One agrees to the concern that we have forgotten about the women of Kashmir and the problems they have faced as a result of Indian repression. Unfortunately, in the war-trodden region, women are now experiencing extra hardships due to the stress and after-effects of war and infertility as well as stress due to cultural pressure. A recent study conducted by the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science, based in Srinagar, finds that of 112 young and adolescent women who suffered from polycystic ovarian syndrome. The state of Jammu and Kashmir must provide these women necessary psychological and medical support, such as counselling and fertility treatments.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a condition that can cause infertility along with a host of other reproductive symptoms – roughly 65 to 70 percent of the Kashmiri women suffered from psychiatric illnesses such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Perhaps, it says, the major source of psychological trauma is caused by a woman’s own family. Whether it is pressure from in-laws or a husband for not being able to bear a child or from the girl’s own parents due to their fear of the stigma surrounding childlessness, the aspect of family-induced stress is truly shameful.
As if medical stressors are not enough, we spin unnecessary cultural stressors on our women. In a vicious cycle, this stress only contributes to the women’s overall health. These issues are very real and certainly have physiological effects – they are not merely ‘in one’s head’ as some ignorant people in our country might believe. Perhaps what is needed is a broader dialogue on mental health as Kashmiri men, women and children continue to face daily trauma in the face of several hundred thousand Indian soldiers deployed in the Valley.
Besides, shouldn’t this warrant us to draw attention to the sufferings of women and children of the areas where the US drones frequently wreak havoc? Killings and injuries to hundreds aside, isn’t it causing psychological disorders and other issues related to mental health among the women in areas where military deployment has prolonged only because the war against terror has not been taken as a politico-security issue, or replaced with effective civil administration and policing? Our backup plans are lacking on both government and nation’s level, the provision of necessary health, aid and counseling to families of our shuhada or to the injured, the prosecution system and even the legislation process.
MARYA MUFTY
Lahore