From March, Women's Features Service (WFS) in association with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - whose humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence and to provide them with assistance - will present a new series of features on Women in Conflict Zones. The series will mark the 60th anniversary of the First Geneva Convention and the 100th anniversary of Women's Day. The security of women is seriously affected in conflict zones, and they are often left alone to face intimidation as well as attacks on themselves and their families. The features in this series will focus on women who have personally experienced violence and have emerged as symbols of peace, justice and change in areas of conflict. It will highlight the experiences, traumas and coping strategies of those trapped in a spiral of violence and assess the impact of violence on women's lives.

India
Makeshift Lives Under Conflict's Shadow
By Ratna Bharali Talukdar

Marjina Khatun, 25, is exhausted. She has just returned to her 10-foot square thatched shack with its bamboo walls after a 14-hour shift at a slab casting construction site. Her youngest child lies asleep on the floor, malnourished and naked. For the last 16 years home for Marjina - and the thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslim families displaced by the violent clashes that ensued after the Assam Bodo tribe-led pro-statehood movement - is an abysmal makeshift relief camp where one incidence of chicken pox can quickly become an epidemic; and where children have been deprived of education for around a decade.

* 'We get Rs 100 per day for such construction jobs and some extra money for overtime duty. However, I only get a job for 10 to 12 days a month.'

India
Farming Amidst Landmines: Amputated Lives
By Tripti Nath

The rural folk of Fazilka in Punjab have often had to pay a price for living in perilous proximity along the Indo-Pakistan border. Many have lost their lives to land mines laid in hundreds of villages along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Punjab during 'Operation Parakram', following the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001. Villagers lucky enough to have survived the mines - said to have been laid in Punjab with a density of 1,000 mines per square kilometre - narrate the pain of disability, and the pressing need for prosthetic aids and government support.

* The one time compensation given by the government to next of kin of civilian victims of landmine casualties or to those who suffered disability is not enough.

India
A House For Nasreen, Riot-affected
By Shobha S.V.

It was the Bombay riots that first forced Nasreen, 42, out of the comfort zone. Today she has lost her home several times over - to riots, a gutting slum fire, and to state demolition. Refusing to be a victim all her life Nasreen and a group of slum dwellers have hired an architect and submitted a housing project proposal to the state government. The proposal suggests building apartments on a 14-acre plot with a house measuring 269 square feet for every family.

* The government does not want 'jhopda' (slum dwelling). Why don't they give us the authority to build homes? ...All the government has to do is to give us the land... after all we all have built the houses in this city."

India
Anybody Remembers Behmai's Tears?
By Yogesh Vajpeyi

Munni Devi was only 13 when she was married to Lal Singh, 14, of Behmai village, Uttar Pradesh. She was living in her parental home waiting to join her young husband, when news came in of her husband's killing in the infamous Behmai massacre, in which Phoolan Devi and her gang of dacoits gunned down 20 men. That was 28 years ago. The helplessness that Munni Devi felt that year has not faded with time and abject poverty has only made life more unbearable. Unfortunately, despite political leaders promising the widows of Behmai a pension, none of them is getting a paisa from the government today.

* "I have nowhere to go. I have no son who can support me. I receive no pension from the government. I am at the mercy of God and my in-laws."

India
In Assam, Some Women Are Writing Wrongs
By Uddipana Goswami

Insurgent violence and ethnic conflicts have been raging for decades in Assam. Demands by separatist groups for a sovereign state for the Bodos - the largest indigenous community in Assam - is an ongoing conflict that has caused widespread unrest. Bodo women have been active participants in the struggle for political self-determination and ethnic assertion, and a few women writers have chosen to use their pen to describe the realities that face their community.

* "I am not a consciously political writer. My writing is based on my impulses."

India
Kavita Karkare's Courage Quotient
By Geeta Seshu

The digital photo frame unit sits oddly on a mantelpiece stacked with medals and citations, including an Ashok Chakra posthumously awarded to Hemant Karkare in the wake of the November 26, 2008 attacks in Mumbai. Lovingly loaded by his daughter with scores of photographs of the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief in better times and set to his favourite Hindi film songs, the photo display vainly tries to drown out what became one of the many defining images of that Wednesday night - that of the ATS chief donning a bullet-proof jacket and helmet only to be shot dead later. Yet, barely a month after the death of her husband, Kavita Karkare resumed duty as a lecturer in Educational Sociology in a Mumbai-based B.Ed college, so as to finish the portion for the year and prepare the students for their forthcoming examinations.

* "My children are my biggest support system and if they feel anger, they can only express it to me. Yes, we do feel lonely and this loss is going to remain a vacuum in our lives."

India
Lalgarh: Deprived of A Peace Of Life
By Soma Mitra

Once a decrepit block of West Bengal, Lalgarh in West Midnapore district is today a battlefield. Over the last few months hundreds of women have taken to the streets shouting slogans as they marched in processions of protest. Why has this happened? Why have ordinary women found it necessary to pick up arms and shout slogans? At one level, Lalgarh is a turf war between the CPI (M), the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities and the insurgent Maoists. At another, it is also about troubled women fighting for survival and the simple necessities of life, such as potable water and schools.

* 'We are deprived of pure drinking water, we are deprived of proper schools and, frankly speaking, the government has done nothing for us. We have no other way but to revolt against the government'

India
Peace Frames: A Filmmaker's Vision For Sri Lanka
By Papri Sri Raman

Peace is the dividend Harvard-trained filmmaker Poongkothai Chandrahasan, 28, seeks after 25 years of conflict between the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government in her homeland that recently came to a gory end. A refugee living in Tamil Nadu since the age of three, Poongkothai was in north Lanka all through the period of negotiated peace from 2003-2006, filming her people's misery through a conflict that has uprooted 600,000 people, disrupted livelihoods, and created a surreal, pockmarked landscape. Hailing from an illustrious family of lawyers and peace activists, Poongkothai is a woman with a vision for her war-torn nation.

* 'Peace has to be looked at holistically. While the north and east have been badly affected, the Sinhalese part of the country has also suffered... As a peace activist, my priority would be to build a common Sri Lankan identity.'

India
Lalgarh's Women Yearn For Lasting Peace
By Ajitha Menon

Mangala Mal and Savitri Murmu are on two sides of the ongoing conflict between the administration and the indigenous adivasi (tribal) population supported by the Maoists in Lalgarh, in West Midnapore district of West Bengal. They are divided by age as well as by ideology, but the consequences for both are eerily similar. Both have been abused and tortured, both have lost their homes and both are worried about the future of their children. Today, the two women yearn for just one thing - peace. But as the security forces advance from village-to-village taking control of the worst Maoist areas like Pingbani, Tentultala, Katapahari and Boropelia, the hardships for women in the region are only increasing.

* 'The markets are closed. Men have no work. Paddy fields are being patrolled by security forces. The sowing season is here but we have been unable to access the fields. Children are missing school.'

India
Chhattisgarh's Children, Nobody's Children
By Manipadma Jena

The state of Chhattisgarh has been the worst affected by Naxalite violence. According to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs figures (2004-2008), 1,483 people have been killed, of which 828 were civilians. Since 2005, Dantewada, in particular, has been locked in a civil war-like situation, with the security forces; the insurgents; and an armed vigilante anti-insurgency mass movement known as the Salwa Judum mounting attacks on one another and their supporters. Caught in the raging crossfire are thousands of children, who have been dislocated in every way. They have lost their homes, schooling, food security, healthcare and, in many cases, even their parents. They have also been used by the Salwa Judum and Naxalites as 'soldiers' and 'weapons' in the 'war'.

* 'Today, a whole generation is losing their futures to an ideological fight that is feeding on the very people on whose behalf it began.'

India
Dousing Tribal Flare-ups In Assam's Hills
By Ratna Bharali Talukdar

Even as the Karbi Ningso Chingthur Asong (KNCA), the apex women body of the Karbi tribe in Assam, continues to work towards its goal of social and political upliftment of Karbi women, the organisation that was set up in 1986 has also taken up peace-building measures in a region afflicted by a decade-long ethnic conflict. Through its 96 branches, the KNCA mobilises women to jointly raise a voice for an end to all kinds of violence; and also helps to provide justice to women victims of insurgency.

* "The indiscriminate killing by militant outfits, the ethnic clashes, and the atrocities of security agencies on ordinary people during search operations, have made our lives vulnerable... Women and children are the worst sufferers."

India
Battleground Nandigram Survives On Hope
By Aditi Bhaduri

In March 2007, and then again that November, the streets of Kolkata were overflowing with people expressing their outrage over the political violence unleashed on the hapless inhabitants of Nandigram. As the ruling CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress-backed Bhoomi Ucched Pratirodh Committee battled over the conversion of agricultural land into a special economic zone, it was the women who largely bore the brunt of the struggle against displacement. Today, two years on, the Matangani Women's Committee, which was formed by the women of Nandigram with the help of some Kolkata-based activists, is helping women who had been caught in the crossfire, to reclaim their lost dignity and livelihoods.

* 'What would happen to us? We worked on the land too. If it had been taken away and monetary compensation given instead, it would have gone to the men. Even the jobs would have been for the men.'

India
Kargil Echoes In The Kangra
By Nirupama Dutt

A full decade after a war that claimed their young sons and husbands, grief and the memory of loss remains very much a part of the lives of mothers and wives in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, a region where the army as a career option dates back to pre-Mughal times. Glorifying patriotism and celebrating the bravery of the young soldiers who become cannon fodder is a way of coping with loss. But these deaths actually are a strong appeal against war and conflict.

* "Life has given me a cruel shock. I now live only for this child."

India
Don't Stereotype Us, Say Azamgarh's Mothers
By Kulsum Mustafa

The 'purdahnashi' (veiled) women of Sanjarpur, the Azamgarh village with the terror tag attached to it, no longer laugh, dress up, or celebrate festivals with gusto. With two village boys slain and two arrested over Delhi's Batala House police encounter last September, and with several youth from the area on the police's 'wanted' list, they have voluntarily given up on these simple joys. But while the men folk have stepped back, intimidated as they are by the security forces, the local women have emerged as the emotional bedrock of these families, with some even taking upon themselves the responsibility of learning the law so that they are able to stand up to oppression and defamation.

* "By ensuring that the food is cooked, the house is cleaned and clothes are washed, we do try to pretend that everything is fine. But we know this is not enough. We need legal know-how."

India
In Gujarat, Classrooms For Peace
By Deepti Priya Mehrotra

In 2002, Gujarat was witness to one of the worst communal riots in Indian history, with Ahmedabad bearing the brunt of the crippling violence. While tension between communities was sparked off by fundamentalist propaganda, underlying economic deprivation added fuel to the fire. Sensing the bad times ahead, an Ahmedabad-based non-governmental organisation initiated a slew of peace building measures by mobilising women and children from both the Hindu and Muslim communities. Self-Help Groups have been started for economic empowerment, peace classes are run in schools to increase religious tolerance, while training on conflict transformation is provided to all those who want to make a difference.

* 'A few thousand children participate in peace classes where entrenched biases are tackled in a fun way. The 'spider web' and 'tree exercise' helps them focus on peace, non-violence and social harmony.'

India
A Sri Lankan Refugee Provides Refuge
By Papri Sri Raman

Activist and counsellor V. Thenmozhi has made it her life's mission to rehabilitate the thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils, who have fled across the Palk Strait into Tamil Nadu. A refugee herself, Thenmozhi came to India as a teenager and has, ever since, been attached to the Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation, which reaches out to the vast refugee population residing in 117 camps in the state. From visiting each camp and speaking to disconsolate women, to imparting income-generating skills like tailoring and basket-making, Thenmozhi, who holds a diploma in Social Service Management, feels a great sense of accomplishment in being able to teach her people to rise from the ashes and learn to live, once again.

* 'I had to make friends with every group. I had to gain their confidence. This does not happen with just one meeting so I went back, again and again. Slowly, each one came out with his or her story. They were all of loss and devastation.'

India
Healing Lives In Times of Conflict
By Shoma Sen

The indefatigable Dr Rani Bang, along with her husband Dr Abhay Bang, has used her hands-on experience of working at Public Heath Centres and her training at the Johns Hopkins University, USA, to set up the Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) deep in the conflict-ridden tribal belt of eastern Maharashtra for the Gond 'adivasis' (tribals), some of the poorest and most neglected people of the state.

* "We encourage them to bring their healer along and try to train him in modern medicine. Now, the traditional healers trained by us carry malaria slides and give tablets."

India
Peace by Peace, An Act That Heals
By Deepti Priya Mehrotra

Be it Kashmir, where clashes between security forces and militants are common; or states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh; where Naxal violence is a dangerous reality; or even metropolitan Mumbai that recently bore the brunt of a well-coordinated terror attack, scores of people across India struggle every day to live a normal life amidst conflicts of all kinds and bomb attacks. As violence becomes common, coping mechanisms are needed so that people can come to terms with tragedy and injustice. That's where theatre activist Jaya Iyer steps in with her healing Theatre of the Oppressed. By transforming spectators of plays based on the themes of violence and strife into 'spect-actors', who are encouraged to share their own ideas for conflict resolution, Iyer helps people to open up, build bridges and engage in dialogue.

* "We don't have to shout our lungs out all the time. We can act and demonstrate our pain and give voice to our frustration through drama."

India
Kandhamal's Wonder Women Fight Hate
By Eliza Parija

When the riots first broke out in Orissa's strife-torn Kandhamal district, Laxmi Priya Parida, a social worker, not only challenged the fundamentalists in her village of Bramunigaon but also encouraged people not to participate in any form of communal violence. Ratnamala Kanhara, 20, from Pubingia village, who lost her father to the hate violence, has been working along with her mother and sisters to spread the message of peace between the different communities. Despite such initiatives involving women of all ages and their heartening individual stories of courage and conflict resolution, the involvement of women in peace building activities in Kandhamal largely remains at an informal level.

* "I knew I was appealing to a group of people who had lost all sense of humanity and rationality. I was scared and so was my family, but my conscience just didn't allow me to bow before a brutal mob."

India
Crafting New Lives in Kashmir's Conflict Zone
By Aditi Bhaduri

Militancy in Kashmir has widowed innumerable women and orphaned thousands of children. This has meant that more women are being compelled to become the breadwinners of their families, even in the absence of the requisite skills to earn a living. Responding to this predicament, Nighat Shafi Pandit set up a non-profit organisation that today runs a special economic rehabilitation programme for violence-affected women, besides several schools and orphanages. With Pandit's skills-based initiative, the Valley women now lead better lives, thanks to the handcrafted woollen wall hangings, delicate chiffon saris embellished with Kashmiri embroidery and the jams and pickles they make and sell.

* 'We realised that the women had nothing to sustain themselves on. I have been to villages in Kupwara where you can find three or four widows in one home. My aim is to ensure that they are not reduced to begging or be exploited.'

A large oil painting of a tall and handsome Sikh man occupies the pride of place in Lakhbir Kaur's small sitting room in Kumbra village in Mohali, near Chandigarh. It is that of her father, who was killed in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Today, this mother of three still breaks down recalling that fatal day when, in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination, mobs attacked their home in Delhi's Sultanpuri colony, while the family was watching television. She was 16 then.

* Sharing similar stories of terror and loss are Kashmir Kaur, Ravindar Kaur and other women, who fled Delhi in 1984 to seek security in Punjab. They have now rebuilt their lives with love and are contributing to society in different ways.

Set against the grim statistics of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom, a saga of hope unspools in the bylanes of Delhi's Muslim enclave, Jamia Nagar. Love and harmony is the predominant leitmotif in a nondescript three-storeyed building here established in 2002 by a charitable organisation, as a home for children rescued from riot relief camps. For the young victims, aged six to 17, their ebullient warden, Asma Khan, 48, is mother, mentor and guide, who has given them a common dream - to shun violence, study hard and be successful.

* "I never want to return to Gujarat, I feel insecure there. Coming here, I have truly understood the Qur'an. It teaches us to love everyone as our brothers. I don't know why Hindus and Muslims fight with each other."

India
Fighting Hate by Going to School
By Ratna Bharali Talukdar

When the Saron Lower Primary School in Saron village in Assam was burnt down by suspected militants during ethnic clashes in 2003, Bimala Hmar, an assistant teacher from the Hmar tribe, took it upon herself to ensure that the children's studies would not suffer. She let the school be run from her home, inadvertently sparing it from the arson. But it was an uphill task - there was no furniture, no books, and her house was not big enough to accommodate everyone. But Bimala was determined to conduct classes and hold examinations. The result was that although children had to face displacement and hunger, they did not lose their academic years.

* "We are proud of her. She taught us how to survive in a difficult situation. Had she not guided us properly, we would not have been able to continue our studies. I am in Class VII now. I want to become a doctor."

India
Maoist Violence Is Not Prabhavati's Way
By Manisha Prakash

When Prabhavati Devi was married at the age of 17, she expected to lead a peaceful life of domesticity. But that was not to be. Her husband is a Maoist engaged in a "struggle for the oppressed" that involved the killing of innocent people. From the early days, when she spent most of her time running from the police and saving herself and her children from their constant questioning, Prabhavati today runs the Anganwadi centre in Bhitiyan village of Jehanabad district, Bihar. Her days are spent educating young children and helping young mothers lead a better life. Her efforts have been acknowledged. Last August, 'Netayeen ji' (leader), as Prabhavati is fondly called, was accorded the status of 'Adarsh Anganwadi Sevika' (Ideal Anganwadi Worker).

* "Children like to be around her. No one has any problem with her. In fact, we greatly regard her. We are not even scared of her husband."

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