Now, a 'diktat' to non-Muslim women

By Shujaat Bukhari

SRINAGAR SEPT. 8. The campaign aimed at ``Talibanisation'' of Kashmir took a new turn today, when the militant outfit, Lashkar- e-Jabbar (LeJ), asked non-Muslim women to adopt a new dress code so that they are spared from the ``action'' to be initiated against Muslim women after September 10.

In a statement issued to local newspapers here on Saturday, the outfit spokesman said, ``we appeal to our Hindu sisters to sport a `bindi' on their forehead and Sikh sisters to wear saffron dupattas so that they are identified easily''. This, he said would ensure that they are not subjected to ``our action against the Muslim women who have been asked to observe `purdah' after September 10''. The spokesman reiterated the outfit's stand on asking the Muslim women to observe ``purdah''. The LeJ hit the headlines recently when it spearheaded the ``purdah'' campaign in Kashmir and was involved in some incidents of throwing acid on women without veil. It has asked the transporters to reserve 50 per cent of seats in the buses for women passengers. The campaign has been supported by radical groups like the Dukhtaran-e-Millat and the Jamiat-ul Mujahideen and even the former APHC chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

However, the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hizb-ul Mujahideen condemned the acid attacks on women. Kashmir's chief priest, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, also opposed the ``forceful'' move and said that this was not the way to enforce Islamic way of life. There can be other means of making people aware about the dress code in accordance with the teachings of Islam. The LeJ threat has certainly had an impact and has got an encouraging response. But suspicion is that some cloth merchants may also be behind the campaign.

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