She Speaks, Therefore She Is: Breaking the Silence in Kashmir

If I ever decide to speak against the injustices happening to women, that does not mean I have a point to prove.

- SHAFIYA SHOWKAT

There is nothing to prove when all you state are facts. It just means that as a woman and as a human, some things are intolerable and completely unacceptable. When you read a few lines in school or college, you just feel a sort of compulsion to observe the society you are living in and see how different people are treated differently. It actually brings the famous line of George Orwell to mind: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." In our societies, all people are somehow equal, but when it comes to women, they are barely considered a valuable species.

Women have been constantly marginalized and taken for granted. Their opinions are never valued, nor are their views taken into consideration. Simone de Beauvoir, in her most famous book The Second Sex, said, “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” This is important when we look at how women and their roles in society are determined by the age-old norms of that society. Her consent isn’t entertained, her dreams are deemed irrelevant, and the course of her life is already decided for her. It’s true that society plays an important role in shaping individuals. Again, we find the significance of this statement when we look at the condition of women in the Kashmiri context.

Kashmir, even though it’s considered heaven on earth, has long been a hell for women. People here were always surrounded by conflict and turmoil that women’s rights were pushed to the back seat. They were treated as nothing, they weren't given the liberty to express themselves, and these injustices had taken such deep roots that even women internalized the inferiority with which they were treated. These inequalities were not even considered inequalities but natural laws. If a woman dared to break the norms and tried to make her way in the world, she was judged harshly, her accomplishments were seen as a rebellion.