In a bizarre incident, first of its kind in Kashmir, a father of a four year old girl, from north Kashmir was found guilty of murdering his daughter, Muskaan. The motive behind the murder is a gruesome case of honor killing.
“Khale shaakhein bula rahie hain,
Phuloo awao, kahan gaye ho…” Ahmed Mushtaq
The father on questioning confessed his crime and the reasons behind the murder. He admitted that his suspicious about him not being the biological father of the girl grew as the girl was born before nine months of their marriage. As such over a period of time; he had developed hatred for her. The other motive of killing had been greed as his wife happened to be a Panch member. He planned the murder in such a way that the blame of the killing will fall on militants and he could demand cash compensation from the government in return.
The innocent, unsuspecting child was mercilessly killed by her father, when he took her to a nearby Apple orchard where he choked her to death and then slit her throat and concealed the body in a gunny bag.
More than two decades of unrest in Kashmir have witnessed many heart wrenching incidents. The spiraling web of violence seems to be getting worst with the passage of time, whereas peace remains elusive and a distant dream.
Every other day, the local papers report of different crimes that are taking place in the Valley. Most of them are violence against women both from their own community as well by “men with guns’.
Such incidents force one to think at the drastic changes that have taken place over the last few years. So many social evils have found their way in our rich and traditional society and the ruthlessness in the crimes being committed is growing day by day.
Various examples from conflict impacted countries all over the world have borne witness to the fact that any society that has been torn by prolonged and violent conflict, the people of the place are affected adversely and in a variety of ways. There is collapse of civil machinery, loss of livelihood, breakdown of traditional culture and community support, whereas, violence, pervasive insecurity and fear becomes the order of the day, as is being witnessed here.
Kashmir has been known all over the world not only for its scenic beauty, pristine glory but also for its spiritual fascination. Historical sources reveal that the people of Kashmir traditionally believed more in the spiritual aspects and relatively ignored the earthly pleasures of life. Even with regard to the status of women in Kashmiri society, it was relatively high as compared to the position of women in other communities of the period. The Kashmiri Pandits elated the status of women as that of a Goddess, and refer to her as “Lakshmi” while Muslims considered Heaven, beneath the feet of Mother.
Unfortunately, over a period of time such emotions have taken a back seat and women have become the target of violence. Materialism has encroached upon the spiritual republics and destroyed all those value structures that shaped Kashmiri society.
Maybe the spiraling violence of 23 years has deprived people living in the valley of sensitivities they are known for.
Many recent revelations of crimes inflicted on the population of Kashmir have pointed fingers at the presence of draconian laws which have given impunity to the armed forces to get away with all kind of atrocities and crimes, without the fear of being questioned.
The frustration of having to bear all this is probably making the society numb and insensitive. It has become a routine now where the innocent civilian killings are usually bracketed under the term ‘alleged’ when there are enough evidences against the perpetrators. Unfortunately all such proofs are brushed aside and ignored, further aggravating grievances and leading to helplessness and frustrations amongst the common masses.
From a psychological point of view, it could be termed as a “defense mechanism”, which over a period of time has made people to unconsciously adopt to deal with feelings of helplessness and insecurity. Otherwise, how could our society accept incidents like killing of innocent youths, rapes, molestations of women in Kashmir.
Kashmir society was considered soft hearted prior to these 23 years of unrest, it’s a known fact that a Kashmiri would shiver at the thought of killing, even a bird. If ever there was a fight amongst some locals in Kashmir, for whatever reason, they would only use verbal abuses for hours but never come to blows.
In Kashmir of the yore, if someone needed a simple sharp knife to slaughter a chicken for meals, it would become a daring task. Most Kashmiri’s were so timid and non violent in nature that they would never keep such sharp “weapons” at home. People would have to go to specific people for the job.
There were incidents when the sky would change color to crimson and every one would be intrigued and say probably somewhere “blood” is being shed. “Even the sky is weeping and has changed colors,” the elders would say. But now innocent killings take place right in front of us and we don’t feel anything. It is accepted as routine. How insensitive can we get?
In a traditional Kashmiri society, a Kashmiri Pandit would never think twice before asking his young Muslim neighbors to accompany his daughter. This was the Kashmiriyat, the trust, faith and love that people of Kashmir in general enjoyed.
The values and traditions that were handed down to the youngsters were such that a young boy would never look at any girl with bad intensions but now our society is witnessing that even “faith healers” cannot even be trusted. The recent example of Gulzar is an open example.
People seem to have thrown to winds the concepts that were nurtured by all Kashmiris which helped shaped our personalities for which we are known all over the world. We seem to have forgotten about the rich cultural heritage of patience taught by Lal Ded and Sheikh ul Aalam, considered the fruit of a successful life. Even our Kashmiri language is full of phrases and idioms that impress upon the validity of the fruitfulness of tolerance and bearing in human life.
These being our basic moorings, values and teachings, the recent honor killing of a young innocent child should shake our conscience. Are we allowing such evils to creep in our already fragmented and bruised society? I think we all need to introspect.
Shehr ke aaien mein ye mu’d bhi likhi jaye gi,
Zinda rehna ho tu, qatil ki sufarish chahiye… Hakim Manzoor
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The article wrote by Ezabir Ali, who is one of active muslim women in Kashir jointed with AMAN
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