|
Indian-Held Kashmir Bans the Word "Widow"
SRINAGAR, July 27 (News Agencies) - The state government of Indian-occupied Kashmir has banned the use of the word "widow" in referring to a woman who has lost her husband, in all official documents and records.
According to a Press Trust of India report, the government of Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah took the decision following directives of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The Commission had asked all government offices, including revenue agencies, to use "wife of late," "zauja marhum [in Urdu]" or "dharampatni swargiya,[in Hindi] " in place of "widow" in official records. The "wife of late", or its translation in other languages, will be followed by the name of the husband.
The Commission had said that words like "widow", "vidvah", "bevah" or the vulgar "randi", which are currently being used in records of the revenue department, school, employment and other official documents, must be declared "dead words".
NHRC claims the use of the word "widow" has a negative psychological impact on women who have lost their husbands.
"Women will no more be stigmatized by the widow tag," a Kashmiri government official was quoted as saying.
The NHRC directive will be implemented on all official records in all languages used in Kashmir, according to PTI. However, it is not known if and when other Indian state governments will also amend their records.
This issue of "appropriate terminology" is extremely sensitive in Kashmir, the only Muslim majority state in India, where several thousand women have been widowed after Muslims started a freedom struggle there 12 years ago.
According to Indian government official estimates, 36,000 people have died. But according to pro-self-determination sources, the toll is as high as 70,000.
|
