Terribly Victimised Gender of Kashmir Conflict: A Women-Centric Perspective of Nayeema Mahjoor’s lost In Terror (Published)
Jammu and Kashmir has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. This picturesque valley, which has since been under the domain of India, has seen many uprisings. The movement for freedom ‘Azadi’ has left a deep imprint upon the minds of the inhabitants, but mostly it is the women of Kashmir who have been the worst hit victims. There have been many books depicting the Kashmir issue from a man’s perspective but hardly any from the women’s point of view depicting their suffering and misery. Logically only a woman can better express the traumas of women. Fortunately this need was fulfilled by Nayeema Mahjoor in the form of her novel Lost in Terror, perhaps the first novel, which shows the another side of the conflict ‘women side’ by realistically narrating the sufferings which a Kashmiri woman goes through. The present paper attempts to make an assessment of the miseries and problems Kashmiri conflict –torn women have to face. It will also deliberate on how Nayeema has become the representative voice of the women community, most importantly so because she herself has been a victim like thousands of others, which strongly authenticates her narration as first hand and valid.
Keywords: Conflict, Freedom, Jammu, Kashmir, Misery, Victims, Women