What goes on within educational institutions can be pivotal for whether and how democracy and political tolerance are nurtured, and peaceful relations between groups encouraged. Several studies oriented to the content of curricula have shown that education in India must be reformed if it is to promote inter-ethnic peace, political tolerance and democracy. The focus of this study, however, is more on the praxis of education – how it is conducted, in what kind of institutional setting it takes place, and what the implications are for interethnic peace. This unique case study of Jammu and Kashmir in India provides unexpected insights into how democratic norms can be promoted in disadvantageous contexts, where open violent conflict prevails and politically intolerant attitudes might normally be expected to result. The findings of this study have important implications for educational reform. First, the authoritarian approach to teaching currently employed in India’s system of primary education needs to be replaced by more modern methods, and corporal punishment must be abolished. Second, the praxis found in at least some of the country’s institutions of higher learning should be encouraged, due to the role it plays in bridging ethno-religious divides and breaking path-dependent trajectories towards political intolerance.