Kashmiri Women: Struggle and Resilience in the Face of Hindu Tyranny

For over seven decades, Kashmiri women have suffered various forms of oppression at the hands of Hindus. Their pleas for justice have gone unheard by the international community, met only with hesitant resolutions and fearful hearts that have given Hindus free rein to commit unimaginable acts against Muslims, especially women.

Nevertheless, Kashmiri women remain a model of struggle and resilience for their freedom. They stand by their husbands, who are often forcibly disappeared by the Indians, or they endure and fight within their homes in the absence or loss of their spouses.

This report from "Al-Mujtama" highlights the facets of Kashmiri women's struggle and the decades of oppression they have endured at the hands of Hindus.

Kashmir and Gaza

A striking resemblance exists between Kashmir and Palestine. For instance, the Kashmiri Nakba occurred in 1947, immediately followed by the Palestinian Nakba in 1948. Even the weapons used against Kashmiris, which cause blindness, are Zionist-made.

The Hindu occupation of Kashmir also carries out actions similar to the Zionist occupation of Palestine. The Indian occupation army police have arrested Muslim girls in Kashmir merely for distributing copies of the Quran, making the distribution of the Quran and the wearing of the hijab a crime punishable by years in prison.

The BBC reported that incendiary speeches against Muslims in India have spread on Hindu accounts, calling for Kashmir to be razed to the ground, just as "Israel" did in Gaza.

Killing, Arrest, and Rape

Kashmiri women play a significant role in challenging Hindu oppression by distributing copies of the Quran and the lawful hijab in the streets of Kashmir. They advise their Muslim sisters to remain steadfast and emulate the female companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Given that women in Kashmir are the most vulnerable, Hindu soldiers in Kashmir, like all occupiers of Muslim lands, began harassing women as a prelude to a widespread campaign of oppression. One Hindu soldier even forcibly removed the head covering of a Kashmiri Muslim woman.

The situation for Kashmiri women has escalated to the point where they are forbidden from leaving their homes after Hindu army "wolves" have positioned themselves everywhere. Politicians, religious figures, parliamentarians, and the extremist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi incite these human predators.

Widely circulated images on social media have exposed the brutality of Islamophobic Hindus. One Kashmiri was arrested more than 300 times. During one raid on his home, the Indian army killed his sister by throwing her from a window, which resulted in a broken spine and her death.

A video clip that circulated years ago showed Pakistan's representative to the United Nations breaking into deep tears after mentioning that more than 10,000 Muslim women, including girls as young as seven, had been raped by the Indian army in Kashmir.

The Struggle of Kashmiri Women

Kashmiri Muslim women are at the forefront of the ongoing struggle against the Indian government. They stand firm, supporting the resistance men against the Hindu riot police. Additionally, they stage sit-ins in front of the UN observer's office, demanding a resolution to the conflict in favor of Muslims in Kashmir.

It is worth noting that a movement known as "Daughters of the Nation" (Banaat al-Milla) has been formed in Kashmir. This is a women's resistance movement in the Srinagar area that adopts a moderate approach and embraces a firm belief in the Kashmiri uprising against the Hindu occupier.

Half-Widows

The term "half-widows" is one of the most famous and harsh terms that Kashmiri women experience and confront, caught between the hope of finding their missing husbands and starting a new life and marrying another.

One Kashmiri woman recounts how life and its harsh conditions have crushed her, as her husband left for work five years ago and has not returned since.

The Kashmiri woman describes her suffering, stating that she supports her three children and their education after her husband was arrested, leaving her without money, according to The Guardian.

Five years since her husband's disappearance, she has given up hope of tracing him in Indian army camps or police stations, whose personnel and officers treat every woman searching for her missing loved one with great provocation, pressure, and intimidation.

Aisha Gilana, a human rights activist, expressed her sorrow over the oppression of widows in Kashmir, saying: "I work with women whose husbands and sons have disappeared and have no financial support, and I feel helpless, seeing them makes me cry."

According to the independent Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons in Kashmir, the number of missing persons has exceeded 10,000, including 2,000 recently married young men arrested by Indian security forces.

For two decades, the Kashmiri people have been subjected to a widespread campaign of daily violations, including killing, torture, and the rape of women, resulting in hundreds of thousands of injured, disabled, and detained individuals by Indian forces.

Human rights experts say that Indian authorities are well aware of the Kashmiri people's strong adherence to their Islamic religion and culture, which emphasizes the protection and preservation of women. Nevertheless, they resort to using rape against women to generally humiliate the Kashmiri people and extort information from them about their husbands and relatives who are resisting the Hindu occupation.

Declining Fertility

International experts confirm that the ongoing conflict for over 70 years in Jammu and Kashmir has created an environment of insecurity and played a significant role in lowering the fertility rate in Kashmir.

The psychological pressures resulting from the conflicts have harmed the physical health of girls, especially their maternal health. Nearly 800,000 people suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which is another factor responsible for infertility in women.

The fertility level among Kashmiri women has declined as a result of the conflict, after they were among the women classified in Jammu and Kashmir as having the highest fertility rate, with a birth rate of 1.4 children, according to human rights reports.