Let us be humane
At a time when the entire government machinery is focused on fighting the deadly Covid-19, a group of women ignore the threats the pandemic poses and come forward to narrate their woes.
The motley crowd of few women protestors comprises of those women who have come from across the border and have been married to Kashmiri men, but now see themselves caught between the devil and the deep sea.
It was in 2010 that the then Omar Abdullah led government offered a rehablitation scheme for all those who had crossed over to Pakistan administered Kashmir (PaK) for arms training to come back to their native place and lead normal lives.
At least 450 Kashmiri men, who had crossed the Line of Control for arms training from time to time since 1990, returned to the Valley under the rehabilitation policy. These men who had gone to PaK had got married and most of them had families who too migrated to Kashmir.
Under the rehabilitation policy announced by the then government in 2010, the returnees were promised a monthly stipend or honorarium besides skill development training to the youth who returned after deciding to shun violence as a means and live normal lives.
It has been almost a decade now since they landed in Kashmir under the rehabilitation policy. However, the reality has been quite different for them then what was promised. The children of these people were denied admissions in schools for being born in PaK and the fathers too faced an uphill task as no one was willing to hire them for work.
The promises made to the returnees and their families fell apart as no official documents and ration cards were provided to them so that their life could be made easier. The harassment by security agencies including the police also took their toll as most of the returnees had to face a tough ordeal while dealing with the security establishment.
The situation as of now is very chaotic for the families of these men who have returned back. The situation is pitiful for those women who have for one or the other reason been divorced by their husbands here. These women are living a life of misery with no one coming forward to offer a helping hand.
A rough survey suggests that more than 50 such women are living in despair as they have been divorced by their husbands owing to various issues and these women, some of them with their children, are living a desperate life.
These women have been demanding to be provided with travel documents so that they can travel back to their parents and try to lead their lives in peace. However, the government has so far been ignorant to the demands of these women as the policy that was announced to get them back to their native land has been a miserable failure.
Since the issue concerns dozens of such women, their children and even their husbands-the government should take up the issue on humanitarian basis and address their grievances. Keeping the issue lingering on serves no purpose at all.
