The Hindu Business Line : Give J&K women economic <I>azadi </I>

Across the J&K border the guns have returned to their holsters. But the region's women are still crying for peace. They want a system based on social security and equal opportunities that will get them economic empowerment.

The guns have fallen silent on the borders. But inside Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), women continue to face the aftermath of the long years of violence; they suffer abject poverty, desolation and insecurity. In the absence of any concrete welfare programmes, some destitute women, like those from Dardpora, Kupwara district, have even resorted to begging.

Whether it is the women farmers who toil in the fields, or the craftswomen who embroider beautiful patterns on shawls and phirens (long woollen shirts worn by Kashmiris) — they all are struggling to make a new beginning for themselves, their families and the community. They fervently hope that peace on the borders will extend within their villages, towns and homes. "The qualitative difference of the impact of violence on women makes them the biggest stakeholders for peace in Kashmir. They are the ones who trudge to police stations and courts trying to trace their sons, husbands and brothers. They are the ones who continue to keep their families together in the wake of uncertainty, fear and despair," says Roma Wani, Additional Secretary, Planning and Administration, Jammu and Kashmir Government.

Clearly, the last 14 years of violence have burdened them with new responsibilities. When the women say they want aman or peace, they don't imply just the absence of physical violence, but a system based on social security, equal opportunities, access to resources, distribution, economic rights and accountability. According to a study titled, Impact of Conflict Situation on Children and Women in Kashmir, conducted by Dr B. A. Dabla, Head of the Department of Sociology, University of Kashmir, 87 per cent of the widows in J&K are supporting their orphaned children. The research also indicated that very few widows in J&K remarried. As Rashida Bi, a widow from Poonch, a hilly district in the Jammu division says, even if the State's borders are under the strict vigilance of security personnel, the fact that her children go to sleep hungry and that the army and the militants both harass her, is proof that peace has still not arrived in her home. She lives in fear of going hungry and in constant terror of losing her son to the militants, or worse still, being picked up by the army for interrogation. "My peace is when my children and my body are both secure."

Although some women have received institutional support in the form of compensation and bank loans — after crossing several administrative hurdles, and being vulnerable to abuse or exploitation — many in the villages continue to struggle with extreme poverty.

"My mother had to go through traumatic times after my father was killed by militants in February 2003," says Irshada. The young school student narrated how at timesit was difficult even to travel to town for any work from their remote village in Sogam as they did not have enough money to make the trip.

However, several women today are striving towards building a better world for themselves and others. Shahzada, a health worker in Badgam district, works for a programme of Voluntary Health Association of India. She tirelessly advocates health and economic parity for women in an extremely hostile, life-threatening environment. In remote villages, she introduces women to the benefits of a small family, nutritious food and safe deliveries. Afroze visits villages in Kupwara, encouraging destitute and desolate Kashmiri women to rebuild their lives by forming self-help groups (SHGs). She helps them get access to loans, income-generation schemes and other government benefits.

In their own way, both Shahzada and Afroze are creating spaces for women to empower themselves and ensure long lasting peace. "The problem is that our voice is not being heard. Moreover, some of these so-called empowerment programmes have such stringent laws and guidelines that it is often impossible for women to access these schemes," says Shazda Bano, who has set up an SHG in Uri, northern Kashmir. Even political parties have not taken up the concerns of women.

Taja Parveen, Vice-Provincial President of the Women's Wing of the National Conference, points out that during the 2002 assembly elections none of the parties in the poll fray had any sort of package chalked out for women. Still, some local women have taken the initiative to provide counselling and livelihood options to the most needy in villages. In the last two years, these women have encouraged village women to form SHGs in districts. Today, there are 700 SHGs in Baramullah. Says Sabia Rasheed, State Co-ordinator of the NGO Confederation of Voluntary Association, "Women are stepping out of their houses primarily to improve the economic condition of their families. It goes without saying that behind the economic development of Kashmir are the hands of Kashmiri women struggling to bring a change." By change she means a more just and equal society.

Take the 200 women from far-flung villages who recently attended a gender training workshop organised by the District Rural Development Agency in Rafiabad constituency, northern Kashmir. They gathered despite a bandh in the Valley, to discuss how they could access credit schemes, market their crafts and get agricultural and home loans. Says Sazda, "More and more women should be economically empowered. Our economic azadi (independence) is the key to Kashmir's development."

Women's Feature Service

Picture by Nissar Ahmad

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