Resistance is our inheritance
“In the dark of the night –
The snare was laid out
Prisoned in our own homes,
At gunpoint, lips sealed
Our hearts silently crying
And yet there is no empathy
From those who call us their own,
Rather, as a Kashmiri woman
I am objectified and abused,
Some twit wants to marry me,
And buy my land,
Another wants to “get” me as his daughter-in-law,
Anybody with a voice is shut, by any means
Yet the mantra continues as an “internal matter”,
I wonder what the Nazi’s said?
The silence of the Valley echoes within the mighty Himalayas,
Someday you will hear it loud and clear.
Zahida War is an aspiring trauma psychologist currently pursuing a masters in War and Psychiatry at King’s College London. She finds writing about her experiences of growing up in Kashmir as a personal healing process.