Women worst victims of Kashmir conflict: Naseem Shafaie

Jaipur, January 20

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Kashmir’s women have been the “worst victims” of the conflict in the Valley, many of whom, in the absence of any knowledge of their husbands’ whereabouts, have come to be known as ‘half-widows’, award-winning Kashmiri poet Naseem Shafaie has said.

Shafaie, the first Kashmiri woman to win the Sahitya Akademi award, said the youth of the Valley could only provide a solution to what has so far been a “wayward and directionless” movement on a “very complex problem”.

She said many stakeholders and important people in the corridors of power had used the conflict to draw mileage out of it.

Dubbed as a feminist crusader, Shafaie has penned two poetry books “Derche Machrith” (Open Windows) and “Na Thsay Na Aks” (Neither Shadow nor Reflection). The latter, a collection of 44 poems and 36 ghazals, won her the 2011 Sahitya Akademi Award for Kashmiri.

Shafaie’s poetry has been translated into English, Urdu, Kannada, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu. Her poetry is replete with feminist and universal themes and she writes on a wide range of topics, including the turmoil in Kashmir from a woman’s perspective.

“I am an abiding optimist. We have lost a great deal, yet all is not lost. Just a small initiative is needed to get us back to where we were.... Our people were peace lovers, our dreams and fears were innocent,” she said lamenting the loss of the old pluralistic and syncretic culture of Kashmir. “Something has to be done to make the Valley green again,” said Shafaie at the ongoing Jaipur Literature Festival.

She urged people to prefer reading literature over history, saying the latter has multiple versions and “distorts” as well as “misleads” on occasions. Commenting on whether conflicting historical narratives about the state have resulted in differences in opinion she said, “Literature enlightens where history misleads. It can be a source of hope in the times of despair.” — PTI