By Dr Samia Raheel Qazi
Breaking into houses, smashing through wooden doors, trampling the chastity and privacy of homes, assaulting women and locking up the juveniles in jails and torture cells are just some of the weapons of cowardice taken up by Indian soldiers.
The wives of thousands of men who have gone missing for many years have been termed half-widows. These women are still not sure whether their husbands are alive or dead. The Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir (IIOK) is a region in the world where women are uncertain of their future. Human rights organisations must raise their voice for the rights Kashmir’s half-widows.
From the onset, Jamat-e-Islami has been vocal about Kashmir’s freedom movement. Modi has tarnished the Indian constitution by abolishing two special articles of 35A and 370 relating to autonomy of Kashmir. He has made Indian democracy a laughing stock globally and ignited separation movements in India. This has further strengthened the resolve of the 5th generation of Kashmiris in favor of the freedom movement.
Kashmir was supposed to become part of Pakistan during the partition of the subcontinent by all means. Kashmiris wanted to affiliate with Pakistan due to their geography, civilisation and religious commonalities but Sikh Raja Hari Singh decide to retain it as an independent state. India sent its armed forces to Kashmir and Nehru made Raja Hari Singh sign on an instrument of accession after lengthy rounds of negotiations. The document remains controversial. As per this document, three departments i.e. defense, foreign affairs and communication would be surrendered to India and the remaining departments would be run as per the will of the state of Kashmir.
In 1952, Nehru cajoled Kashmiri leadership into accepting that the rights of Kashmiris would be protected under constitutional protection and in 1954, it was made sure under Article 35A that the assembly of the state would decide who would be a local citizen (a permanent resident).
Special incentives for the permanent residents included preference in government jobs, conditional approval for outsiders to reside in the area, provision of all public facilities to the permanent residents on a priority basis and restricting the right to property only to the permanent residents. Article 370 was made part of the Indian constitution in 1949 especially for Kashmir and it does not apply to any other Indian state. The special status of Kashmiris has been revoked with the removal of these articles. Just like the Jews were settled after expelling the native people of Palestine and thus paving the way for Israel. The same treacherous conspiracy has been hatched by India in attempts to change the demography of Kashmir. I used to ask my father what the Muslims upto when Israel was created.
There is an urgent need for drawing attention of the United Nations towards the Kashmir issue as the Kashmiri people are on the verge of annihilation because of Indian atrocities in the region. All the regional laws have been changed to turn the Muslim majority Kashmir into a minority in their area through unilateral and manipulative steps undertaken during the August of 2019. This issue has created the risk of a massive genocide in the region.
Credible institutes working in IIOK reveal that the number of half-widows who have lost their husbands from January 1989 to November 2001 has surpassed 1,000. Scores of women have lost their young and adolescent children. These young men have either been martyred or gone missing. Now, these distressed women have the responsibility of bringing countless orphans. Over 10,000 women have been sexually assaulted by Indian soldiers over these years. Nearly 2,300 women out of 94,000 people have been massacred by the Indian army. The actual number could be higher as hundreds of cases of atrocities have either not been reported or understated in the statistics. Independent sources and media have no access to the far-flung and restive areas of Kashmir.
Please pause for a moment and imagine a house that is located in a distant Kashmiri village where six people are living in abject poverty. The head of the family earns for his family through working in a field or cutting wood in a forest. The woman of the house, malnourished and donned in rags, spends the whole day working at home. And one day, Indian soldiers break into the house while ‘looking for a Mujahid’. Innocent children hide behind their mother in terror, the man comes forward but his head is hit with gunstocks. He cries and begs for mercy for his children but his voice is silenced forever. The Indian soldiers abuse the woman and leave all of them tears.
This is just a glimpse of a house in Kashmir and the region is full of such incidents. It does not end here. This woman has to earn and live for her children with her tormented body and soul.
The fifth generation of Kashmiri women are under-going extreme agony in one way or the other. Doors are shut on her, voices silent and feet paralyzed, all because the oppressors have the global scales of power tipping in their favor.
The Pakistani nation considers the struggle of brave Kashmiri people as a battle for their survival. Being women, we feel closer to our oppressed Kashmiri sisters and daughters. We salute their struggle for freedom of their rights.
Let’s raise our hands and pray to Allah for a saviour, someone like Mohammed bin Qasim, to help these oppressed people. And while we pray, let’s help them with our broken words and feelings.
