Women in Kashmir have been fighting against the torture of military forces for ages now. They have been exploited in numerous ways be it either emotionally or physically. Local and international agencies have been playing their bit by subjecting these women to sexual exploitation. Seldom do any of these cases surface on any mainstream media platforms? This is because the media is also being regulated by these authorities. The condition of these women can only be improved if the law and regulations of the area ensure their safety.
Half widows of Kashmir
The military takeover in Kashmir has resulted in the forcible disappearance of the husbands of hundreds of women in Kashmir, leaving the women with the identity of “half widows.” Apart from the uncertainty of the status of their husbands, these women cannot have an officially recognized status since there is no proof of the death of their husbands nor is there any proof of their existence. Due to this, the women have a great amount of pressure on them to become the sole breadwinner of their families. The women suffer greatly emotionally and psychologically since they are tied between the dilemma of whether their husbands would return home one day or whether they must now accept the death of their husbands and that they may never return.
These women cannot even remarry to support their families since the culture they belong to terms them as adulterous if they choose to marry in this uncertainty. Even though Islam allows these women to remarry but the conflicting views of different sects become a hindrance in their way of remarrying. Very few half-widows choose to remarry due to the stigmas attached to this practice. Remarriage for these women is looked down upon therefore these women live a life full of guilt as society has made them believe that they are not supposed to move on with their lives. Moreover, women are also socially excluded once they remarry because the major part of society does not accept their choice of remarriage.
Half-widows also suffer because being non-widows, these women do not possess any proof to claim their husband’s death. Following this, these women are deprived of access to their husband’s property, bank accounts, and other belongings since they fail to provide a death certificate to any authority. The official number of half-widows in Kashmir is yet to be found. There are over 3000 unnamed graves in Kashmir. Hence, women often have to assume that their husbands have been buried in mass graves without identifying their graves.
Suffocating everyday survival
Women in Kashmir are harassed and threatened which is a major reason why many Muslim women in India choose to stay at home and not work or gain any formal education. Hundreds of prominent Muslim women in India get humiliated and degraded on an everyday basis as their pictures and information are displayed on apps and websites suggesting that these women are for sale.
Women of Kashmir are being harassed and raped by the Indian forces. In the occupied areas of Kashmir, rape is being used as a weapon of war against the Muslims living in the area. This is a tactic being used by them to further spread fear in the area so that acquiring the territory becomes an easy task for them. No one has been punished so far for committing this crime against women, the rather Indian government is protecting the troops involved in this heinous crime.
The journalists in the area are also being harassed and threatened ever since which makes it difficult for the rest of the world to know about the exact situation in Jammu and Kashmir hence, the world remains unaware of the majority of the injustices and oppression being done by the Indian forces.
The betterment of the condition of the women in Kashmir is largely dependent on the laws and regulations present in a place that ensure the safety of these women. The women living in Kashmir have been resilient against all the oppression against them, however, this resilience does not guarantee empowerment for them. They can only be empowered if the authorities in Kashmir are supportive of their concerns.
The Kashmiri women are in dire need of legal, educational, and economic reforms that guarantee their growth and well-being and ensure that no violence is carried out against them. Although considering the current lockdown in Kashmir, the initiation of these reforms seems impossible, raising awareness about these issues on international platforms can be an effective start.
