New Voices of the Valley

With changing times and the burgeoning media landscape, women journalists in Kashmir are finally coming into their own. The Hoot's Afsana Rashid gives an insider’s view to the challenges women reporters in the valley have to contend with.

In her article, Rashid wrote that Kashmiri society is yet to recognise journalism as a profession for women.

"Societal make-up coupled with male chauvinism is partly responsible for this thinking. But the turbulent times that have been prevailing over the valley for the last two decades have largely contributed to their scarcity in the ranks of the media. There haven't been many women journalists since militancy was at its peak in the area even though people like Asha Kosha stood out and left their mark."

Continued Rashid: "Bashir Manzar, Editor, Kashmir Images says that there was not a single woman journalist in Kashmir till 1996 though some women writers and columnists were there. Kashmir Images has had women as part of its staff since that year and is the only newspaper in the state to recruit women in the technical staff as well."

 Citing the issue of security he added, "Media started growing in Kashmir after 1990s. Prior to that there were couple of newspapers and those were very traditional. Working of women would not have been thought of there. In 1993, the first English daily hit the stands, others followed. By 1996 a strong media started emerging in Kashmir. This was when women started looking towards media as a profession. Before militancy there was no Muslim female journalist either."

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