• Home
  • News
  • Longform
  • Life
    • Jeans
    • Madam Zeenat’s Feminist Tarot
  • Health
  • Work
  • Culture
    • Books
    • Art
    • Music
    • Fashion
    • Cinema
    • TV
  • Sports
  • Kranti
  • Vaanthi
  • The FAK
  • About
    • Submissions
  • Home
  • News
  • Longform
  • Life
    • Jeans
    • Madam Zeenat’s Feminist Tarot
  • Health
  • Work
  • Culture
    • Books
    • Art
    • Music
    • Fashion
    • Cinema
    • TV
  • Sports
  • Kranti
  • Vaanthi
  • The FAK
  • About
    • Submissions
HomeCultureWhat Happened When the Kashmir Women’s Colle ...

What Happened When the Kashmir Women’s Collective Went to Mughal Gardens This Weekend

June 5, 2018

By Namrata Shukla

Photo courtesy Kashmir Women’s Collective

If you are not a roza-practising Muslim and have always wondered what it is like, the Internet is there for you so that you don’t annoy your friends.

And if you are keeping roza, the Internet is really there for you.

Okay, one more…

The last one, I promise.

Last Sunday, the Kashmir Women’s Collective (KMC) went offline for some real-life slaking of the thirst for #FriendsWhoGetIt.   They headed to the famous Mughal Gardens in Srinagar. The women, who were still on their Ramadan fast, gathered in the park and spend their time just taking in the sun and enjoying their sense of freedom.

https://www.facebook.com/1517652244930847/photos/a.1529008947128510.1073741828.1517652244930847/2089885034374229/?type=3&theater

Later KWC wrote, “Public spaces in most societies and more so in our society are predominantly occupied by men. Take a stroll, go to a public office, walk around in a garden, go to shops and businesses, all you see are men. Men have the liberty to laugh loudly, to sit the way they want to, to gaze aimlessly and occupy and claim public spaces. Whereas women, even if present in these spaces get a strict code to follow. Things are slowly changing but have you thought, why can’t women lie down to relax in a public park?” Such constant worries follow women almost in every part of the country while men are cracking jokes on how a perfect cup of teas can save their wives from their wrath. Yes, you read that right.

They posted a lovely photo which they described thus: “This small gesture of lying down in garden while we were fasting and tired is a symbol of freedom of women – of their bodies, their lives, their souls from all oppressions and discrimination.” In case you are all like scornful and thinking this is all low-hanging fruit, check out the comments under the post which tell the women to get back to the kitchen and start preparing for iftar. Or others who said that “Demanding western values in muslim state is same as wishing snow in summer… advocating sitting in park with stretched legs, laughing loudly, walking half naked is to some extent unacceptable at this moment of time.”

But whatever yo boring men, the Kashmir Women’s Collective has no time for you. When you are lying in the park with your friends who get you you may even agree with Khusrau.

Agar Firdaus bar rōy-e zamin ast, hamin ast-o hamin ast-o hamin ast.

Tags: kashmir, Kashmir Women's Collective, private spaces, public spaces

Share!
Tweet

Namrata Shukla

About the author

Related Posts

A Decolonial Feminist Statement on #MeToo In Kashmir

The Smug, Grinning Photo of the Unnao Rape Accused Outside Yogi A’s Office is the Vile Portrait of Our Times

I am an Undercover Kashmiri Cigarette Smoker

Afshan Ashiq, Mehbooba Mufti or Shehla Rashid: Who Qualifies as a ‘Good’ Kashmiri Woman?

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Trending

Sorry. No data so far.

Subscribe to our email newsletter!

You May Also Like

  • After Payal Tadvi’s Death Can We Allow Medical Education to Continue to Pretend to be Casteless? May 28, 2019
  • Jokha Alharthi’s Man Booker Win Reminds Us of Oman’s Recent Slave-owning Past May 24, 2019
  • In Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow is Sexy, Sterile and So Burnt By Marvel May 12, 2019
  • Let Us Admit the Sins of Atishi Marlena May 10, 2019
  • 20 Questions for SC Panel that Cleared the CJI of Sexual Harassment Charges May 9, 2019


Online Bachchi, Dil Ki Sachchi

Come on over for feminist journalism.

Politics. Pop Culture. Health. Sex. Law. Books. Work.

We write what we want to read.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Refund Policy
  • About
  • Contact Us

Subscribe to our email newsletter!

Keep up with us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on E-mail

Trending

Sorry. No data so far.

Copyright © 2018 The Ladies Finger
Subscribe to our RSS/Atom feed here