Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Saturday said that Women’s political participation has emerged as a key element of democracy globally, asking women to keep at pace with the emerging progressive trends.
This was stated by Provincial President, Kashmir Nasir Aslam Wani, while addressing a meeting of party women’s wing block functionaries of Amira Kadal here at the party headquarters Nawa e Subha, Srinagar.
Among others Party’s state women’s wing President Shameema Firdous, and provincial President, women’s wing, Kashmir Er. Sabiya Qadri also addressed the gathering.
Exhorting the women functionaries, Nasir said that women’s participation in politics is largely shaped by cultural and societal barriers in the form of discrimination and illiteracy. “It was our party that sought to change the roles of women and girls from bonded mortal beings to empowered, confident, educated and self-reliant individuals. The network of women’s colleges and vocational institutes across Jammu and Kashmir are the landmarks of NC’s commitment towards empowering women and d girls,” he said.
He impressed upon the functionaries to take the party’s progressive and inclusive message to every doorstep and strengthen the party base in the block.
Shameema Firdous while addressing the gathering said that it was Sher-e-Kashmir who brought women of Jammu and Kashmir into the political discourse. “It was NC that took upon itself to change the fate of women of J&K under its revolutionary Naya Kashmir manifesto. In the later decades also, whenever NC was in power, it left no stone unturned to transform its vision of empowering women into reality. It was Madre Meharban, who used education as a fundamental tool to bring about change in the attitude of women on the line of the vision enshrined in the Naya Kashmir document,” she said.
She also took strong exception to the housing of security personnel in community halls in Srinagar saying that such halls and complexes afforded room to move in for people in crowded city neighbourhoods for social functions at a nominal rental. Having security forces at such places, she maintained, will add to the people’s miseries.
Lodging security forces in such community centers, she said, will have a chilling effect on socio-cultural and community level activities in Srinagar. “It will also subject the middle and lower-middle class to the rapacious private players, who charge exorbitantly for renting spaces for such activities,” she rued and demanded the LG administration to refrain from using public places for such activities as it will hamper daily lives.
