Jamaat al-Muslimeen International Press Release
REMEMBERING the OPPRESSION OF WOMEN on EID al-ADHA
VICTIMS OF MASS RAPE Get "Conscience Money" after 10 years!
"Women are the twins of men." (Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, Hadith)
"Do not stop the maid servants of Allah from the mosques of Allah."
(Hadith)
{The suffering of women in Kashmir is symbolic of the suffering of
women
worldwide. The Indian army uses rape as a tool of subjugation in this
deeply
conservative society. The raped women are then ostracized by the Muslim
society too. The following report indicates the current upheaval in
Kashmir
and brings out the pathetic effort of Muslims to give "conscience
money" to
the victims of mass rape who were assaulted by Indian forces as far
back as
1991!} {Courtesy TAIBA BULLETIN}
In the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most beneficent
taiba bulletin
Muzaffarabad, AZAD kashmir, february 26, 2002
GROWING UP WITHOUT LOVE in the OCCUPIED VALLEY
Muzaffarabad, February 26(TNS): Noori is a mother of seven children and
has
been widowed twice at the age of 29. Her first husband was killed by
Indian
troops leaving her to face life on a shaky terrain along with four
small
children.
Soon she was re-married to her brother-in-law, who died four years
later
after fathering three more children. There are scores of Nooris in held
Kashmir where decrepit orphanages and households tell the tales of
hapless
mothers and children. And hardly any help comes their way in their
struggle
for existence. Noori who hails from Sumbal in Kupwara district survives
on
what her 12-year-old son brings home, often less than Rs. 50 a day,
which he
gets for nine hours of hard work.
A report written by Suhail Wani of Sify News says, Noori finds it
difficult
to remember the names of all her children and this forces a writhing
smile on
her face. She believes that her day would also come. Haja of Pattan in
Baramulla District in north Kashmir lost her husband who was a
Guerrilla
Mujahid, in a gun battle with military forces in the early nineties.
Her
second husband fell to the bullets of army troops and so did her
brother. She
works hard to feed her five daughters and an aged father and is quite
worried
about what the future holds for her daughters.
Haja takes care of her epileptic son and two other children with no
help
forthcoming from any quarter. She does not seek it either and a frown
crosses
her face when political organizations are mentioned. There are
thousands of
such faces drenched in insecurity and helplessness. For the children of
the
valley and their struggling mothers, life has been damaged beyond
repair for
no fault of theirs.
The state social welfare department has come out with a list of orphans
and
recommended a monthly allowance ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 300. But it
has not
reached the next step of providing them the much-needed assistance to
be
self-reliant in life. That is the kind of help girls like Farida is in
need
of. A talented student from Baramulla, Farida has no money to pay for
her
admission to class 1X. Her mother, Shakeela has four other daughters to
look
after. Poverty forced Shakeela to send one of her daughters to a
Darul-uloom
in Gujarat. The bruised psyche of children affects their studies,
health and
behavior. If the mother has remarried, the child feels doubly betrayed.
Irfan Parra's father went missing from Sumbal when he was a toddler. He
has
grown without fatherly love. He wished his father were there to share
his joy
when he passed matriculation exam recently. - " They can be consoled
materially not otherwise. A vacuum is their lifelong companion," says
Abdul
Hamid, principal of a public school at Sumbal.
6235 KASHMIRI DETAINEES LANGUISHING UNDER OPPRESSIVE "LAWS"
Muzaffarabad, February 26(TNS): Srinagar-based human rights
organization
Kashmir Watch has called upon world bodies to pressurize India to
release
Kashmiri political detainees. The Executive Director of the
organization,
Abdul Khaliq Hanif in a statement issued in Srinagar today said that
India
was making an unavailing effort to stifle Kashmiris' voice by putting
the
leadership behind the bars. It is estimated that almost 6235 Kashmiri
liberation activists are languishing in various notorious jails of held
Kashmir and India like Hazaribagh in Bihar, Jodhpur in Rajhastan, Tihar
in
New Delhi and Sangroor in Punjab. Prominent political leaders and
activists
detained under Indian black laws are, Shaikh Abdul Aziz, Dr. Ghulam
Muhammad
Hubbi, Ghulam Nabi Sumji, Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, Ghulam Muhammad Butt,
Saadullah Tantrey, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, Bashir Ahmad Butt, Mussarrat
Aalam,
Mukhtar Ahmad Waza, Muhammad Yousaf Mujahid, Shakeel Ahmad Bakhshi,
Hakim
Abdul Rashid and Muhammad Ashraf Laya. The political detainees are
deprived
of basic human facilities and proper medical care.
Hypocrites we!
Today we are celebrating Eid-ul-Azha in the memory of the supreme
sacrifice
offered by Hazrat Ibrahim (A.S) centuries ago, which reminds us of our
duties
towards almighty Allah and his creations. Even though we boast of being
among
the faithful, yet what we practice is far from what has been enjoined
upon us
by the Holy Prophet Sallalah-oAlihi-Wasalam. Today thousands of our
sisters,
rendered destitute and more the number of children robbed of one or
both
parents are on the crossroads. Only a small number of these women and
children have been lucky in finding some support from a few
non-governmental
organizations or philanthropists. A majority of the victims of the
violent
situation are bereft of any support. It is not that people did not show
any
compassion towards them as millions of rupees were collected in their
name.
But that aid never reached the instead target groups as many a wolves
in
sheep skin usurped it, who made rags to riches stories. Not only have
we
neglected another group of the victims of the situation, classified as
the
rape victims, but have condemned them to a life of ignominy and shame.
VICTIMS OF MASS RAPE "COMPENSATED"!
Even ELEVEN years after the most shameful incident of mass rape at
Kunan,
Poshapora village of the frontier district of Kupwara the victims and
their
next of kin have failed to overcome the trauma inflicted on them. They
continue to face social ostracism even today. The state and central
governments have simply ignored the sad plight of the victims for
obvious
political reasons. And the amalgam of more than twenty two political
and
social organizations, the All Parties Hurriat conference which claims
to
represent the majority's opinion in the state and has been campaigning
for
the political rights of the people, appears satisfied after disbursing
Rupees
one hundred to each affected family. With that relief disbursed to the
victims, the APHC washed its hands off. Then see how cruel the
Kashmiris
living in the neighboring villages of Kunan, Poshapora have been to the
victims! As if the Feb 22-23, 1991 traumatic experience of the victims
and
their next of kin were not enough, the inhabitants from these
neighboring
villages have been crossing all limits by heaping abuses on them. Their
uncharitable remarks and taunts have made the life of the unfortunate
victims
miserable.
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One hundred rupees are about ONE DOLLAR 30 cents.
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2002-02-26 Tue 18:14ct