Women at forefront of protests

Srinagar:From joining protests to running community kitchens, hundreds of women are out across the Kashmir valley. Raising pro-freedom and anti-India slogans, these women — young and old — march ahead of the men. On the streets here and in other parts of the Valley, ‘stone pelting’ women can now be seen more often than before. The pictures of these women are regularly flashed across newspapers and Facebook. “All these years, Kashmir’s women have suffered silently. We have always protested peacefully. But this time the situation is different. Our children are being killed. That’s why we don’t hesitate from pelting stones,” said Shagufta Parveen, a resident of old Srinagar. “They (government) have left us with no option. When we protest peacefully, they open fire on us,” she added. On Friday last week, the women protesters stopped two Air Force vehicles, asked the security personnel and their family to disembark before the vehicles were set afire. The women, however, ensured that nobody was hurt.