changes the local language.
Kashmir has now been witness to a bloody dispute for over two decades. Over that period, Indian military forces and Kashmiri militants have in turn employed new weapons and strategies, which were initially new and strange to the local Kashmiri-speaking populace. The overall effect of the conflict has been that the local news media, and the Kashmiri language itself, has undergone a process of high-speed modernisation, in order to be able to fully communicate and disseminate information to the public masses about the fast-shifting scenario. According to the 2001 census, there are roughly 5.5 million Kashmiri speakers in Jammu & Kashmir. (Another estimated 105,000 live in Azad Kashmir.)
It has, of course, long been accepted that language cannot be treated as static. It exists in a constant state of flux, under the diverse pulls and pressures of a host of cultural, political and economic factors. The Kashmiri language itself has a long history of resilience, adaptability and sustainability. For a significant part of its existence, the language was subjected to a biased, prejudiced approach by most rulers of the region, who long forced it to play second fiddle to Urdu (see Himal October 2008, "End of a tongue"). Although it is the mother tongue of the majority of the populace of the Kashmir Valley, the language has – with the exception of the 15th-century rule of Sultan Zain ul-Abidin, a patron of letters and the fine arts – been denied its rightful status.
Today, Kashmiri and Urdu are both considered official languages in J & K. But although the former figures in the list of 22 officially scheduled languages in India, in Kashmir it remains confined to the spoken, unofficial mode only – though it is true that lately local-government initiatives have successfully introduced it into primary-level schools. One would therefore not be surprised to note the dismal status of the Kashmiri-language media. Currently, only one Kashmiri-language newspaper, the Haftaroza Sangarmaal, is published in Srinagar, and that too only as a weekly. The electronic media, however, offers a bit wider spectrum. Radio Kashmir, Doordarshan and, of late, a handful of local cable-television channels broadcast daily news bulletins and programmes in Kashmiri. It is here that one can observe the effects of conflict on the development of the Kashmiri lexicon.