Shaheena is 42, and unmarried. Although she was engaged in 1994, her would-be in-laws broke up the engagement within a month after they learnt that Shaheena’s brother was a militant. Her family kept on looking for a match for her but had to face disappointment everywhere for the same reason.
“They tried to find excuses to get rid of us. They gave us a month’s time to make preparations for the marriage. We couldn’t get ready in that short period. Finally they broke up the engagement,” says Shaheena. In the same month Shaheena’s brother was arrested.
Her mother, who could not bear both these incidents, died of a shock.
A decade ago, nobody objected marrying a militant’s or ex-militant’s sister. But now, it is common for families not to marry off their sons in a family where a brother or any other member has been a militant. The reasons are many. The main reason is that the families don’t want to be the targets intimidation or raids by the army or police.
It is a painful reality for girls who are related to militants or those having some association with militancy.
“There was a time when being the sister of a militant used to be an matter of pride but now we are being treated in an entirely different way. I feel really angry about those people who reject us for beingrelated to militants.Our brothers took up arms and joined the freedom movement for the sake of these people only,” says Sahiba. more
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