Image below, third from bottom - Ms. Farooq joined protests after her son was killed.
History
Desperate Housewives
by SOUTIK BISWAS
This article was brought to our attention by a reader, who sent it to us with the following comment:
"Turban or no turban, this is where Sikh women have failed ... "
DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES
Joining such demonstrations in Indian-administered Kashmir these days is fraught with risks.
Security forces have often fired on stone-pelting protesters, killing over 50 people, mostly teenagers, in the past two months as the valley has been convulsed by what most locals call a fierce peoples' "uprising" against India.
So what makes a mother of three hit the angry streets of Kashmir?
Ms. Farooq's eldest son, Wamiq, was killed in January when a tear gas shell fired by the police exploded on his head.
The 14-year-old top-of-the-class student, who loved watching cartoons and dreamed of becoming a doctor, had stepped out for a game of cricket.
The police report describes him as a "miscreant who was part of an unlawful assembly", at which the forces had fired tear gas shells in self-defence.
Very few - including his neighbours, lawyers and journalists - believe this.
SubjugationSitting in her home in the crowded old city, Ms. Farooq says she had decided to hit the streets after her son's "murder".
"Why should I not protest? Why should I not pick up a stone? I am doing this in the honour of my martyred son. I am doing this for azaadi (freedom) from subjugation and repression," she says defiantly.
Firdousi Farooq is just another addition to the burgeoning army of women who have been taking part in the protests in Kashmir this summer.
You see them on the streets; you see them in the pictures.
Young and old, middle-class and poor, mostly dressed in floral tunics, they defy the armed forces, pelting stones at them, shouting slogans and singing anti-India songs. When night falls, some of them even lead protests with their children.
Out of more than 50 people killed in the latest round of violence, three have been women.
Yasmeen Jan, 25, was standing near a window inside her house in Batamaloo on July 6, 2010, watching a demonstration wind by when she was hit by a bullet allegedly fired by security forces.
"Mummy maey aaw heartas fire" (Mummy, my heart has taken fire), she told her mother, turning away from the window, before collapsing on the floor, dead.
Fifteen-year-old Afroza Teli took a bullet in her head during a protest demonstration in Khrew village in Pulwana district on August 1, 2010. She died later in Srinagar.
Angry Kashmiris set fire to an irrigation office, a revenue office and a court building after her death. A police station and a police vehicle were also set on fire.
Aisha Shiekh, a 55-year-old housewife and resident of Srinagar, was allegedly hit by a stone flung from a sling shot by the security forces when she was walking with her granddaughter to buy milk on August 7, 2010. She died from her wounds a day later.
This is not the first time that women in Kashmir have come out in droves to protest, but their numbers and impact appear to be greater than ever before.
"This time the intensity of protests by women is more. You can also see more women protesting. Women have borne the brunt of the Kashmir conflict, and it is not surprising that they are at the end of their tether," says Kashmiri journalist Afsana Rashid.
RapeAs Bashir Ahmed Dabla, who teaches sociology at Kashmir University says, Kashmir's women have "seen their children, husbands and fathers being killed in the conflict, and routinely humiliated by the security forces".
Studies have shown there are up to 32,000 widows of the two-decade-long conflict in the Kashmir valley, and nearly 100,000 orphans. Another 10,000 men have allegedly disappeared during the conflict, says a rights group.
Then there are some 400 "half-widows", whose husbands disappeared in the custody of troops or police. Women have also been the target of rape by the security forces.
"Women have been compelled to come out and protest because of the injustice and repression," says Professor Dabla.
Parveena Ahangar, a softly spoken housewife turned feisty activist, has been making a regular trek from her Gangbugh residence to the city's downtown every month, to protest against the disappearances during the conflict.
Ms Ahangar's son Javed was 16 when he was picked up by security forces in 1990 from the family home. He never returned.
The indefatigable woman has travelled around the world to highlight her cause, leaving behind her husband, debilitated and out of work after 10 surgeries, and her remaining three children, including a daughter.
"As long as I am alive, my struggle with go on. I want a simple answer from the authorities: Where did these men go?"
The coming out of women in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley has been helped by the fact that they have been traditionally freer than their counterparts in many parts of the world.
They have not observed the purdah, or faced religious or cultural segregation from men, say sociologists. Men and women have always worked in the farms together, prayed side by side in mosques and participated in religious congregations.
Key roleThey have traditionally played an important role in the neighbourhood citizens' committees, preparing food for their protesting menfolk and taking the injured to hospitals.
The pro-freedom movement has also thrown up a number of women leaders - both fundamentalists and liberals.
"Kashmiri women are among the most politicised women in the subcontinent," says Professor Dabla.
Zaitun Khan, a 20-something homemaker, is one of them - she remembers participating in "peaceful" protests when she was in college, but is now determined to hit the streets to demand freedom.
Her brother, Fayaz Ahmed Wani, who worked as a labourer in the floriculture department of the government, was hit by a bullet fired by the forces and killed while on his way to work on July 6, 2010.
Mr. Wani was 29, and left behind his wife and two daughters.
"I will go and join the protests now," says Ms. Khan.
"He never protested or threw a stone in his life. But he died. How many more men will have to die? I want to go out and protest and demand freedom. Freedom to live."
[Courtesy: BBC]
August 17, 2010
Conversation about this article
1: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), August 17, 2010, 11:05 AM.
These are techniques that Indian security forces have worked out and perfected in destroying Punjab and Sikhs in the past two decades - and perhaps learned from the Israeli repression of the Palestinians. Without going into the merits of the political reasons given by the responsible governments, people should have the clear-headed vision to condemn such tactics. All I can say is that when any government treats its own people like this, it has lost all right to govern them.
2: N. Singh (Canada), August 17, 2010, 11:12 AM.
The part that strikes me in this article is the piece about Kashmiri women's active participation in citizens committees and leadership in the pro-freedom movement (peacefully, would be my message!) as well as working the farms side by side with men and praying together. I am very impressed, especially for a segment of society (Islamic women) which has been traditionally so brutally suppressed! Although I would not condone the throwing of stones, I respect the fact that they have participated in demonstrations to express their views and feelings about being a "subjugated nation" and the illegal murder of their men by Indian armed forces (sounds familiar?). It brings to mind the story of the grandmothers of Argentina whose peaceful protests through the streets of Argentina dressed in white with photos of their missing sons, brothers and husbands, brought this issue to the attention of the world-wide stage! Kudos to the power of women!
3: Amardeep (U.S.A.), August 17, 2010, 11:35 AM.
Just a thought, as noted in the article, these women are freer ... maybe Sikh women are suppressed by their menfolk at homes, therefore they can't come out to help during tough times.
4: Harneet Kaur (Chandigarh, Punjab), August 17, 2010, 12:03 PM.
I trust - or hope - that Amardeep ji is merely being sarcastic and does not really believe that what he's saying is true. Sikhs have been far from perfect in dealing with the gender issue ... nevertheless, Sikh women mostly live privileged and respectful lives, and have always been, as a result, strong and confident. More often than not, they rule the roost. They have no excuses for having dropped the ball ... but somehow, there HAS been a disconnect, though. I simply don't understand it!
5: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), August 17, 2010, 12:39 PM.
Sikh Women - "Dropped the ball"? "Failed"? - What are you folks talking about? Countless Sikh women were tortured, raped and were taken in endless custody during the movement days in Punjab. I personally know of many who were detained and tortured but resisted being informants and held their heads high. There were countless mothers who sent their sons to join the movement against repression of the Indian state. Just pick up any of the books by Prof. Cynthia Mahmoud and you will come across many such examples. Till today the Sikh Woman continues to be the backbone of Punjab - when villages after villages were emptied of men folks - women kept the families going. The situation was different in Punjab than it is in present day Kashmir. There were no international media to report protests. The voice of the Punjabis were cut off village to village - leave alone being heard at the global level. Each village was crawling with security forces and Punjab police was paid in millions to subjugate the Sikhs who were really a minority in their own state ...
6: Taran (London, United Kingdom), August 17, 2010, 2:07 PM.
I totally agree with Amardeep. These women have nothing to lose now and our women may be confined to the kitchen area! Don't know what is lacking, though. Also, I totally agree that these tactics are tried and tested in Punjab. But Kashmir and Kashmiris have seen non-stop rivers of blood. The problem for India now is that they cannot do the same as they did in Punjab as today media and technology has changed the game. India cannot do a full throttle as the claim to being a so-called world's largest democracy is at stake!
7: Mohan Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada.), August 17, 2010, 7:23 PM.
Guru Nanak said: "From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only the True Master is without a woman. [GGS:473].
8: Harpreet Singh (Texas, U.S.A.), August 17, 2010, 10:40 PM.
I agree with Amardeep ji. I have never seen participation by 'mainstream' Sikh women in any of the Sikh related events or causes or situations. To be frank enough - many Sikh women are losing their pride in being Sikh. Cutting back on 'Kaur' from their names is one of many examples - not dissimilar to the males dropping the 'Singh'.
9: Mohan Singh (Toronto, Ontario, Canada.), August 18, 2010, 12:03 PM.
Why compare Sikh women with other women? Guru Nanak had a vision for a conscious path for all men and women. Ours is a religion of saint-soldiers. We have women like Bibi Nanaki, Bibi Amro, Bibi Bhani, Mata Gujari, Mata Khivi, Mata Sahib Kaur, Mai Bhago, Sundri, Sheel Kaur, and many more to emulate.
10: N. Singh (Canada), August 18, 2010, 4:22 PM.
Mohan Singh ji: any idea of which century this women lived in? Any one of them alive in our lifetime? Also, wasn't Sundri a fictional character? Where is the 'saint-soldier' concept in watching your people being burned alive in 1984 or thousands being disappeared or your homeland being reduced to a desert state?
11: N. Singh (Canada), August 19, 2010, 6:09 PM.
Gurmeet Kaur ji: I too have read those books by Prof. Cynthia Mahmoud and have the upmost respect and regard for those women. They have experienced the worst, including rape, mutilation and loss of loved ones. Yes, you are right - there were many such women, mostly rural. However I also agree with the other comments regarding 'privileged' and 'mainstream' women who have failed to play their part to further the well-being of the Panth!