Insha Mushtaq Dar
Kashmir being a conflict zone has engraved in it the painful and gut-wrenching stories of wailing mothers, wailing sisters, widows and half-widows (Women whose husbands have been subjected to enforced disappearances). The life of Kashmiri women has immensely been impacted by the conflict of the region. Kashmir apart from being a home of nature, exquisite landscapes, green lush meadows, high hailing mountains and eye-catching rivers, is also a home to myriad wailing women who are either crying over the dead bodies of their beloved or waiting for the return of their beloved.
Hafeeza Begum has to visit her psychiatrist twice a week and is on high medication to control her depression and anxiety. Ever since her son was killed her mental health has deteriorated with every passing day. Her son Umar Farooq was killed in April 2017 after he went looking out for his sisters but fell a prey to CRPF bullet on his way.
Sole bread earner for the family Umer left behind a physically disabled father, a wailing mother, two young sisters and his old-age grandparents. “Ever since the incident took place our mother is yet to come to terms with the reality, she always keeps on saying, “Umar soab yi ve’ni,” says Uzma sister of Umer Farooq.
“We yearn to see her smile but ever since that bloody Sunday, the smile has vanished from her face all that is left is pain, sorrow and torment,” Uzma adds.
Like Hafeeza, there are countless other women who have hugged the dead bodies of their sons and even though the bodies parted but the pain and torment never left them. Some women await the return of their sons – those enforcedly disappeared and those who languish in various jails in India.
The story of Missra Gassi is one among the painful stories of Kashmir that Kashmiri women have endured. Her son Shabir Ahmad Gassi was detained in January 2000 after 6 Rashtriya Rifles, wing of Indian army allegedly barged into their house in Boatman Colony Bemina. Missra ran bare headed and bare foot to save her son but couldn’t save her from clutches of army men. Soon after that Shabir Ahmed’s father went to Kulgam camp where he found the army major who had detained his son but the army major had denied detaining his son on being asked about him.
Ever since that day, Missra refused to eat for days and eventually her health started deteriorating due to depression. In 2007, she breathed her last awaiting her son’s return.
The video of wailing mother of Sajad Gul is still doing rounds on the internet. Sajad, a freelance journalist based in Kashmir, was detained on 6th January, 2022 after he had uploaded a video of kin of militant protesting.
Following his arrest, the video of his wailing mother surfaced over the internet, wherein his mother was appealing to the authorities to release her son. Sajad Gul languishes in Kot Bhalwal jail in Jammu and his mother still yearns for his release.
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Another such story is that of Aasif Sultan and the struggle of his family. Aasif was arrested back in August, 2018 on the charges that his family deny. His daughter Areeba was just 6-month toddler when her father was arrested. She is now almost 4 years old and her photos holding placard ‘Release My Baba’ continuously surface on internet. The pain and miseries don’t just confine to elders and youngers but toddlers of Kashmir equally bear the brunt.
The Hyderpora killings of November 2021 also left many families wailing and tormented. The gut wrenching videos which surfaced over the internet showed the daughters of the victims wailing, the daughters aged from 18-month-old to 15-year-old. Mudassir Gul’s wife along with her toddler daughter hit the road demanding that the dead body of her husband be returned.
The case of Half widows
Lost in pages of ‘enforced disappearances’ is the story of hundreds including the story of ‘Iron Lady’ of Kashmir, Parveen Ahanger. Back in 1990, her son Javed Ahmad Ahanger was allegedly abducted by the Indian Army. When the family reached the Army camp, they as usual denied detaining Javed. Following this, Parveena petitioned the courts but her plea was unheard and ignored. During this course she found women, mothers like her struggling to find their ‘disappeared’ sons.
Along with those women she held sit-in protests on the 10th day of every month to highlight the issue of ‘enforced disappearances’.
Currently, Parveena Ahanger is the founder and chairperson of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons in Jammu Kashmir. She has raised this platform to give space to those parents who have been victim of this ‘Enforced Disappearances’.
In 2017, she won Rafto Prize for Human Rights for her protests against ‘enforced disappearances’ and for her role in demanding justice for victims of violence in Jammu Kashmir. She was also nominated for Nobel peace prize in 2005.
Masooda Parveen, another victim of cruel injustice in Kashmir, is also an example of bravery and courage in Kashmir. She had the courage to challenge the union of India and demand justice for her deceased husband.
In 1998, her husband Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Regoo was allegedly abducted by the army men along with government gunmen (Ikhwan’s) who were led by an Army Major. Three days later, his mutilated body was handed over to his family members.
Following the dreadful incident, Masooda Parveen, his widow who was left behind with the responsibility of their young children, took the responsibility to seek justice for her family. She reached the Supreme court of India as she feared that the courts in Kashmir were under the control of the Army. The supreme court rejected her petition twice before considering it.
Although, there were flaws in army’s version of events yet the case was ruled in favor of Indian Army by supreme court.
The long struggle of Masooda Parveen towards justice didn’t end with the verdict of the court. She took the matter to the international institutes and platforms.
Masooda Parveen has set an example of bravery and courage, a woman who dared to challenge the claims of the Government agencies.