On Article 35A: Here Is What Kashmiri Women Have To Say

Posted by MM

Selective concerns are not uncommon in the fascist world we live in, and hence, the linking of abrogation of Article 35A and Article 370 with the supposed ideas of feminism is not outrightly shocking. Read on to understand the take of a Kashmiri woman on the recent sensational, yet undemocratic decision to revoke the said articles. 

“Karyakarta bahut utsuk hai aur jo kunwaare hai, unki shaadi wahi karva denge, koi dikkat nahi hai. Kya dikkat hai? Pehle wahaan mahilaon par kitna atyachar tha. Wahaan ki ladki agar kisi Uttar Pradesh ke chorey se shaadi kar le, toh uski nagrikta khatam. Bharat ki nagrikta alag, Kashmir ki alag… Aur jo Muslim karyakarta hai yahaan par, unko khushi manani chahiye… Shaadi wahaan karo na, Kashmiri gori ladki se. Khushi manani chahiye. Poore chahe Hindu, Musalman koi ho. Yeh poore desh ke liye utsah ka vishay hai. (The party workers are very excited and those who are bachelors, they can get married there. There is no issue now. Earlier, there was lot of atrocities on women. If a woman from there [Kashmir] got married to a man from Uttar Pradesh, her citizenship would be revoked. There was different citizenship for India and Kashmir. And the Muslim workers should celebrate here. Get married there. To a fair Kashmiri girl. There should be celebrations. Everyone should celebrate… Be it Hindu or Muslims. This is something the entire country should be celebrating),” are the words of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA, as reported by the Indian Express. 

Article 35A provides (provided?) an Aegis of sorts to the residents of Kashmir by securing state resources for them, most important of which were the land rights. Another part of Article 35A held that if a Kashmiri woman marries a person out of Kashmir, she will lose land rights. This, in fact, is little information, and is indeed dangerous. As per an order of the J&K High Court (HC), 2002, women who chose to marry outside of state would retain land rights, but only for their person, and not for their in-laws, or to their offsprings. The question of women being treated unfairly dies right there and then. 

In a state, where Section 144 is imposed, and a woman can be shot dead if she is seen on the road with three other women, it is not exactly representative of just feminism, but humanity in general. 

It has been sufficiently clear that the Indian state does not sympathise with the Kashmiri people, regardless of their gender. It is the land, and the political arm-flexing that is their goal, and they are hell-bent on achieving the ends, no matter what the means are. When you have a bigger issue of an attack on your survival, the smaller issue of your gender identity only comes second. In a state, where Section 144 is imposed, and a woman can be shot dead if she is seen on the road with three other women, it is not exactly representative of just feminism, but humanity in general. 

Besides, if the decision of revoking the Articles was so necessary for the Kashmiri women community, why was it that not one woman from Kashmir, not Mehbooba Mufti, not me, no one, was asked? Not even a woman from the Indian state was involved. It was two politically powerful men in a closed room, who prophecised what our future would look like.

Also read: The Often Untold Journeys Of Mental Health Issues In The Kashmir Valley

What was accepted as our nod-of-approval was our incapability to express our shattered belief. This is the idea of democracy because of the internet, phone, and cable gag. In the year 2019 alone, internet, which is considered a basic human necessity, was snapped as many as 51 times. To put things in perspective, even Syria has internet! 

Besides, if the decision of revoking the articles was so necessary for the Kashmiri women community, why was it that not one woman from Kashmir, not Mehbooba Mufti, not me, no one, was asked?

The infamous case of Kunan-Poshpora is painfully alive in the memories of Kashmiris there, constantly tugging to be remembered, even when the victims and their families are dying to forget it. On this godforsaken day, the women of the entire villages of Kunan and Poshpora were raped by the Indian Army, be it a child of two years, or a sixty-year-old woman. With such a history, if the Indian Government tells us that they care for us, it is a blatant lie. 

Also read: Article 370 And 35A: On Scrapping The Special Status Of J&K

If the Modi-Shah duo are so sure of this decision that would change the lives of Kashmiris, particularly Kashmiri women, they could come further North, have a cup of kahwa, and ask us what we feel about the abrogation. 

You can reach the author at mmforfeedback@gmail.com.

Feature Image Credits: BBC