Dress Code Ultimatum in Kashmir
...ed with acid. Why? Simply because they were not dressed according to traditional standards. The attacks were written off as a campaign to enforce the Islamic dress code among women (Hussain, 10 Aug 2001). On August 12th, India’s Border Security Force joined the local police in Kashmir to prevent acid attacks on women who do not follow the dress code. Female police officers began patrolling schools and colleges following two acid attacks in the Kashmir Valley. The group that claimed responsibility for the attacks, the Lashkar-e-Jabbar (believed to be a party among Kashmir’s many militant groups) claiming that it was a campaign to enforce the dress code. The militant groups in Kashmir have been taking different stands on the subject; the Hizbul Mujahedeen has condemned the use of force against women and the Lashkar E Toiba claimed that a dress code was on their agenda, but not a priority. (“Police Patrols..” 12 Aug 2001.). Since the attacks, shopkeepers have stated that sales of black silk used to make a long robe or veil have increased. India’s Border Security Force claimed to join the local Police and stop the acid attacks. The men in the force were asked to apprehend elements spraying acid on the women. (“Patrols Against..” 12 Aug 2001). The attacks have spread a panic among women in the region. In Sringar, many women were feeling threatened and obeyed to cover their heads. The acid attacks ignited fear among the women and questioned the freedom of choice. “The veil should be a woman’s choice, not her compulsion” says Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, the head of the political-religious group in Kashmir (“Patrols Against..” 12 Aug 2001). Although there have been both revolts against the government and refusal to wear the veil along side of terror from women who are in fear of the attacks, “Behind the Veil, a Muslim Feminist” by Barry Bearak tells another side. Asiyah Andrabi, a traditionally conservative Muslim and feminist activist, believes that women should wear a veil. She makes her demands for equal rights behind a veil claiming that “women should be heard and not seen.” She has lead crusades of street protests; women hiding paint beneath their burqas and blacking out ads that show under-dressed models or tossing die into the faces of women who defy requests to conceal their faces. Ms. Andrabi, claiming to be a feminist, is a walking contradiction. She has even gone as far as nagging her husband to marry extra wives. She explains that Allah states that a man can marry more than one wife, so long as he is responsible for them. To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty. She finds it a tragedy, though, that Muslim women are so unfamiliar with their own religion. Women are told to look after the children while the men go to the mosques. Ms. Andrabi emphasizes that Islam grants individual responsibility to women, and they too will be asked about her worldly deeds when they are met in the hereafter. (Bearak, 26 Aug 2001). Ms. Andrabi studied the Koran and has encouraged all women to do the same. “’Our society cruelly restricts women, from the words of a prophet, from school, from jobs… But in today’s world women can even be astronauts. So they must be educated… I believe the whole universe should be governed by the laws of Islam, and Allah says all Muslims should be united as one,’” (Bearak, 26 Aug 2001). The article that caught my attention on this matter was “Kashmir Women Given Veil Ultimatum,” (Hussain, 20 Aug 2001). It tells of the little-known militant group, Lashkar-e-Jabbar (who had been the responsible party for the 2 acid attacks on earlier dates), and the warning they issued on August 20th. Their threat was this: any woman found without a full veil (burqa) after September 1st was to be subjected punishment. The details were not given, but the plan was a new strategy to inflict the Islamic dress code among women. In the past, there were several occasions when Muslim militants used force to bring reformations in the society. Girls that wore tight pants were shot in the legs, cable television operators who aired women in tight clothing were attacked. Militants even banned men from wearing tight jeans. On each occasion, the attempts were short-lived (Hussain, 20 Aug 2001). The threat of violence led many women into panic, overloading tailors with requests for veils. In response, the Lashkar-e-Jabbar group extended the deadline to September 10th for women to wear the burqa, to allow tailors more time to meet the demand (“Dress Code Deadline..” 3 Sept 2001). On September 8th, militants (suspected to be Lashkar-e-Taiba) shot and injured three people in a beauty salon. The attack was apparent to be a protest at the violations of the Islamic code of conduct. The day before, the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba threatened to shoot anyone who refused to wear a veil in public. (“Suspected Militants..” 8 Sep 2001). By September 10th, the cover-up deadline, police had increased security around schools and colleges to protect the women who still defied the ultimatum. Tailors in the state had worked many hours overtime to meet the large demand for burqas. The plan of Lashkar-e-Jabbar was working. The plan of Lashkar-e-Jabbar was not only directed towards Kashmiri Muslims, but Sikh women were instructed to wear their heads covered with saffron cloth as well. They also “ordered Hindu women to wear traditional colored dots on their foreheads to distinguish them from Muslim women,” (“Cover-up Deadline..” 10 Sept 2001). By the next day, the few that still resisted the Lashkar-e-Jabbar faced attacks, only this time the militant group opted for paint rather than acid in response to criticism from other rebel groups. The attackers were punished when 2 men threw paint on a woman in Srinagar and immediately faced arrest. Police were deployed across the city and arrested anyone who attacked the women (“Kashmir Women Attacked..” 11 Sept 2001). The attacks seemed to have slowed down, but they still persist. Presently, similar attacks continue in Afghanistan by the Taliban. While the rest of the world is focused on the terrorism fostered by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, the women of Kashmir have been victims of a different kind of terror - a terror that is not as apparent as September 11 but just as cruel and violent. Through their burqas, the women of Kashmir look at their mutilated world, silently watching each day the destruction of their identity. Armed forces are not what have been used to terrorize Kashmir's women. Acid attacks, rape, and bullets in the legs are consequences to the women fail to follow the dress codes issued by represent...