Besieged by Patriarchy, Bewildered by Conflicts: Exploring the Plights of Kashmiri Women in Nayeema Mahjoor’s Lost in Terror

Abstract

The prolonged armed conflicts in Kashmir, which have been ongoing since the 1990s, have been affecting the lives of the Kashmiris immensely. Women are the worst sufferers of these brutal conflicts due to their social vulnerability. Stifled by the globally ubiquitous patriarchy, these conflicts add to their misery as they lead to the growing militarization of the territory, which as an institution is equally patriarchal. Keeping in mind this triangulation of state militarization, the patriarchy and oppression of women, this paper will seek to explore how militarism and patriarchy comprise an oppressive force against women in a conflict zone through the reading of the novel Lost in Terror by Nayeema Mahjoor.