Biography 
Ashima Kaul was living comfortably with her family in New Delhi when she was stirred by coverage of the conflict in her home region of Kashmir. Since 2000, she has been a consultant for Women Building Peace Constituencies in Kashmir, a project of Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP) at the Foundation for Universal Responsibility in New Delhi. A member of the Hindu Pandit minority, she is the coordinator of Athwaas, a WISCOMP initiative for conflict transformation in the provinces of Jammu and Kashmir. As a consultant, she organized Kashmiri Women Writers Meet, which used literature to bring together women from conflicting perspectives. “Chairs have been thrown at these forums,” she remembers. At WISCOMP, she has organized several workshops for reconciliation. Ms. Kaul, visiting a remote part of Kashmir, was once caught in a grenade blast while traveling over a river. When army officers asked her to get out of her van, she refused. Asked if she was Hindu or Muslim, she responded that she was Kashmiri, believing that religion is being misused to mobilize people around a divisive political agenda in the Kashmir conflict. Ms. Kaul is an independent journalist, contributing to national daily newspapers such as The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, and The Hindu since 1991. Recently, she has researched, written, and directed Athwaas: The Journey, a film commissioned about her work by Public Service Broadcasting Trust in India and broadcast to tens of millions on India’s National Television Network. She is documenting narratives of women who have experienced continuous violence and displacement. She also coordinated production for the 2002 PSBT film Women in Conflict and assisted with the 2001 TV series Grassroots. In 2002, Ms. Kaul founded the Yakjah (“Together”) Reconciliation Development Network, a group of Kashmiri professionals. Last May, the Network organized a film festival on faith, conflict, and peace in collaboration with the University of Jammu. She has conducted workshops encouraging interfaith cooperation for children and youth, using media such as film, theater, and art as tools to promote dialogue. Ms. Kaul holds a bachelor's degree and a diploma in business management from Jammu University. (01.2009)
Read more about this Network member:
An Investment in Peace
By Aditi Bhaduri,
The HinduMarch 1, 2009