Srinagar, December 27
For years, the 'half-widows' of Kashmir have suffered silently, forgotten by society and the government. Now, a group of prominent Islamic scholars (or Ulemas) in the Valley have held that women in Kashmir, whose husbands went missing during the over two-decade militancy period, can remarry if their spouses remained untraced for four years.

Many of the half-widows live in pathetic conditions due to lack of clarity on issues of re-marriage and inheritance. Some faced severe problems after they were abandoned by their immediate families with no property share. They have also been kept out of the state government’s compensation scheme because their status remained in limbo.

While many half-widows - civil society and human rights groups put the number at around 1,500 -- see the fatwa as a ray of hope, others who have already been waiting for more than a decade say it has come too late. The scholars said a detailed fatwa in this regard would be issued soon.

“It’s true we bear the pain whether we re-marry or not. The pain of waiting for our husbands will always be there, but at least it will lessen some of our burden to take the decision of remarrying after a four-year wait,” said 35-year-old Taseelma Bano, who lives in north Kashmir's Bandipora district. Bano's husband disappeared without a trace in 2001 and she has no news of him.

For some half-widows, the advisory, however, has thrown open a new dilemma. “I have been suffering since my husband’s disappearance. I have been abandoned by my in-laws and work at different places tolook after my three sons. There is nothing left for us though it is a welcome step. What about our children?” asked Tahira Begum, 35, another half-widow.

For Muneera Begum from north Kahsmir's Pattan town, the advisory means little. “I have already waited 17 years. It does not mean anything to me. I cannot think about re-marrying now as my children are grown up. Why didn’t they think about us 20 years ago,” she said.

The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), which is fighting to locate disappeared person in Kashmir, has welcomed the decision.

Association head Parveena Ahangar said the scholars should also decide on the property rights of such women. “It’s a welcome step. After long, the Ulemas have shown their concern. I have also requested them to also take care of property issues the half-widows face,” she said.

Human rights activist Khurram Parvez welcomed the fatwa.