Love, Loss, and Longing in Kashmir by Sahba Husain

Author:Sahba Husain [Husain, Sahba]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zubaan Publishers Pvt Ltd
Published: 2019-11-25T00:00:00+00:00

Women in the family echoed him: ‘We women always supported the Mujahids and even if we were abused or beaten up, we would not disclose where a Mujahid or his associates were. This was our way of participating in the movement.’ Despite the harassment and torture by the security forces, women welcomed militants in their homes, whether they were alone or in groups. They offered them food and shelter. Some of them even managed to keep ammunition hidden in the house to hand over to militants, often at grave risk to their own safety. So enthusiastic and committed were the women that militants had no need of entering any house forcibly. They commanded respect and even adulation, and entire families would prepare a feast for them and wait for them to come and eat. Each house was ready to welcome them and it was a matter of prestige for the residents that a Mujahid had visited them. Anjum Zamarud Habib of Muslim Khawateen Markaz (MKM) recalled that period:

When militancy began, many of the militants found a hideout in our house in Anantnag that was very large. One portion of it belonged to my uncle who had shifted elsewhere; that is where the militants would come and stay. Some of them were my own close relatives. Due to this, the J&K police and later, the Indian Army and the BSF raided our house frequently. It was a new beginning in Kashmir where our young men had picked up the gun and soon they became local heroes; they were welcomed everywhere and many people would come to see them personally and that is how there was always a long queue of people who came to our house simply to get a glimpse of an armed militant and to see their guns. This was the time when many young women would approach me and express their desire to work along with the militants for azadi. We played a role in strengthening and taking forward the sentiment for azadi by enrolling new members and by being politically engaged in the movement.

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