Kashmir Frontier Woman Leads the Way in Breaking Down Patriarchy — Global Issues

by Umar Manzoor Shah (r.s. pora, india)Friday, June 28, 2024Inter Press Service

However the inhabitants of this frontier city known as Bala Chak, situated within the R.S. Pora sector of Jammu and Kashmir, have confronted these ordeals stoically for many years. In 1947, when the subcontinent bought divided and Pakistan was shaped as a separate nation, a lethal line was drawn on this village too. Sialkote (a Pakistani metropolis) is just some meters away from this village.

Within the midst of the seedy-looking dwellings unfold throughout the plush inexperienced paddy fields of Bala Chak is Surjeet Kumari, taking care of her mushroom crop in a dimly lit room situated adjoining to her single-story home.

The lady, in her late 40s, has been dwelling within the village for the previous 25 years. Married to a farmer, Pardeep Kumar, Surjeet is the mom of a son and two daughters.

Farming within the open fields, says Surjeet, has at all times been a harmful affair in her village.

“You have no idea when the shell from the opposite aspect of the fence will hit your fields and your years of arduous work will get destroyed in moments. All you discover later will really feel catastrophic. This occurred to us in 2014 when the hostility reached a crescendo and our fields have been bombed with shells by Pakistan,” Surjeet says.

Guaranteeing her two daughters have been educated was Surjeet’s precedence. She has been the sufferer of patriarchy herself and believes that schooling alone can finish the centuries of patriarchy and the miseries that come together with it.

“I used to be the one daughter of my mother and father and have three elder brothers. They have been despatched to high school. They even bought jobs in authorities however I used to be continuously instructed that I need to study the family chores—for this reason I used to be born.  When my daughters have been born, I resolved to provide them a very good life—a decent one—free from the jaundiced eyes of patriarchy,” Surjeet tells IPS.

However making ends meet and overlaying the bills of her kids’s schooling was a expensive affair.

As if the clouds of political uncertainty hovering over Pardeep’s fields weren’t sufficient, the drastic change within the climate sample wreaked havoc on the fields within the yr 2017. The late arrival of monsoons, coupled with premature rainfall, put the hamlet’s farming group in dire straits.

Each night that yr, Surjeet and her perturbed husband, Pardeep, talked intensely about switching to another mode of livelihood for sustenance.

“I used to be weighing the choice of discovering a job in the primary city. The revenue from agriculture was dwindling however leaving the land unattended is taken into account a sin in our society. I used to be caught between the satan and a deep sea,” Pardeep recollects.

Surjeet was fearful that the household’s dipping revenue might have an effect on the schooling of her two daughters, Survi and Boomi, who that yr have been in grades 10 and 12.  Her son, Shuvam, the eldest of her kids, was finishing his schooling in science.

She realized a few native service company’s coaching program in mushroom cultivation at some point whereas she was discussing her issues with a cousin.

“I used to be instructed that the mushroom crop wants no open fields and isn’t a seasonal one. Being in excessive demand in a market, I can earn a continuing revenue from it. The coaching they stated was freed from cost,” Surjeet stated.

Consultants from Jammu’s Agriculture College educated the ladies. Aside from the coaching, the college additionally equipped the preliminary infrastructure for the ladies to start out their companies, offering fertilizers and seeds.

Surjeet rushed to the workplace of Sevanikatan, the NGO recruiting individuals and enrolled.  For over a month, she was educated in mushroom cultivation and its processing on the centre. She realized the intricate particulars of the crop and the dos and donts of its harvesting.

The subsequent stage, she stated, was to dedicate a small room for establishing the mushroom cultivation unit.

“I reluctantly instructed my husband about my plans. I instructed him that he doesn’t want to fret concerning the revenue and that if all goes effectively, we are able to have a decent-earning month. Thank God that he trusted me and allowed me to assemble a shed within the yard of our home. He even constructed the shed himself,” says Surjeet.

Within the first three months of sowing the mushrooms, she was capable of promote about 150 pockets of them to the wholesale sellers. She earned Rs 18,000 (USD 200) within the first season.

Within the subsequent two and a half months, Surjeet was capable of produce greater than 170 packets and make a revenue of about Rs 24,000 (USD 250).

“I grew to become so effectively versed with the crop that I bought the seeds myself and know each minute element of the enterprise. I now at instances taunt my husband that I earn greater than him and he taunts me again, telling me it was all due to the shed he constructed on the onset,” says Surjeet, grinning.

Even on the outbreak of COVID-19, her revenue didn’t plummet.

“Whereas the villagers have been struggling because of the lockdown, I used to be assured of incomes my revenue from the mushrooms. I even make pickles from them and they’re in excessive demand out there. I used to get direct orders from the wholesalers, even throughout the lockdown.” Surjeet says. “The truth that the lockdown had no influence on my earnings is a blessing from Maa Durga (the Hindu goddess).”

She says by the point lockdown was imposed, she was effectively educated within the making of compost from poultry manure, wheat straw and horse dung.  She stated her husband helped her make the beds and harvest them.

Prior to now two years, the borders in Surjeet Kumari’s village have remained calm, with no main cross-firing incidents being witnessed. The cease-fire pact that the 2 international locations upheld earlier this yr has been bringing constructive change and farmers dwelling within the frontier villages have been yielding its outcomes.

Pardeep says the farming within the village has been happening with out incident for some time and that the household’s revenue is progressively coming again to normalcy.

“It’s all due to my spouse’s arduous work that my kids are finding out  and we now have livestock too. I didn’t know earlier than that my spouse was such a resilient lady that when crises would strike the household, she could be on the forefront to steer the ship to the shore. I’m pleased with her,” Pardeep stated.

The opposite girls within the village have began to step ahead and enroll themselves in varied farming practices on account of Surjeet’s efforts.

Surjeet is proving fairly a information for these bold girls in her small hamlet. “Earlier, the ladies, like in different households within the countryside, have been being thought-about nothing greater than a commodity. She was anticipated to do all family chores and was deemed to be a burden. The self-reliance helps them to interrupt the shackles and are available out triumphant. I educate them the talents and encourage them to work arduous in order that they’ll discover respect within the eyes of their households and husbands. I’m doing my bit,” Surjeet stated.

Madhulika Sharma, a senior official at Sevenikatan, who assisted with the coaching, says the Surjeet has turn out to be a beacon of hope for different girls who wish to get their households out of monetary crises and people who wish to turn out to be self-reliant.

“There was not a lot enthusiasm in her village on the time when she enrolled herself in this system. Many ladies thought she was losing her time however she turned the tables round. She is now a brand new hope for the ladies of her hamlet. She is guiding them, mentoring them and even imparting coaching to them in mushroom cultivation.  All that is very inspiring,” Madhulika stated.

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