Islam Times - Voice for Kashmiri women’s rights remains unheard

Islam Times - Kashmir was renowned to be the heaven on earth, a famous poet once said that if there is heaven anywhere on the earth, it’s here; but more than 2 decades of unrest have claimed lives of many people in the valley.

Women have been the ones who suffered the most, some of them lost their sons, while others lost their husbands, fathers and brothers. During the decades of conflict and strife women in Kashmir have paid a hard price.

The state government seems to have taken no study of the present status of women in Kashmir but independent data collected by international and national women organizations suggest that kashmiri women are the biggest victims of sexual violence in the world.

Recently, several women organizations gathered at New Delhi to highlight the violation of Kashmiri women’s rights and their plight. They said women in Kashmir are degraded and humiliated by security forces under the pretext of security checks.

On the other hand, rape continues to be the instrument of oppression with the state police refusing to register cases, and bring the guilty to justice. Women victims in the valley are suffering from deep trauma that often results in suicide.

Cases of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are on the rise and the doctors are admitting an upsurge in mental diseases among women.

However, an Indian official who did not want to be named said government understands the rights of Kashmiri women and is taking all necessary measures to ease their plight.

Experts say the state and central government have shown no sensitivity to the plight of these women who have been left to fend for themselves and plunged into destitution.