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Girls Reduced to Being Repositories of Communal and Religious Identities in Kashmir
Khan, Nyla Ali
http://www.counterpunch.org/2018/04/23/girls-reduced-to-being-repositories-of-communal-and-religious-identities-in-kashmir/Date Written: 2018-04-23 Publisher: Counterpunch Year Published: 2018 Resource Type: Article Cx Number: CX22226 The rape and ruthless murder of an eight-year old girl in Jammu province underscores the brutal gender violence that is a consistent feature of the political thuggery that grips the subcontinent. Abstract: -- Excerpt: The brutalization and ruthless murder of eight-year old Asifa in Kathua district of Jammu province was the snuffing out of a young life who might have gone on to do wonderful things. Little Asifa belonged to the nomadic Bakharwal Muslim community of Jammu, which has, historically, been socioeconomically marginalized. The innocent child was kidnapped, held in captivity, and raped at the behest of a 60-year old Hindu resident of Kathua district who feared that growing Bakharwal settlements in the area would change the demographics of that part of the state, reducing the Hindu population to a miniscule minority. So what better way to instill fear in a people and drive them off the land? Subject Headings |