Since the inception of armed struggle in the valley a number of new problems have initiated and cropped up in our society. As is clear from the inception of the mass armed struggle which due to the culmination of alienation with India was exploited by Pakistan who provided material, political, diplomatic and economic support to the struggle when suited its National interests and when not decamped the Kashmiris to become cannon fodder in the tussle between the two nations. The Leaders at that moment gave their whole hearted support to the armed struggle and sent thousands of youth who are a real treasure for any nation to gallows with themselves resting and enjoying in solace & their own progeny safe and sound in Western countries about whom they never cease to criticize. The Leaders at the moment among which some are still alive even today were so myopic and intellectually bankrupt that they couldn’t surmise the consequences of fighting an armed battle with a huge state?? This state of apathy still continues even today, though some of the stalwarts of the armed struggle have dropped their guns and came to the table for dialogue though the damage has been done and they couldn’t even rectify it as they are an elite which are unconcerned with the common man’s problems whose corpse they only need to press their demands and vested interests.
This armed struggle which has brought in its wake a good number of evils among them the matter of concern is the growing crop of Widows, Half Widows and orphans in our society, but as is the norm the leaders are so dull, egoistic and eccentric that they have neither Institutionalized the Political Struggle nor built any institutions which can attend the necessities of these widows and orphans. Who is going to take care of these wretched souls driven to starvation by those who were/are at the helm of affairs?? They have just forsook them as they don’t need them because their men have served the use now they are dead wood of no use for the leaders. Among the stalwarts of the armed struggle who then U turned into Peace-Dialogue Politics when questioned by one of the prominent historian of Kashmir Shabnum Qayoom for his carelessness as not to marry a daughter, sister or widow of Shaheed was manhandled by his goons in a Fascist manner so as to silence any dissent or democracy. Similarly when demanded accountability or transparency in carrying out the separatist agenda or mere questioning to the role of leaders can lead one to be bestowed with the verdict of being an Indian agent or blasphemy against the mission of martyrs.
The question of Widow Remarriage though considered a social taboo was broken on 2nd May 2010 when a social reformatory seminar was organized by Islamic Fraternity(IF) a Social & Religious organization run by youth in S.P College Auditorium Srinagar. I was privileged to be one of the participants. I was first of all disheartened to see that only a handful of concerned conscious people present whereas it is a burning social problem which needs to be addressed and debated about by all. A number of religious scholars and activists were supposed to speak but only a few turned up like the audience because they are more concerned with fuelling internecine sectarian strifes than addressing something concrete.
Dr Abdul Latif Al Kindi a famous religious scholar of Kashmir spoke about the prophetic model of addressing the issue of widow remarriage but was factual enough to acknowledge the social constraints and obstacles in achieving the same. To make his point more clear he quoted an example of a scholar who wrote a book on polygamy though he didn’t took a second wife himself but was socially outcaste by his friends and relatives. Islam describes the best model to tackle this problem but we by our deeds malign these universal teachings thus making their implementation impossible.
Dr Zafar ul Islam Khan Editor The Milli Gazette who was the Chief Guest on this occasion discussed about the widening sex ratio divide in India which is due to female feticide but in Kashmir Militancy and other reasons are responsible for the same. He said though there are no official figures about the correct number of widows in valley still if they are even less in number as claimed it is a problem which needs to be ratified. He delved on various practical steps needed to be taken in this direction like setting up more institutions which can look after the widows and orphans because due to their scarcity many orphans are sent to other institutions outside J&K where they become culturally alienated and when they come back they are strangers in their own motherland. Discussing the taboo of widow remarriage he went on to say that it has some influence from Hinduism because in Hinduism the widow remarriage is shunned. Also he asked for shunning the extravagance in marriages and organizing group marriages so that cost may be lowered. Though he repeatedly emphasized that Kashmiris should have been a role model and Ideal for the whole Indian Muslims but they have failed to grow and inculcate among themselves the teachings of Islam which could have made them the leaders of Muslims in the subcontinent.
Dr Hamid Naseem Rafiabadi Director Shah e Hamdan Institute of Islamic Studies Kashmir University lambasted the Ulama and Scholars for their apathy and reluctance to actively discuss, debate and solve this problem of widows which if not delved properly will eat away the vitals of society and create social problems like prostitution, juvenile delinquency and drug addiction. He called for the social activism by the Ulama & unless they will fail to do so, educate people about the same as well as implement it in their lives nothing is going to change.
President IF Muhammad Aamir a teenager was vociferous to impress the demands and steps needed to be initiated in the direction of Widow remarriage especially much is expected from the youth and N.G.O’s who mostly are paper work organizations with little or no efforts on the ground work and grassroot levels as they mostly concentrate their material and monetary assets to raise buildings instead of institutions.
The seminar wasn’t a monologue but questions were raised after every presentation by the speakers thus making the discussion vibrant and fruitful. Thus this seminar must prove a watershed in course of our social norms. Though the flag of social reforms must have been initiated by the conscious civil society but they are entangled in different issues but it is heartening that youth are becoming the torch bearers of the new enlightenment but still we have to tread a lot and face a stiff opposition in order to realize our dream of widow remarriage.
Though in near future I can’t see a drastic change in this direction still we must strive for excellence and harness every opportunity to make the change possible for the same.
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