Islamabad
As the world is observing the International Women’s Day, today, the miseries and victimization of the Kashmiri women at the hands of Indian troops, police and agencies continue unabated in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to a report released by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service on the occasion of the global women day, today, thousands of women are among 95,747 Kashmiris, martyred by Indian military, paramilitary and police personnel since January 1989 till date.
At least 675 women have been martyred by the troops since January 2001 till date.
The report pointed out that the unabated Indian state terrorism rendered 22,924 women widowed.
The Indian forces’ personnel molested 11,236 women including the victims of Kununposhpora mass rape and Shopian double-rape-and murder of 17-year-old Aasiya Jan and her sister-in-law Neelofar Jan.
An eight-year-old girl, Aasifa Bano, of Kathua, was abducted, gang-raped and subsequently murdered by Indian police personnel, in January 2018 while several including Nusrat Jabeen, Haleema Begum, Fatima Begum, Nighat Bashir and Khairul Nisa were molested by the troops in 2020 as glimpses of some heinous crimes against women in Kashmir.
Indian troops on February 10, 2021 abused a minor girl and dragged her into their vehicle when she along with her sister was working in her garden at Chewa-Ajas in Bandipore district.
On raising hue and cry by her sister, the locals rushed to the spot to rescue the minor victim.
The victim family lodged an FIR in Ajas Police station and the troops harassed and pressurized the family to withdraw the case.
The report said that thousands of women lost their sons, husbands, fathers and brothers in the occupied territory who were subjected to custodial disappearance by India troops.
As per the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, more than 8,000 Kashmiris went missing in custody during the past 33 years, the report added.
The report revealed that thousands of school boys and girls were also injured by the pellets fired by Indian troops and police personnel while over hundred including 19-month-old Heeba Jan, 2-year-old Nusrat Jan, Ulfat Hameed (17), Insha Mushtaq, Ifrah Shakoor (17), Shakeela Bano, Tammana (11), Shabroza Mir (16), Shakeela Begum(35) and Rafia Bano (31)were blinded.
Four-year-old Zuhra Majeed was hit by pellets in her legs and abdomen after her family was targeted by Indian police outside their home in Qamarwari in Srinagar on July 10,2016.
A 17-year-old Ulfat Hameed, a Class 10 student from Baramulla said “I used to teach sewing and tailoring to girls in my village, but not anymore. Because of the injuries, I could not write my class 10 board exam”.
The report said that over a dozen women including Hurriyat leaders, 59-year-old Syeda Aasiya Andrabi, Fehmeeda Sofi, Naheeda Nasreen, 57-year-old Naseema Bano, Insha Tariq Shah (23), Shazia Akhter, Hina Bashir Beig, Aasiya Bano and Alass Aara were facing illegal detention inside Kashmir jails and in infamous Tihar Jail in India.
They are being victimized only for representing the Kashmiri people’s righteous demand and aspirations.
In 2020 saw surge in harassment of Kashmir journalists. A 26-year-old Kashmiri photojournalist Masrat Zahra was threatened and summoned by Indian police and was charged under black law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), in April 2020 for posting a news on social media.
She was punished for speaking truth on Kashmir.
The report further pointed out that womenfolk are among majority of the Kashmiris suffering from multiple psychic problems.
The women who lost men in the form of enforced disappearance are referred to as “half-widows,” because of their uncertain status between wifehood and widowhood.
Many mothers are waiting for their disappeared sons while widows and half-widows are in pain since decades in occupied territory.—Kashmir Media Services
