By Tajamul Islam Salroo

A young woman boards an auto in Srinagar after college. A group of men standing near a roadside tea stall pass obscene comments as she walks by. A mother traveling with her daughter lowers her eyes during a crowded bus ride because the driver and his friends laugh loudly at women on the road. A working woman chooses longer routes and earlier hours simply to avoid harassment near busy market areas. 

These scenes have become familiar in parts of Kashmir, and that familiarity itself signals a deeper social failure.

Recent incidents involving autodrivers making obscene remarks toward women sparked public anger. Public anger alone, however, cannot solve a problem that has settled into daily life. 

Kashmir faces a serious erosion of public conduct, and women pay the heaviest price for it.

Roads, markets, bus stops, and public transport belong to everyone. Women should move through public spaces with confidence and ease. 

A society that restricts women through fear weakens its own future. 

Students struggle to focus on studies when ordinary travel feels humiliating. Working women plan their day around unsafe routes and hostile corners. Families spend entire evenings worrying about daughters returning home. 

Public harassment damages far more than one moment on a street. It alters behaviour, freedom, and participation in public life.

Kashmir often speaks proudly about........

© Kashmir Observer