25/09/2014
Paper presented by President AJKWfPO at EU Kashmir Week Seminar and Exhibition held at the EU Parliament Brussels on 13th September 2014.
‘The Future of the Kashmir conflict and the Role of the European Parliament in Generating Progress Towards Self-Determination’.
Absence of Women in Peace Building.
Mrs. Nayyar Malik President AJ&K Women for Peace Organization
I am privileged to participate in such an august gathering and extend gratitude to Sajjad Karim MEP and Syed Ali Raza of EU Kashmir Council, the International Council for Human Development (ICHD) and World Kashmir Diaspora Alliance (WKDA) and congratulate them on organizing the Kashmir EU Week 2014. I represent a Kashmiri indigenous nonprofit, non-government group of women who have been greatly inspired by the resilience and fortitude of the Kashmiri woman in IOK, who despite living through a live conflict have contributed towards peace and security as a stabilizing force in the societies in which they lives. AJKWfPO strive to empower and assert the Kashmiri women's voice in the peace process, alleviate the suffering of the women in IOK and rehabilitate and assist earthquake victims PAK. Women are the worst victims, when social order and rule of law breaks down. In times of conflict women are subjected to gender based violence, as an instrument of war and suffer deep psycho-social trauma. When men go missing or are killed, the women are left to head the households to earn for remaining family members. When resources are diverted to defense, health structures breakdown and women are the worst suffers. In such extreme scenario women are found in the forefront, with a strong commitment to the cessation of violence and maintenance of long term sustainable peace. And yet women are ignored or marginalized in the formal peace process. United Nations and European Commission resolutions forcefully criticize such marginalization and call for gender equality and advocate women involvement in all policies relating to conflict and peace.
Normal life and prospects for economic developments are seriously affected across our region. In IOK horrifying images are reported of immeasurable lives lost, homes and communities erased, children orphaned, women widowed/half-widowed, systematic r**e of women and young girls and discovery of countless mass graves. In PAK people suffer the wider effect of Kashmir conflict; the psycological trauma through life time of divided existence, having to listen to the stories and agony of human right atrocities in IOK, forced migration from along the LoC due to ceasefire line violations and lack of development and economic instability with security threats of a conflict zone. This protracted conflict between two nuclear states, is a point of grave concern not only for people living in Kashmir, Pakistan and Indian, but for the wider international community.
Three wars and several rounds of talks between India and Pakistan over Jammu & Kashmir, have not brought about any tangible solution. Some breakthrough is seen in the confident building measures CBMs of weekly bus service and some trade facilities across the LoC albeit both having cumbersome formalities and procedures that bar the effective nature for which they were created. People to people interaction is a core component for decreasing the trust deficit and securing peace, security and economic stability in this very volatile region of the world. Under an EU funded project, AJKWfP organized the first ever Cross LoC Women's Dialogue to be held on the soil of Muzaffarabad in November in 2012. A group of more than 50 women, from both sides of the divide, from Pakistan and India participated in the conference. The women social activist from IOK, including Hindus, Sikhs, Christian and Muslim, made history as they walked across the LoC for the first time as state subjects. In our efforts to continue the dialogue process we are networking with women organisations in IOK. We believe women's narrative is of fundamental importance in addressing common weaknesses in existing peace building strategies.
European Commission resolutions insists that gender perspectives are relevant to any negotiation of peace agreements, planning of refugee camps, peacekeeping operations and reconstruction efforts in war-torn societies. Yet there is a long way to go before gender perspectives are made an integral part of the peace building processes in Kashmir. There is need to identify with the concerns of the Kashmiri women, fully involve and support the informal networks and groups that exist and consult them more fully in the formal peace processes.
For many years women's roles in violent conflict remained invisible throughout the world. Accounts of war tended to cast men as the `doers’ and women as passive, innocent, victims. But through time reports on experiences of different women, the ways in which women live through violence - community leaders, social organizers, workers, farmers, traders and welfare workers – has become clearer. Women have demonstrated resilience in overcoming despair and building peace.
Words alone cannot ensure Kashmiri women a seat at the peace table. Practical steps need to be taken to translate words into actions enhancing their political and economic participation. Although Kashmiri women may have by necessity gain certain skills during the conflict, in reality, the situation is an overwhelming psychological and physical burden and not necessarily empowering in it-self. Women and girls are systematically marginalized from educational opportunities and equal access to the rule of law. Therefore, addressing women and girls’ education is the single most productive investment in revitalizing agriculture, restoring health systems and improving other social indicators to prevent conflict or to restore societies after conflict.
Both women and men are stakeholders in conflict. The argument is not that women’s innocence is universal or that women are inherently more peaceful or men inherently worrier. Conflict often causes fluidity in gender roles with women obtaining mobility, time and access to resources that they do not ordinarily have. Women who utilize this window of opportunity need tremendous
support to advance the skills they have developed during conflict. Unfortunately, illiteracy and poverty make it virtually impossible for the experiences of women to be heard by the international community. Other obstacles to women’s organization and visibility include resistance from husbands, fathers and communities. Yet as women we continue to do incredible and amazing things. We are sharing information and analysis. We are collecting signatures for petitions. We are organizing demonstrations and campaigns. We are reaching out over borders and we are forming networks. Often we are able to anticipate the early signs of danger and we are lobbying for peace.
At the end I would like to commend the EU Parliment for its active role and contribution in bridging the divide. Across the international community it is the EU who is seen as a trusted neutral and unbiased supporter of the Kashmiri people's plight and right to self-determination. The CBMs initiated under EU funded projects in Kashmir have had a significant impact in addressing the human dimension of the dispute and empowering the people in Kashmir to voice their concerns.
Thank you.
