J&K Women Become Role Models, Their Counterparts Pn PoK, China Struggle To Survive

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: Success stories of J&K women folk have inspired fairer sex across the globe to follow their footsteps and chase their dreams. The females in Jammu and Kashmir are proving their mettle in every field and are leading from the front. They don't want to look back as they are out to conquer the world.

The women empowerment in the Himalayan region gained impetus after August 5, 2019 when the Centre announced its decision to abrogate J&K's special status and bifurcated it into two union territories. Since then women have grabbed all the opportunities that have come in their way. By dint of their hard work and determination they have proved their critics wrong. During the past two years as many as 4.5 lakh women have been made financially independent in the Himalayan region through Self Help Groups initiative. For the first time in 70 years, J&K Police reserved a 15 per cent quota for women in non-gazetted cadre. The countless women empowerment schemes have changed their perception towards life.

Last month a 15-year old girl, Sadia Tariq, from Srinagar's Bemina area in J&K made India proud by getting a gold medal in the final bout of the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship held in Russia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the first one to felicitate her. "Congratulations to Sadia Tariq on winning the Gold medal at the Moscow Wushu Stars Championship. Her success will inspire many budding athletes. Wishing her the very best for her future endeavours," PM Modi wrote on Twitter.

An international water sports coach, Bilquis Mir, who has participated in several national and international competitions, was recently appointed as a judge for the upcoming 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. She is the only Indian selected for this honour at the Games.

Women in Jammu and Kashmir are a force to reckon with and have proven that they are no less than men. In the recently announced results of class 10 and 12 conducted by Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE), girls outshined boys by securing better ranks and percentages. J&K women have broken all the barriers. They are doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, sports stars, lawyers, bankers, pilots, administrators and what not. For J&K women sky is the limit.

On the other hand, the women in Pakistan occupied Kashmir have no success story to narrate. Females on the other side of the Line of Control (LoC) are treated as tools having no rights. Situation in PoK areas is dismal where local women have been left at the mercy of Pakistani soldiers and the terrorists.

Pakistan with its colonial approach has reduced the women of PoK into disenfranchised subjects. Obsession of Pakistani rulers with Kashmir has turned PoK in to a breeding ground for terrorists, who look at the women as their slaves and exploit them sexually. In absence of proper mechanism for justice and terrorists enjoying patronage of Pakistan Army, many cases of sexual exploitation in PoK go unreported.

Anam Zakaria in her feature in a leading Pakistan daily, the Dawn, narrated the tale of a PoK woman Nasreen who had taken her children to find safety in a bunker during shelling from the Indian side. Quoting Nasreen, Zakaria wrote that an older man raped her 13-year old daughter, Ayesha on gunpoint and had threatened to kill her for speaking up. Few months later, Ayesha got pregnant and the council decided to marry Ayesha to the rapist to save her honour. Unable to handle the pain of giving birth at such a tender age, Ayesha hemorrhaged to death in labour. Her child also died a few months later.

After occupying PoK illegally in 1947, Pakistani rulers have not done anything to empower the women in the region. They have been left to fend on their own. According to a survey carried out by a UN agency, over a third of women in remote areas of PoK are facing a serious problem of malnutrition.

There is a visible difference between the rights enjoyed by women in Jammu and Kashmir and their counterparts in PoK and China. The J&K women are scaling new heights. The government is helping them to excel in lives and has provided them with the wings to fly. Their rights are protected, their safety and security is ensured. On the other hand, women in PoK have no rights and are exploited in one or the other way. No one had even thought about empowering the females across the LoC. China despite being one of the most developed countries treats Muslim women as second grade citizens. On one hand their right to privacy is being snatched, while on other no opportunities are being provided to them to do something constructive in their lives. IANS

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