Islamabad: There is hardly any AJK women narrative on the Kashmir conflict and their voices are missing in the peace-building processes in Kashmir.
This was stated by Dr Shaheen Akhtar, senior Research Fellow, at the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS), here on Friday. She was the main speaker at a discussion organised by IRS on ‘The Role of AJK Women in Peace-building in Kashmir’, says a press release.
Dr Shaheen maintained that the women in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, especially ones from the dividing families; and those living along the LoC and in refugee camps were directly affected by the conflict across the Line of Control (LoC) in the Indian held Kashmir. Based of the refugee flows at different times in 1947, 1965-1971 and pso-1990, she shared that around 8 per cent of the total population in AJK is composed of refugee families and nearly half of them happen to be women. She argued that civil society is a vital part of any peace process. According to her, being half of the AJK civil society of AJK, the women’s voices could not ignored in the peace-building efforts.
She asserted there was a strong link between socio-economic, legal and political status of women and their role in peace-building. Therefore, she suggested capacity building of women as peacemakers. “The capacity of women in peace-building can be enhanced through their socio-economic and political empowerment,” said Dr Shaheen. This, she thought could be brought about through their increased representation in the civil service, and economic and political institutions.
She called for political education of women parliamentarians to increase their role in gender-sensitive legislation in the AJK Assembly. Besides suggesting to raise awareness about women’s rights under the existing framework, she recommended increasing women’s understanding about the Kashmir conflict and their role in peace-building. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-105383-AJK-women-narrative-missing-on-Kashmir-conflict
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