Daily Times

This is in response to a write-up titled, “Kashmir Women and sex trade “written by Salman Nizami (Daily Times, October 25, 2012). The author while writing the article has either ignored the reality of facts or presented false information just to score points or he is completely ignorant of the facts. I will deconstruct his whole article here to present facts to the readers and let readers decide what is right or wrong.

In his column, Nizami starts with a story about some girl named Shabnam, and later in his article, he mentions a few other names in addition to their stories. Who knows whether these stories are true or not as no evidence is produced to confirm their veracity?

Nizami says that insurgency has forced women into the flesh trade. This is truly a very fraudulent presentation of facts. Even those who are strongly against the armed struggle agree to the fact that one of the greatest services of the armed struggle has been that it has kept western culture away from our society; it has forced Kashmiris to adapt to Islamic laws to some extent, be it only in public places. Militancy has not increased but has diminished and wiped out prostitution from Kashmir. Nizami contradicts himself in the latter part of the write up when he quotes a woman saying, “Now I am free to do my work. Under the militants’ threats in Kashmir, I would never have been able to do this.” Nizami seems to be a very prejudiced man who sees everything from a prism that mainstream Indian media wants people to see. I wish he used logic and reasoning and looked at the problem dispassionately.

The author alleges that Kashmiri society pretends that prostitution does not exist. This is in total contradiction to the facts on the ground. When the infamous Srinagar sex scandal was unearthed in 2006, the whole of Kashmir was enraged. How many people come out on the streets of Mumbai or Delhi when rape cases take place, not to say anything about prostitution? India is ranked third when it comes to rape cases and yet, we do not see any taking place in Kashmir. In 2007, the Ministry of Women and Child Development reported the presence of over three million female sex workers in India, whereas Human Rights Watch puts the figure of sex workers in India at around 20 million. The frequency of rape and prostitution is lowest in Kashmir as far as statistics go but Nizami, it seems, only has rhetoric.

Nizami again misleads the readers with false information. He says, “J & K is the only state in the country where prostitution is legal.” I suggest Nizami to read more and then address his readers. The fact of the matter is that the primary law dealing with the status of sex workers is the 1956 law referred to as the Immoral Traffic (Suppression) Act (SITA). According to this law, prostitutes can practice their trade privately but cannot legally solicit or seduce customers in public. The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act or PITA, which Nizami refers to, is a 1986 amendment of the legislation passed in 1956 as a result of the signing by India of the United Nations’ declaration in 1950 in New York on the suppression of trafficking. The laws were intended as a means of limiting and eventually abolishing prostitution in India by gradually criminalising various aspects of sex work, but prostitution until now has not been made illegal. However, the PITA has provisions of punishment if prostitutes seduce or solicit, or if acts of sexual nature take place at a public place, etc.

Moreover, Nizami says that thousands of Kashmiri girls have been forced into the sex trade because of poor economic conditions. Yes, it is true that Kashmir’s economy is in shambles in spite of having resources by which we could have enough not only for ourselves but feed others as well. We are already feeding many in spite of the fact that we are hungry ourselves. It is therefore wrong to allege that poverty has forced thousands into the flesh trade. Kashmiri society is not a believer in Devadasi culture where girls are offered in temples and serve as temple singers, dancers and concubines. The value system taught in Kashmir is very within a certain moral code, and although a few cases may be out there, that does not justify the writer’s generalisation and distortion of facts as has been done in the article.

I leave it to the reader to be the judge and end with a verse from the Holy Quran: “When truth is hurled against falsehood, falsehood perishes, for falsehood by its nature is bound to perish.”

The writer can be reached at qbl.hakim@gmail.com