In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, besides human rights violations, perpetrated by Indian troops on women, the surge in domestic violence cases is also on the rise and the women victims have nowhere to go.
The Jammu and Kashmir State Commission for Protection of Women and Child Rights was scrapped by the Indian government after it abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019 and since then there is no such panel for women where they can register their grievances.
Experts, activists and NGOs, working on gender issues, believe that the Commission was a substitute to police stations where women hesitate to file their complaints.
They said the India’s National Commission for Women has no impact as it would be a daunting task for victims to reach the Indian city, New Delhi, for their problems.
“There are options available such as filing complaints online but not all can register it. A few women’s police stations cannot handle all the cases. There is a need to restore women’s commission in IIOJK,” they said, adding that even those women who had filed cases in the Commission before August 5, 2019 have also been left vulnerable as they have nowhere to go.
Danish Zahoor, head of the WomComMatters in IIOJK told media men that they had been pleading for the restoration of women’s commission as violence against women is increasing with each passing day in the territory.
“Women’s commission is purely a social institute and has nothing to do with politics. They were doing a great job, especially for under-privileged women, facing different issues,” he said.
According to Zahoor after the abrogation of the special status of IIOJK, women in Kashmir and Ladakh have been left in a lurch as they can’t go to New Delhi to resolve their issues in the Indian women’s commission.—KMS
