Skip to main content
  • Accessibility
  • Headlines
  • Coronavirus-News
  • Get-Hooked
  • Technology
  • Education
  • Employment
  • Parasports
  • Ask Bhavna
  • NHBrandView
  • Independent Living
  • Lifestyle
  • NH Videos
×
Newz Hook – Changing Attitudes towards Disability Logo
  • Stories
  • Videos
  • Inclusive
  • NH Voice
  • Login
COVID-19 Notification by Government in Accessible Format

Accessibility Tools

Text Size:

Contrast Scheme:

  • C
  • C

Reset

  • Home
  • Get-hooked
  • Photo essay on disabled women captures a rarely seen side of the Kashmir conflict

Photo essay on disabled women captures a rarely seen side of the Kashmir conflict

Get-hooked September 24, 2018
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
0

The violence and unrest in Kashmir has led to a growing number of people suffering disabilities. A recent study by IndiaSpend, the data-driven public interest news website says the number of people left disabled between 2015 to 2017 is as high as 74%.

It’s a facet of the conflict that rarely gets highlighted. And the stories of women left disabled even less so. Which makes journalist Aliya Bashir‘s photo essay a brave and remarkable account.

Through her photo stories for the renowned international news website Global Press Journal, Bashir follows the daily struggles of disabled women living in South Kashmir, a region most affected in the conflict.

In an interview to Global Press Journal, Bashir said she wanted to explore the angle that goes beyond the conflict.

I I believe that women suffer differently than men, and disabled women even more so because they are stigmatized and do not have access to public spaces. Due to this they have limited experiences, and also because they are considered useless. – Aliya Bashir, Journalist

The women featured are ordinary – daughters, wives and mothers – whose lives were forever altered because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Like Ruby Jan, who lost vision in her right eye after she was hit in the face by stray pellets fired during a protest. She lives on the edge everyday because doctors have told her she will eventually go completely blind.

Or 25-year-old Shameema Akhter, left disabled due to severe abdominal and spinal injuries after being hit by a stray bullet fired by Indian soldiers during protests.

As she says in Bashir’s account, she was simply walking home after visiting her parents.

“I had gone to visit my parents in the nearby paddy field,” she says, as tears come to her eyes. “I didn’t know it would be my last time to walk and live a normal life.”

Bashir took enormous personal risks in traveling to South Kashmir for the story. Gunfights here are a part of daily life, but she was determined to go beyond the obvious news stories that get reported from this part of the world.

“The women I met were crying because they were facing difficulties from within their own families. It was crucial to being forth the hopelessness and trauma. ”

That sense of despair and loneliness comes through powerfully in the black and white images. A deliberate choice, in Bashir’s words, to capture the bleakness, “to show readers the vulnerability and highlight what they are going through”.

The stories bring forth the lives of people left marginalized due to gender and disability, a side to the Kashmir conflict that is rarely seen or acknowledged. It has struck a chord with many calling it an “emotional and important piece”.

Watch in Sign Language

0

Support us to make NewzHook Sustainable – Make a Contribution Today

We need your continued support to enable us work towards Changing Attitudes towards Disability. Help us in our attempt to share the voices of people with disabilities that enable them to participate in the society on an equal footing!

Contribute to Newz Hook

NH Videos

Healing pain through art - Dr. Anubha Mahajan, Founder Chronic Pain India

Read more on Newz Hook

  • Accessibility,Independent Living
    Affordable and Independent Mobility for Persons with Disabilities in India – Challenges & Way Forward (series 2 of 3)
  • Accessibility,Independent Living
    Affordable and Independent Mobility for Persons with Disabilities in India – Challenges & Way Forward (series 1 of 3)
  • Technology
    Automotive accessibility product Caruna helps people with disabilities move in & out of cars easily
  • Education,Employment
    A STEPPING STONE TO COVETED CAREERS

Contribue to Newz Hook. Support us to make NewzHook Sustainable – Make a Contribution Today.

Newsletter

 Subscribe to our Newsletter

Want to feature your inspiring story or share an event with the disabled community? Write to:

editor@newzhook.com

Related News

Kush Kanodia carrying the torch at the 2020 London Paralympics

Get-hooked

“UK needs a National Disability Strategy, co-produced with disabled people” – Disability rights champion Kush Kanodia

Accessibility

Affordable and Independent Mobility for Persons with Disabilities in India – Challenges & Way Forward (series 1 of 3)

Image of a Caruna swivel seat on the passenger seat of a car

Technology

Automotive accessibility product Caruna helps people with disabilities move in & out of cars easily

Accessibility

Affordable and Independent Mobility for Persons with Disabilities in India – Challenges & Way Forward (series 2 of 3)

Newz Hook - Accessible News

Download App Now!

Videos

View More

Get-hooked

Seminar on inclusion and accessibility for the deaf community draws participants from many cities

Get-hooked

Understanding Autism and Head banging

Get-hooked

#ChampionswithCP - Every barrier is a reason to strive harder for Dr Riitesh Sinha, innovator with cerebral palsy

Get-hooked

Understanding EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique

Newz Hook Logo

About Newz Hook

Newz Hook is a media site focusing on Changing Attitudes towards Disability globally. We highlight stories that share insights into the lives of people with disabilities, offer solutions and create collaborations. Our focus is to have Inclusion Champions from across the globe who share knowledge about disability, inclusion & accessibility.

Lets come together to change attitudes towards disability!

Newz Hook is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Follow us on:

Related Links

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Partner with Newz Hook
  • Embed Newz Hook Timeline
  • Affiliate disclosure
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Contribute to Newz Hook

Our Awards

Zero Project Award Winner 2018
Back To Top
© 2019 All Right Reserved. Inclusive News India Private Limited.

Ask Bhavna

All fields are mandatory unless specified as optional.