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August 29, 2008

Violence Touches “Each Family Living in Kashmir”

Afsana Rashid

By Afsaana Rashid
Indian-Administered Kashmir

Kashmir’s ongoing armed conflict over the past two decades has had physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral consequences for everyone living in the valley. Although no official figures exist, everyone agrees there has been an increase in the number of both physically challenged and mentally ill in Kashmir over the last 20 years.

Kashmir’s Composite Rehabilitation Centre (CRC) says that an estimated 30-40% of all those seeking their services have been affected by the state’s conflict. And according to studies, most Kashmiris are in need of treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

“Violence has touched each family living in Kashmir one way or another. This leads to serious effects on the well being of people. Relationships get strained, accidents become common after severe stresses and the danger of alcohol and drug abuse are highly likely,” says Sheba, a clinical psychologist.

In 1990, 1,762 patients registered at the Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital in Srinagar - the only one of its kind to serve the valley’s entire population. According to the human rights group, Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), by 2000 the number had surged to 38,696. In 2002, the figure rose to 48,000. Prior to the eruption of conflict in 1989 there were hardly any known cases of PTSD.

Children fall through the cracks

PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are commonly found in the 76 residents (ages 5-12) of an “exclusive” female orphanage located some 10-15 kilometers away from the city. According to a study conducted by the valley’s leading psychiatrist, Dr. Mushtaq A. Margoob, Dr. Akash Y. Khan, Dr. Yasir H. Rather and others, PTSD was the most prevalent psychiatric disorder, diagnosed in 40 percent of the children. MDD followed (25%), along with conversion disorder (12%), panic disorder (9%), Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Disorder (6%) and seizure disorder (6%).

Being female, young, and from a lower socio-economic class, these young girls possess many of the risk factors for PTSD. Margoob’s study found that the loss of a social support network, which chronic conflict is known to cause, rendered many of them homeless. Some were completely orphaned but all had experienced the trauma of losing a loved one.

The study supports the belief held by many childcare professionals that orphanages are bad for children, preventing normal social and psychological development. The harm is more extensive when a child is admitted as an infant and remains for several years.

Institutionalization in early childhood increases the likelihood that children will grow into psychologically impaired and economically unproductive adults, warns the study. Most childcare experts believe that family placement is the most ideal option for orphaned children.

Dr. Bashir Ahmad Dabla, former Sociology Department Head at the University of Kashmir, says the conflict has caused out-of-control behavior and attitude in many children, increasing delinquency and school drop out rates (now up to 40%).

Dr. G. A.Wani, a psychiatrist, says that children in the schools of Baramulla, Tangmarg, Badgam and Rajbagh showed signs of depression and hysteria after being examined. Often these signs are not recognized or acknowledged by parents, mainly because of social stigma attached to psychiatric disorders. Fearing social rejection, many do not seek counseling for their children.

Educationally disturbed, physically ruined, mentally tortured, socially isolated and politically harassed, many of the children fall between society’s cracks.

“Ten years ago, we did not get more than 30 such patients a day. Today, we examine nearly 200 such cases,” says Dr. Wani.

Professor AG Madhosh of the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) points to startling revelations in his research. “Most of the adolescents who were found engaging in drug abuse started with the consumption of cough syrups [and graduated] to the use of opium. A small percentage of the adolescent girls was found involved in prostitution, directly or indirectly,” he reports.


Women At-Risk

Experts are ringing the alarm bell as suicide rates, particularly among women and youth, have gone up.

Dr. Dabla says women are committing suicide more than men, especially in Kashmir’s rural areas. Attributable to the conflict, Dr. Dabla adds “All throughout the world, suicide rates are highest among men and more intense in urban areas, but in the Kashmir valley, the reverse is true. Failure in school, unemployment or family problem are common reasons for suicide but the underlying factor is the conflict.”


Women at a vegetable market in Leh, Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, a region that has seen conflict between Muslims and Buddhists. Photograph by Nir Nussbaum.

Women face the added pressure of abuse and harassment at home. “Both mental and physical problems among women have increased. Neurological and heart related problems that were not so common among women earlier are prevalent now. In males, it has affected their attitude and behavior,” says Dr. Dabla.

According to doctors at the Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital, women constitute 62 percent of patients visiting the hospital, yet there are still hundreds of women who have no idea that counseling is available.

Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders) tries to fill the lacunae by offering free counseling to patients to help resolve personal and emotional problems. MSF stresses that treatment differs from person to person and is a process that may take days, weeks or months depending on the case. MSF finds counseling to be most effective when clients regularly work on the counselor’s suggestions and exercises.

Shahida (name has been changed) knows the value of counseling first hand. “I visited [the MSF] unit in a local hospital after one of my acquaintances suggested I go. I have started feeling better now. They helped me with counseling, which is of course free, and they suggested that I keep myself busy with some activity. I found it useful,” she says.

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About the Author
Afsaana Rashid
is a journalist living in Indian-administered Kashmir and the author of Waiting for Justice: Widows and Half Widows, a book that addresses the plight of many women whose husbands have been subjected to enforced disappearance or custodial killings over the past two decades of Kashmir's conflict. Currently a senior correspondent with Kashmir’s Daily Etalaat, she has also been a correspondent for The Kashmir Times and Kashmir Images. She received her Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University of Kashmir.

In 2005, Afsaana was awarded a fellowship for her work on the impact of conflict on the subsistence livelihoods of marginalized communities in Kashmir by Action Aid India. The following year, she was awarded a Sanjoy Ghose Media fellowship for her work in conflict areas. She also received a UN Population Fund-Laadli Media Award for best reporting in adverse conditions on gender issues in April 2008.

Devoted to covering human rights violations, Afsaana hopes to give a voice to the voiceless.





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