Sufferings of Kashmiri Women

Kashmiri woman, a victim of turmoil ‘Kashmir’, which has always been a controversial topic, has gone through a horrible period. Despite its natural beauty and charm, the people of Kashmir look wretched and devastated. The women of this disputed territory have been the victims of atrocities over and again. They have been subjected to great sufferings with an alarming rate since 1989. Many of them have been widowed, displaced, tortured, tormented, whipped, raped, and jailed. Some have also had their sons killed in the ongoing conflict. Even the girl child has not been spared, many of whom have been persecuted, raped, and orphaned. Because of the continuing turmoil, women in Kashmir are forced to undergo immense hardships. It is no easy life, but then these women have braved the challenges stoically.

From Kunan Poshpora to recent Jammu Aasifa rape and murder case, the path had been full of thorns. Rapes have been humiliating and demoralising for the entire Kashmiri community. The most recent victim was an eight year old girl who was enjoying her kindergarten days. Aasifa, a girl from a shepherd community hails from kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. She had gone missing a few days ago on January 10. Despite a frantic search by her family, she couldn’t be located. The victim’s father said that there were torture marks on her face and body. Talib Hussain, a leader of the Gujjar community, reported that There were torture marks and human bites on her body. She was also allegedly given electric shocks. He also said that her legs were broken and she had been raped. The pictures that floated on social media show a battered body in a bright purple shalwar kameez.

Netizens reacted sharply to incident with #justiceforAsifa and drew parallel of the incident with Zainab a Pakistani child who was raped and dumped in a garbage site. Very soon the incident acquired a political resonance and Kashmir assembly witnessed an uproar and walkout from different political parties. The chief minister of the state Mehbooba Mufti condemned the act by tweeting, “Outraged by the heinous incident in which a young Bakerwal girl has lost her life. Incidents like this will be investigated expeditiously & the guilty will be punished”.

The year of 2017 was not a comfort for Kashmiri women. It was braid chopping this time that sparked fair and unrest in Kashmir. The threat of braid chopping jeopardized the whole Kashmir. At least 200 women in Kashmir were reported to be attacked by masked assailants within two months. The women claimed the attackers sprayed chemicals on their faces and left them unconscious. Upon waking up, they found their hair had been chopped off.

Moving backward to 2016, it was pellet horror that ruined hundreds of lives in Kashmir. More than one year has passed since Insha Mushtaq got a good night’s sleep. The teenager cannot forget the evening of July 11, 2016, when, aged 14, she had opened the window to look out at the protests and was hit by a pellet cartridge that blinded her both eyes in the village of Sedow Shopian in southern Kashmir.

In 2009 it was in district Shopian of Jammu and Kashmir, where Aasiya and Nelofar were abducted, raped, and murdered. The two women who were sisters-in-law went missing from their orchard on the way home on 29 May 2009 and were found dead in Rambi ara (a water canal) under mysterious conditions. Twenty-six years have passed since the 1991 incident in which Indian 23 and 100 women in Kashmir’s Kunan and Poshpora villages during a search operation. Twenty-five years have passed since the 1991 incident in which 23 and 100 women in Kashmir’s Kunan and Poshpora villages were raped during a search operation.

Ifrah Butt and Natasha Rather who, along with three others, co-wrote a book, Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora. Due to current disturbance in the state, the women are more vulnerable to such heinous acts.

From Kunan Poshpora to Asiya and Nelofar case, none of the victims got justice. Still they are waiting for the day when the culprits will be punished. As long as justice is delayed, such acts will get encouraged. The chief minister of the state, being a woman should take the matter seriously and laws should be made tough for such culprits. Hope that the beauty of lost paradise will blossom again. We don’t want our future generations to suffer from the same problems that have ruined our paradise.

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