This worrying statistic highlights the region’s need for inclusive and accessible healthcare services. This alarming number also serves as a reminder for the pressing need for comprehensive, cost-effective healthcare services in the region.

Menstrual health problems and vaginal health problems are the two broad and basic categories into which the said issues faced by north eastern women can be divided into. According to the survey, 55% of respondents experience menstrual health problems, with Polycystic Ovarian Disorder (PCOD) being the most common amongst them, which affects 36% of women. Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), which affects 12% of women, was another major issue faced by the women of north east when it came to menstrual health.

In terms of vaginal health, Pelvic Inflammatory Disorder (PID) affects 24% of women. Notably, PID is an infection of the reproductive system that can lead to infertility, pelvic discomfort, and other issues. The survey further provided that 18% of women in the area were affected by candidiasis, a fungus that is often known as a yeast infection.

Further dissecting the survey findings, 56% of women from North East suffer from or have suffered from menstrual health issues and 42% of the women suffer from or have suffered from vaginal health issues. The survey saw the participation of 85% of women above the age 35 years and 15% who are below the age 35 years.

Vishal Gupta, Founder Gynoveda, who co-developed the period test along with the doctors shared, “This is the largest menstrual and vaginal health survey conducted by any Indian brand. It has been thoughtfully designed to enable women to provide data about their intimate health in a private and confidential manner. This survey enables us to develop authentic and accessible Ayurvedic solutions to help women gain freedom from these problems.

Northeast women not alone, another survey highlighted the need for awareness of menstrual hygiene for women in Srinagar:

In June 2023, Dr. Auqfeen Nisar, a doctor at the Government Medical College in Srinagar, conducted a study that shed light on the alarming fact that more than 60% of women in Srinagar still used, and primarily relied on, cloth for their menstrual health care. While cost is frequently cited as a barrier, it was provided by the doctor that the most significant challenge that poses women in Srinagar was a lack of awareness and understanding regarding the need of utilising sanitary napkins.

Dr. Nisar’s hospital-based surveys revealed that only around half of the women surveyed were using sanitary napkins. Even among those who did use pads, there was a common ignorance of their importance. It was provided that without understanding the health advantages they provided, many women resorted to wearing pads merely because they were readily available.

 “Many women are using pads simply because they are available, but they do not understand the importance of using them,” Dr. Nisar explained to FeminismInIndia.

Dr. Nisar underlined the necessity of community awareness campaigns to educate women about menstrual hygiene in order to tackle this critical issue. She also exhorted the government to provide better quality pads at affordable prices. Although the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has introduced a scheme promoting menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls in rural areas, doctors argue that it has not reached enough women. They call for increased awareness of the scheme and enhanced accessibility to sanitary napkins as provided by the FII. 

“The government should provide good quality pads at affordable prices so that women can switch to using them. This will help to keep them away from infections and other health problems,” Dr. Nisar emphasised, as provided by FII.

Dr. Nisar also highlighted the potential health risks associated with cloth usage during menstruation. Cloth can harbour bacteria and harmful microorganisms, leading to infections. Sanitary napkins, on the other hand, provide a safer option for women. The government’s role is crucial in educating women about these risks and making sanitary napkins more affordable for all.

Related:

Most Indian Girls Unprepared For Menstruation, Taboos Drive Unhygienic Practices

Discrimination over menstruation a breach of human rights: Indian Biologists

International Women’s Day: A tribute to advocates who challenged patriarchy

UP: Mahila Shikshak Sangh demands monthly 3-day period leave

Kerala High Court Upholds Tribunal’s Order Directing PSC To Provisionally Accept Trans-Woman’s Application For Post Confined To Women Candidates

Against overwhelming odds, women entrepreneurs in Kashmir Valley offer hope

Mumbai: Silent protest organised to condemn the injustice meted out to women wrestlers

Karnataka: Gruha Shakti scheme offers free travel to women, increasing footfall and revenue dramatically

The post Menstrual health of women in shambles: Surveys highlight need for inclusive and accessible healthcare services appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Jammu and Kashmir residents were shocked as news came in of an attack on advocate and activist Babar Qadri at his Hawal residence on Thursday evening. Advocate Qadri was shot at, from close range, allegedly by militants. The attackers, who could not be identified, fled the spot after opening fire on Qadri.

According to news reports advocate Qadri, a father of two young children, was rushed to the SKIMS hospital, however he was declared ‘dead on arrival’. Qadri, was a known face from the region and was often seen on television debates, and his sudden death has impacted the lawyer community, almost as much as it has his friends and family.

Qadri was active on social media, and just three days ago, he had tweeted a screenshot and urged the police in Jammu to register an FIR against a Facebook user for spreading a malafide and incorrect campaign against him. He wrote:  “I urge the state Police administration to register FIR against this Shah Nazir who has spread wrong campaign that I work for agencies. This untrue statement can lead to threat to my life.” 

I urge the state Police administration to register FIR against this Shah Nazir who has spread wrong campaign that I work for agencies. This un true statement can lead to threat to my life.@ZPHQJammu pic.twitter.com/utkurYpRzk

— Babar Qadri Truth (@BabarTruth) September 21, 2020

Qadri’s last tweet, ironically illustrated the vulnerability of activists, lawyers and journalists in the Union Territory. Journalist posted a warm tribute to Qadri, “Having known him since he was a student of Law at Kashmir University, it was an association of about 15 years. Of course, many of our discussions ended in disagreements but there was a level of respect. As a person he was very warm and affectionate, always. He didn’t deserve to die. He didn’t deserve to be shot dead! Shocked and deeply saddened by your death” 

I knew him since he was a student of Law at KU. Many of our discussions ended in disagreements but there was a level of respect. He was warm &affectionate, always. He didn’t deserve to die. He didn’t deserve to be shot dead! Shocked and deeply saddened by your death #babarqadri pic.twitter.com/OoHgf7bEB2

— Anuradha Bhasin (@AnuradhaBhasin_) September 24, 2020

Others too posted condolence messages for Qadri, who was laid to rest on Thursday night. 

From journalists to advocates, Kashmir saw it all….
Rip Shaheed #BabarQadri pic.twitter.com/l4RohLYrfJ

— MuzafferAhmed (@Muzaffe75887231) September 24, 2020

He had a pen, not gun#BabarQadri pic.twitter.com/RRcovtMkpq

— Ali Keskin (@alikeskin_tr) September 24, 2020

Funeral prayers of advocate #BabarQadri. #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/jU0HOnG3ag

— Bhat Burhan (@bhattburhan02) September 24, 2020

Within a fraction of second these Little buds, who used to play with their father have been turned into ORPHANS !?

Picture of Advocate Babar Qadri with his Daughters who was killed by terrorists today in Srinagar Kashmir.#BabarQadri pic.twitter.com/0tBNTCMyJN

— Asim Khan (@AsimKhanTweets) September 24, 2020

Another Day, Another family left devastated. Yesterday BDC Chairman was shot dead & today Advocate Babar Qadri who stood with pains & miseries of people of Kashmir has been gunned down. Revocation of Article 370 has only brought Bloodshed & Sufferings.

Rest In Peace #BabarQadri

— saima_chowdhary (@ChowdharySaima) September 24, 2020

The advocate is the second political or social activist to be shot dead by militants in 24 hours. As reported earlier, Bhupinder Singh, a member of the block development council in Khag area of Budgam district, was shot dead allegedly  by militants at his ancestral village Dalwash on Wednesday night. 

The Jammu & Kashmir Reading Room (KRR), a collective of lawyers, doctors, academicians, researchers, activists and journalists – based across the world, had recently raised its voice against the harassment of journalists and lawyers in the Union Territory (UT). The KRR had released a report on the subject on August 5, 2020, a year  after J&K’s  bifurcation, and withdrawal of its special status enshrined under Article 370. The UT of Jammu and Kashmir, had over the year witnessed the targeting of scores of journalists, lawyers, activists, politicians have been regularly summoned for questioning at police stations, some have been booked under anti terror laws, some allege they may be under surveillance and yet others continue to be jailed or under house arrest, even now.  Many, especially political leaders and activists were also targeted by alleged militants.

The information blackout, that was near complete in the early days of the Kashmir lockdown, also had  an impact on the working journalists and lawyers, making their job an uphill task. Inadequate The KRR had also recorded that journalists and lawyers had been on the receiving end of extra-judicial actions, “ranging from assassinations, death threats, to intimidation.”  

Related: 

Kashmir journalist assaulted, harassed by Cyber Police, for article on cyberbullying  
Kashmir’s politics, social fabric, economy is battered, silenced, imprisoned: Anuradha Bhasin 
I got my award for my work, not for sitting at home: Masrat Zahra
A Pulitzer for Kashmir
Ladakh journalist arrested for third party’s comment against BJP MP on Facebook!
End harassment of Kashmiri journalists, lawyers: Kashmir Reading Room

The post Advocate-activist Babar Qadri shot dead by militants in Srinagar appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On Sunday, the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), began its fast-unto-death in Ganpatyaar, located in the Habba Kadal area of Srinagar. The group was forced to take the extreme measure after no action was taken on its last memorandum submitted to the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory to provide urgent relief to non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley.

Despite the mass forced exodus of the community from the region in the late 80s and early 90s, 808 families still remain in the Valley, many of whom live amidst abject poverty, some struggling to put food on the table, others scraping by without medicines. Unemployment remains a key concern.

In a statement released, the group said, “Disaster Management Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (DMRR&R) Department is punishing left out (Non-Migrant) Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri Hindus for staying back in Kashmir Valley. Since abrogation of Article 370 and 35 A we the Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri Hindus living in Kashmir Valley are facing harassment and isolation at the hands of Relief Department. Despite multiple directions from Hon’ble High Court and recommendations from the Central Government through the Ministry of Home Affairs, Relief Department is playing with the life and security of the Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri Hindus living in Kashmir Valley.”

The group had been regularly writing to various local authorities, including those of the erstwhile state and subsequently the UT. Non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits had secured a big victory when the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had ruled in favour of making provisions for their employment, way back in 2013. However, despite this nudge from the court, little action had taken place on the ground. KPSS says, “Situations are created like either they sabotage the whole process of Jobs and Rehabilitation of Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri Hindus living in Kashmir Valley or we must negotiate under the table deal with the officers / officials of the Relief Department to get the directions of the Hon’ble High Court and recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs implemented on the ground zero.”

KPSS president Sanjay Tickoo had also met the LG on August 27 and sought his reassurance. But now, almost three weeks since that meeting, patience is wearing thin. “As such, for the survival of 808 Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits/Kashmiri Hindus families living in Kashmir Valley, I, Sanjay K. Tickoo, President, KPSS have decided to start Fast-Unto-Death from today i.e. September 20, 2020 against Relief Department for persecution and bureaucratic harassment against Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri Hindus for not implementing Hon’ble High Court directions and recommendations issued by Ministry of Home Affairs regarding Job and Rehabilitation of the left out Community who chose to stay back in Kashmir Valley,” said the KPSS president.

KPSS lists the following under its Charter of Demands:

1)       KPSS demand Vigilance inquiry against the officers/officials of the Relief Department for deliberately stalling and sabotaging Relief and Rehabilitation of Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri Hindus living in Kashmir Valley and misusing their official positions to harm Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri Hindus living in Kashmir Valley.

2)            Implementation of Hon’ble High Court directions and recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding Jobs to the unemployed educated Kashmiri Pandit/Kashmiri Hindu youths.

3)       DMRR&R deliberately delayed the process by more than four years as such give one-time age relaxation to all the over-age candidates’ w.e.f. 31.05.2016 (date of the judgment passed by Hon’ble High Court in OWP 1986/2013 titled Kashmiri Pandit Sangarash Samiti and others Vs. Union of India and others)

4)            Easy and stress-free process of providing Bonafide Certificates to all the aspirants (Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits / Kashmiri Hindus) as per SRO 425 dated 10.10.2017.

5)            Monthly Financial Aid to 808 Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandit – Kashmiri Hindu families living in Kashmir Valley

6)            Providing accommodation to all deserving Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandit – Kashmiri Hindu families living in Kashmir Valley as per recommendations of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

7)            Extension of benefits of Migrant Welfare Fund to the Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandits – Kashmiri Hindus living in Kashmir Valley.

Related:

Kashmiri Pandit delegation meets J&K LG
Here’s why non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits feel betrayed
Teesta Setalvad in Conversation with Sanjay Tickoo
CJP demands justice for non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits 

The post KPSS’s fast-unto-death begins in Srinagar appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Srinagar:- At the age of 19, Nazar Nasir decided to share the idea of him knitting and crocheting with his family members. Their reaction was exactly as he had expected. He was told in blunt words that this line of work didn’t suit males. But Nazar had made up his mind and decide to live his dreams despite the resistance.

Crocheting has been a well-known art amongst Kashmiris but it has been mostly pursued by the women for decades. It is for the very first time that a male while breaking some rigid stereotypes has made a business out of it. Nazar, who wet up Knotty Crafts, is gaining a huge following not only in the Valley but outside the state too.

A resident of downtown, Srinagar, Nazar is a student of literature. Apart from being a student, he keeps himself busy with crochet. He is the first and the only male who crochets from Kashmir.

Crocheting is a process of creating fabric by interlocking loops of yarn, thread, or strands of other materials using a crochet hook.

It all started two years ago when his sister brought a crochet hook and some yarn from her aunt and while she was wiggling the hook with the yarn strand, Nazar was so fascinated that he brought himself a hook and some yarn and started experimenting and has never stopped since then.

From being just a mere experimental hobby, his passion for crocheting kept increasing and he turned it into a part-time business.

“For me, crocheting is not just a small business, but an escape from the world as I almost forget my being while crocheting. It’s so healing and so peaceful to me that I can work non-stop without worrying about anything else,” Nazar says during a conversation with TwoCircles.net.

“In a society where knitting and crocheting are considered too feminine a profession to be taken up by men, it was very difficult for me to do something that women usually do here,” he adds.

But paying no need for criticism, Nazar made-up his mind and started crocheting. It has been almost two years now and his business is flourishing day by day.

“People always talk and they say what they have to say, but today those who criticized me are always there for appreciation,” he says.

Nazar says he has been attracted to different forms of art for as long as he remembers.“I first learnt how to crochet and then I got deeper into the world of craft and taught myself to knit, to do macramé and to weave and I’m always learning new things,” Nazar says.

Nazar made his work public through social media apps like Facebook and Instagram and is getting a tremendous response.

“I earned a huge customer base within two years with the help of social media,” Nazar says.

He says he is blessed to be a part of such a big maker community in this age “I can’t describe how perfect I feel being a part of it. I will always try to explore and create more interesting things,” he says.

For people, it’s unusual to see a boy in this field of craft but Nazar says he is proud to call himself, ‘The only male crocheter of Kashmir’.

knotty crafts by Nazar

This article was first published on twocircles.net

The post Nazar Nasir: Breaking gender stereotypes in Kashmir through crochet appeared first on SabrangIndia.

People in Kashmir and journalist fraternity world-wide have been shocked at the assassination of Shujaat Bukhari, a veteran journalist and the editor of Rising Kashmir, the Kashmir based newspaper. He was killed by ‘unknown gunmen’ on June 14 evening as he was coming out of his office in Press Enclave, at the heart of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir. Two of his security guards were also killed in the same incident.

So far no militant organisation has claimed responsibility for his death.

He was killed merely hours after the UN’s human rights office announced the findings of a first ever human rights reports on the state of Jammu and Kashmir, in which the UN called for an independent inquiry into human rights violations in both parts of Kashmir, administered respectively by India and Pakistan. Analysts, including Shujaat Bukhari believed and expressed on various platforms that the report had significant implications for human rights conditions in the valley as it was for the first time an international body had recognised the deep distress within the valley and recommended the independent investigation.

A journalist of the people

As the news of his death was confirmed last evening, personal narratives of friends and well-wishers haven’t stopped flowing. The Indian Express, in its piece said “Shujaat Bukhari, perhaps embarrassed about his tall and distinct demeanour, hunched just a wee bit to make his friends comfortable. His two children, before they were five, would walk with their head distinctly bent to the right, as that was a good imitation of Abba, always on the cellphone, trying to be hands-free”

Intimate anecdotes flowed on Facebook as some recalled him for his quick response to new writers, while some regretted not having met him just a few hours ago. Another person recollected that he recently sent a message to Farooq Abdullah congratulating him on wearing jeans.

The shock and grief expressed across platforms and in Kashmir are truly indicative of one fact.

Shujaat Bukhari was not merely a name. He was the embodiment of a voice of sanity, reason and human rights in the turbulent Kashmir valley, marked by too frequent episodes of violence, impunity and unaccountability.
 
A sketch of Shujaat Bukhari

Bukhari himself belonged to an illustrious family with the father as a journalist and elder brother Basharat Bukhari, a PDP leader and an MLA from the Sangrama constituency in North Kashmir.
However, Bukhari didn’t merely rest on the laurels of his family, but used the power of his pen to bring to light the most inconvenient truth. Bukhari consistently spoke truth to power and was recognised across the world as the leading and most rational voice speaking on Kashmir
Bukhari was The Hindu bureau chief for Jammu and Kashmir from 1997 to 2012 and a contributor to Frontline magazine. He was based in Srinagar and was running Rising Kashmir for over a decade. Bukhari wrote fluently in English, Urdu and Kashmiri. He was also the president of Adbee Markaz Kamraz, the biggest and oldest cultural and literary organisation of the valley.
 
A martyr for truth

Ironically, just three months ago, Bukhari wrote in an editorial in Rising Kashmir on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his newspaper, “Survival is the first challenge for any journalism venture in Kashmir.”

Shujaat Bukhari was the missing link between the outside world and the dark alleys of Kashmir clouded with tales of atrocities and human rights violations, reporting from where is an both an act of courage and defiance. After Burhan Wani, the Hijb Mujahiddeen commander was killed in July 2016 and curfew followed along with snapping of mobile and internet connection in the valley, he wrote for the BBC, “But when I called the office, one of our employees confirmed that our printing press had been raided, staff held and printed copies of the newspaper seized.”

Not only 2016, the Rising Kashmir newspaper faced challenges in 2008 and 2010 as well, when armed struggle in Kashmir was on a rise owing to India’s failing political interventions in the region. Shujaat Bukhaari highlighted, “Authorities had forced us to suspend publication during the protests against Indian rule in 2008 and 2010 as well.” Further, in 2013 when Afzal Guru was hanged under mysterious circumstances in India, Bukhari wrote, “When Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri separatist convicted over the 2001 Indian parliament attack was hanged in 2013, copies of newspapers were seized from the press and the stands. I remember my newspaper ceased publication for four days. During the 2010 agitation, we were forced to stop publishing for 10 days.”

A key point that Bukhaari highlighted about the state’s measure to quell protests when discontent in the valley rose to uncontrollable proportions, “Imposing an information blockade had been part of the state “strategy” in 2010 as well and the scene is rewinding this time.”

Bukhaari was a living testimony to the transition that media went through after the outbreak of armed rebellion in Kashmir in the 1990s. He said that the media had to work on a razor’s edge and that journalists typically faced “threats to life, intimidation, assault, arrest and censorship have been part of the life of a typical local journalist.”
Bukhari survived three assassination attempts on previous occasions.

The last time a journalist was killed in Kashmir was over a decade ago. Srinagar saw killings in 2003, Parvez Muhammad Sultan, a reporter for a local news agency, was shot by gunmen in his office and August 2000, when a bomb blast killed Pradeep Bhatia, a photographer

Awards and accolades

Bukhaari was the recipient of World Press Institute USA fellowship. He had earlier pursued his Masters in Journalism from Ateneo de Manila University, Manila as a fellow of Asian Centre for Journalism. He was also a fellow at east West Centre at USA’s Hawaii.

He had just returned from Lisbon where he participated as a speaker during the Global Editors Network summit.

Bukhari was part of India’s delegation for ‘informal’ peace talks on Kashmir with Pakistani representatives held in Dubai last year.

Astute political analysis and commentary on recent events

Bukhari was consistently writing, calling an end to the cross-border firing along the Line of Control (LoC). He emphasised on the need for a Standard Operating Procedure in an article on March 3, a time when it was witnessing massive cross border firing, “As things have gone from bad to worse what is missing is a Standard Operating Procedure that could be followed in a ceasefire. A mechanism is also missing and nearly no contact between the two countries is adding to the woes of the people,”

Criticising Modi government’s policies at the center, Bukhari said, “New Delhi’s Kashmir policy since the beginning had not been based on justice and fairness while the Modi government had pushed them to the wall.”

Bukhari had commented on the recent ceasefire in J&K for Ramzaan, a holy month for Muslims across the world, saying, “Despite the scepticism from various quarters and even outright rejection, the announcement came as a glimmer of hope for the common people who have been suffering due to the continuous grind of violence. Death of both the militants who have joined the ranks in past few years and the civilians who become the collateral damage has become unbearable.”

Bukhaari’s writings, apart from giving a deep insight into the “sharp degeneration of politics in the state” were an indictment that the Indian government’s policies in Kashmir had not worked. He also wrote stories highlighting why Kashmiri youth were drawn towards militancy.
 
“Psychological war” of Indian media on Kashmir

In an opinion piece titled, “Prime Time Propaganda“, published exactly an year before, Bukhari once again exposed the hyper-nationalist and jingoist Indian media which, rather than investigating the allegations of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir believes in shrill high pitched rhetoric to further its propaganda. He said, “The comments made almost every day by hired panelists are part of a psychological war that has been unfolding to make the people submit”

In the same piece, he drew attention to the shallowness of the Indian media, here I quote him verbatim, “In recent days, two comments made by panelists on a TV channel enraged people but in one case there was much amusement and social media was full of jokes. The one comment which evoked a sharp reaction was made by one RSN Singh, a retired Colonel who was briefly with Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) official and has been engaged by a newly launched TV channel as its contributor. His disgraceful comment insinuated that Kashmiri youngsters were the ‘illegitimate offspring’ of foreign militants and that is why they were valiantly taking on government forces. When Singh was making this uncouth remark, the anchor was clearly enjoying it. This demonstrated the depths that such debate has sunk to and become the hallmark of these channels. No one intervened as the panelist abused Kashmiris and that is how the response of the government is also shaped.”
 
His staff and journalists from Rising Kashmir gave him a befitting tribute, saying, “You left all too sudden but you will always be our leading light with your professional conviction and exemplary courage. We wont be cowed down by the cowards who snatched you from us. We will uphold your principle of telling the truth howsoever unpleasant it may be”

The post Thousand Tears, not Enough appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Ancillary Medical Training (AMT) has asked its female students to sign an affidavit which states not to wear ‘Abaya or face-covering during clinical posting’.

“I will maintain the dress code as per the policy of the institution. I will maintain the code of ethics as per the policy of the institution, and I will not wear Abaya or cover my face during clinical postings,” reads the affidavit that the students require signing.

The students have threatened to take legal action against the institute if the notification seeking signing of the affidavit isn’t rolled back.

The institute’s principal Dr. Razia Mahmood while talking to a local newspaper has defended her decision and termed Abaya as a source of infection during work

“That is why there is an emphasis on proper dress code. The students can put on their Abaya or veil after the working hours,” she was quoted as saying by Valley-based newspaper Greater Kashmir.

According to the chairman of International Forum for Justice, Ahsan Untoo the institution can’t force students to sign the affidavit against their will.

“Every person has right to wear what they want to wear. Instead of asking students not to wear Abaya or face cover, the institute should provide them medical gowns and masks,” Ahsan told TwoCircles.net.

A Srinagar-based rights activist MM Shuja has threatened to approach court if the notification isn’t taken back.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

The post Nursing school in Srinagar asks students to sign affidavit banning Abaya, covering face during work appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Mohammad Ayub Pandith, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Jammu and Kashmir, was lynched to death by an irate mob of around 200 Kashmiri Muslims outside the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar yesterday. On the same day, near the National Capital Region, Hafiz Junaid, a 15-year-old Muslim, was stabbed to death and his brothers, Hashim, Shakir Mohsin and Moin, were severely injured on a train from Tughlakabad, Delhi to Ballabhgarh, Haryana. Yesterday was just one of the many days where people have been converted to statistics and India into a slaughterhouse of identities.
 
It is saddening to see that while one act of violence targeted at a State official was highlighted, and rightly so, by media houses; another death of a Muslim teenager on a train by a mob that attacked his religious community received mere scanty attention and concern of the online press on the day of the incident. The media, in effectively privileging one murder over the other, prioritized one life over another as deserving of news space. In so doing, the free media has mirrored the political tide of casual indifference where the lynching of a Muslim boy is not treated with the same degree and extent of condemnation as that of the murder of a police officer. Since when did reportage have to be qualified by the identity of the deceased?
 
It is about time we take stock of the reasons for and nature of the attacks to understand how identities manage anxieties of distance and difference in India. The communally charged atmosphere of Srinagar witnessed rumors of a ‘non-Muslim’ police officer guarding the Jamia Masjid during Shab-e-Qadr, night-long prayers held during Ramzan. The rumors of the deceased non-Muslim DSP being on alleged surveillance duty and clicking photographs of people spread like vengeful and frustrated fire. On the other hand, Junaid’s death was a result of an alleged argument over seats in the passenger train, which eventually led to the attackers spewing communal slurs. One news report carries rumors of alleged beef-eating that instigated the attackers to stab and injure fellow passengers; another attributes the incident to a group of 15-20 people, who boarded the train at Okhla and hurled anti-Muslim comments at the four boys—mocking their dress, calling them beef-eaters, and deeming them undeserving of the train seats.
 
Both incidents scream hate crime and manifested themselves in the form of indefensible violence. The violence in Srinagar took the form of mob lynching as one of the assailants pierced the body of the DSP with a rod and then later dumped it in a drain. The police officer had pulled out his service revolver in self-defense and injured three in their lower limbs, but was overpowered by the strength of the aggravated mob that stripped him naked and beat him to death. Junaid was stabbed by a group of 15-20 men who carried knives on their person on a moving train. The altercation escalated as communal abuses were heaved and stabbings multiplied. The Muslim teenager was declared dead on arrival at the Civil Hospital in Palwal, while Shakir is presently admitted at the AIIMS Trauma Center, Delhi. Self-defense can take various forms, but the theoretical choice to defend oneself may not always materialize into a viable option, and the law discounts exactly that. Armed State agents always carry with them the plausibility and tools of defense that the common man may be deprived of, and this arguably raises questions on the manner in which the law of self-defense operates in our country where everyone may not be equally positioned (and equipped) to defend themselves.

 
Criminal law is a field of public law and any criminal offence is deemed to be a crime against the State and society at large. It is the State’s prerogative to protect the life, liberty and security of citizens, and any offence then is a reinforcement of the failure of the State to do so. In the case of Mohammad Ayub, his rumored religion was just one of the many aspects of his identity that he shouldered as he guarded the Jamia Masjid. As an officer of the State which is perceived as an active perpetrator of violence in Kashmir, Ayub was attacked arguably for more than his ostensible religion. While the wife of the deceased DSP wailed, “Your killers will face the same fate”; Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti termed the act as a “murder of trust” and hinted at how the police force cannot be exercising such restraint for too long. In an environment where the State is no longer perceived as the protector of its citizens evidenced by a history of State-sanctioned violence and brutality; the DSP’s lynching is then arguably a manifestation of an already murdered trust. Delhi (and the rest of India) then poses the daunting prospect of a Kashmir waiting to happen, as Hindu extremists and self-proclaimed cow vigilantes appropriate and/or are delegated the power to take law into their own hands. The trust deficit is further exemplified when repeated calls for help to the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel, the police and the emergency response number were made all in vain. Surat Pal, the SHO of GRP at Ballabgarh Police Station is reported to have stated:
 
“One of them, Mohsin, called an ambulance when his brother was stabbed. Such things happen. Whenever there is a riot or fight, such things happen and people say some communal things, but we can't do anything”
 
When State instrumentalities normalize communal violence, and when office bearers fail and/or neglect to condemn all acts of violence indiscriminately (and not merely for political or strategic purposes), some lives are effectively valued more than others. In the case of the Jamia Masjid lynching, 12 persons have been identified and five of them have been arrested as per the statement of the Director General of Police S.P. Vaid. Moreover, a Special Investigation Team has been formed to expedite the probe into the lynching of Pandith. The FIR in the case of Junaid’s death has been registered under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention), Indian Penal Code, 1860. According to the Superintendent of the GRP Kamladeep Goyal, one of the assailants has been arrested and has confessed to the commission of the offence. Further, Goyal has also mentioned probing of alleged presence and complicity of one of the officers at Ballabgarsh who did nothing to save Junaid when the train stopped.
 
While the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti as well as the National Conference Working President Omar Abdullah have both strongly condemned the murder of the police officer as an unimaginable travesty and the height of barbarism, scanty political attention has been drawn to condemning the act of violence on the train to Ballabhgarh. In the otherwise selectively silent violence of the ruling government, the strong condemnation of the Ballabgarh incident by Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu is however, welcome.
 
Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Nirmal Singh is quoted to have said:
 
“I condemn it [the lynching of DSP Pandith] in the strongest words because it's a crime. It's a murder. The government will take it in that way and the police will take a strong action against them.”
 
Both, the lynching of the DSP and the stabbing of a Muslim teenager who had gone Eid shopping, are condemnable crimes. Both are murders and neither of them should attain coverage or be subjected to censure discriminately. The value and sanctity of human life cannot afford politicisation.    
 
Vatsal Gosalia is a student (NLU Mumbai) and Vandita Khanna, a student of the Jindal Global Law School

The post Pandith in Srinagar & Junaid in Ballabhgarh: Comparing a Yesterday of Violence appeared first on SabrangIndia.

561 Kashmiri Pandit Youth Can Now Get Government Jobs

After 26 long years, our legal rights have been recognised and this will also slowly signal an end to migration, says Sanjay K. Tickoo, president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) to Sabrangindia.

In a step that is being viewed as one that will actively and constructively prevent further migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, the high court of Jammu and Kashmir at Srinagar has directed that 561 resident Kashmiri Pandit youth must be employed by the state government with immediate effect. Essentially, through this high court order, the rehabilitation package of the Prime Minister’s package has been extended to all 651 families resident of the state.

The Kashmir Pandit Sangarash Samiti (KPSS), which is the representative body of Valley based Kashmiri Pandits has welcomed the decision, enthusiastically. Sanjay Tickoo, president of the KPSS, speaking to Sabrangindia has hailed the verdict and said that this order, delivered on May 31, 2016 is historic as it for the first time in 26 years recognises the rights of Pandits who have stayed back in the valley.

A writ petition, 1986/2013 titled 'Kashmiri Pandit Sangarash Samiti and others Vs. Union of India and others', had been filed on December 30, 2013, in which the KPSS had challenged the SRO 412 dated December 30, 2009 and further prayed that 561 Pandit youth be included in the PM’s Package and be entitled to apply for jobs and rehabilitation.

In an order delivered on May 31, 2016, the J&K High Court has admitted the petition filed by the KPSS in respect to extension of the 'PM’s Package' for jobs and rehabilitation to the Kashmiri Pandits who did not leave the Valley following the exodus of majority of their community members.

A general meeting of the organisation will meet and celebrate the verdict at the Shri Sidhi Vinayak Mandir, Ganpatyar, Habba Kadal, Srinagar on June 5, 2016 to discuss the future course of action for settlement and rehabilitation for those Kashmiri Pandits who have been left out of the rehabilitation process in Kashmir Valley. The State Government has been given six weeks to respond to the high court order.

The order given by the J&K High Court, vindicates the struggle of the Valley based Kashmiri Pandits represented by Kashmir Pandit Sangarash Samiti (KPSS). It is a shot in the arm for us in our ongoing engagement with the State for the rights of Valley based Kashmiri Pandits, who suffer precarious existence due to the ongoing conflict since many years.

Kashmir Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) is very much hopeful that the Centre as well as State Government will separate 561 posts for Valley based Kashmiri Pandits who chose to live in Kashmir Valley facing many challenges to their existence in the last 26 years. We have forwarded the said judgment to the concerned authorities, as such, we urge the State Government that it will process the matter without any delay or excuse within a period of six weeks as per the directions of Hon’ble High Court. Saleem Gupkari, advocate appeared for the organisation in its long battle for recognition and rehabilitation.
 

The post Kashmiri Pandits: At Home in Our Valley with Jobs appeared first on SabrangIndia.