Kashmir in purdah

IT IS A measure of the terror that fundamentalist extremism can wreak that a shadowy group of Islamic militants, whose very identity is open to question, is able to hold the women of an entire State to ransom. The Lakshar-e-Jabbar's criminal demand that all Muslim women of Jammu and Kashmir observe purdah or risk being shot in the legs has drawn a noticeable veil of fear over the Valley. While the coercive `writ' issued by the Lakshar-e- Jabbar, which came into effect earlier this week, has evoked only partial compliance, menacing signs of this vicious assault on women have already begun to surface. This and other such gender- specific diktats issued recently by the little-known militant group - including an order that women be stopped from sitting next to men on public buses - have succeeded in evoking serious apprehensions about attempts to Talibanise the social fabric of the Valley.

Ironically, the men who have issued the diktat on purdahs purport to do so in the name of religion. But the barbaric acts committed by such unthinking zealots - including two savage attacks with acid on women who appeared bare-faced in public in Srinagar last month - are wholly un-Islamic and only serve to spread a false and unfortunate image about the religion. Non-Muslim women have also come under the harsh purview of the Lakshar-e-Jabbar's dress code with Hindus ordered to wear the traditional bindi and Sikhs directed to cover their heads with saffron cloth. The purpose of these decrees are ostensibly only to distinguish such women from Muslims, but they are unmistakably similar to those issued in Afghanistan by the Taliban authorities, who ordered religious minorities to wear tags to identify themselves as non-Muslims. The practice of forcing social groups to wear distinctive clothing or identifying marks - which is reminiscent of the Nazi policy of forcing Jews to wear yellow stars - is abhorrent and deserves to be condemned in the strongest terms.

It is perhaps not altogether surprising that the Lakshar-e- Jabbar's threatening decrees have found support with some fundamentalist groupings, most notably the influential Jamiat-ul- Mujahideen and the radical women's outfit, the Dukhtaran-e-Millat or Daughters of the Faith. No militant and separatist group has directly criticised the purdah decree though objections have been raised about the manner in which it is being opposed. The strongest condemnation of this ugly trend has come from some of the moderates who make up the All Party Hurriyat Conference who have disparaged the acid attacks and other such barbaric practices aimed at coercing women to adhere to the dress code. If the Valley is to be prevented from falling under the further sway of misguided religious crusaders and myopic fanatics, then the voices of all those opposed to such savagery must be strengthened.

This is not the first time that Islamic militants have attempted to force the population of the Valley to conform to their ultra- conservative diktats. For instance, about a decade ago, the hardline Dukhtaran-e-Millat launched a campaign to force women in Srinagar to wear the veil and threw paint on those who failed to comply. Such campaigns, however, have been mercifully short- lived. Images of Kashmiri women rushing to get their burqas stitched and reports of harried tailors working overtime to meet the sudden demand have reinforced fears that it may be somewhat harder to overcome the Lakshar-e-Jabbar's campaign this time around. It is a campaign buttressed by intimidation and its success can be nourished by little else than a diet of fear. In these challenging and turbulent times, one can only hope that the people of Kashmir will have the strength and the resolve to disregard the belligerent threats and resist the Talibanisation of their Valley.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Next     : Perils of status quo