Women Deserve Right To Live With Dignity

Women are considered as one of the most important blessings and constitute an important part of a society. They are contributing significantly in all round development of a society and are ensuring stability, peace, prosperity, and progress of society due to immense qualities but unfortunately, tall claiming modern men fail to understand their laudable roles in social transformation and all round development of a society. Without women, the human race will not proceed but ends because she has been the progenitor of the human race. Woman is like the engine of a car without which the car is worthless and carries no value. Women have been given equal status and rights on par with men by all religions. A woman acts as the nucleus for the family and is a powerful cornerstone of a society. Woman is not only a mother but also a sister, a daughter, a soul mate, a daughter in law, a mother in law etc. it is the woman only who carries the child in her womb for nine months and bears all odds for her child during the long gestation period. She bears unbearable high del pain at the time of delivery of a child. She feeds, nurses and cares for her child very carefully. She spends sleepless nights for her child and does not let her child suffer. She is the first teacher of her child as the first school of a child is it’s mother’s lap. She feels an intense grief, when her child is hurt even a little. Her love, affection and warmth to her child does not end but lasts until her last breath. Once upon a time, Women had been living in a free and peaceful atmosphere in the Jammu and Kashmir and the men had been giving them due respect and honour irrespective of caste, creed, colour, sex, religion etc. the sweet and pleased words were used by men for women. Children also loved their mothers and showered great respect, love and warmth to their mothers, sisters etc. Moral up gradation of a society was very high and strong and its impact was evident everywhere in the society. With the increasing developments, materialism and adoption of western culture, stray incidents of crimes and violence against women have increased and women have been now living in a society where barbaric acts like murder, rape, sexual harassment, intimidation, physical and mental torture etc. have become the order of the day. Painful screams and sobs of women are being listened to and watched by the majority of people on social media platforms everyday particularly on Facebook. Criminal silence on heart wrenching violence incidents by conscious and civilized citizens provides fertile space and powerful wings to the criminals’ to perpetuate further crimes and violence against women. Such criminals do not recognise what is right and wrong, what is good and bad, and what is mother, sister, and daughter in law etc. Lack of moral education, increased materialism and borrowed culture has poisoned their minds and hearts against women. Helpless women are in deep stress and strain due to fear of feebleminded modern men. Women’s minds are preoccupied with violence fear. Their safety has become a concern for the people in Jammu and Kashmir and a challenge for the government. The crimes and violence committed against women common in Jammu and Kashmir are dowry death, acid attack, murder, marital rape, sexual harassment, physical and mental harm, coercion, and arbitrary deprivation of liberty, intimidation at work place, trafficking, forced prostitution, cybercrimes, stalking, molestation, kidnapping and abduction of women. The heinous crimes and violence against women in today’s modern patriarchal society are very serious and such crimes had not witnessed even in the ancient Mecca when a girl child was buried alive due to ignorance and illiteracy. Soaring heinous and shocking crimes and violence against women cause deep physical and psychological impact on women preventing them to live normal lives, which ultimately impact the health of a society. The recent murder of a mother by her own son in Anantnag for monetary purposes and another woman by her in-laws at Palpora, Srinagar show the height of inhumanity, tyranny and cruelty against women in the Kashmir valley. Both the heinous murders have sent a shock wave among all conscientious people of the Jammu and Kashmir in particular and other states in general. Such shocking murders of women are speaking volumes of declining humanity among human beings in the Kashmir valley.
The humanity among human beings here has declined so much that even rabid wild dogs do not behave in such a manner. Our heads should hang down in shame. The marginalised and oppressed women call the present age in Jammu and Kashmir a worse age than the age in ancient Arab countries when a girl child was buried alive due to ignorance and illiteracy. The modern men who call themselves literate and educated inflict inexplicable crimes upon women. Are so-called modern literate men civilized or uncivilized who do know what is right and wrong and what is good and bad? Are such modern men not moving to an uncivilized period where respect and honour of women do not matter and crimes and violence against women become the order of the day? There are lakhs of unnoticed women in Jammu and Kashmir who are facing violence and they live in severe pain, and agony. They are voiceless and one who raises voice is not getting justice or has to wait for justice till decades. As per the survey, most unbridled criminals committing heinous crimes and violence against women have been addicted to drugs and alcohol. However, due to poor implementation of laws, they are roaming freely and posing a threat to the common innocent people. It is ironic that helpless and poor women of Jammu and Kashmir who have been fighting for their genuine rights for many years, like reservation in jobs, state legislatures and educational institutions , now have shifted their minds to fight for the right to live with dignity as other animals live in nature. Moral education and awareness among all men about the importance of women in all round development of a society and their safeguard of sanctity is the need of the hour. Social awakening is inevitable to douse the flames of social crimes and violence against women. Strengthening of existing women protection laws and enactment of more stringent laws for the safety and security of women will reduce the women violence to more extent. It is the high time to introspect and join hands together to fight against soaring women violence and crimes for the prosperous and peaceful society otherwise the situation will go out of our hands for the disastrous future.
(The author is a teacher at Govt Boys Higher Secondary School Beerwa,The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author but aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
[email protected]