Jalila Haider © Private

A Shia Hazara from Pakistanʹs Baluchistan, human rights activist Jalila Haider has made the persecution of minorities her focus. In interview with Saima Hyder Zaidi, she also takes a stand against patriarchal mind-sets and the objectification of women.

Tensions continue to run high in the southern state of Kerala as police crack down on protesters trying to stop women from entering the hill shrine of Sabarimala. It opened to all men and women in October after the Supreme Court lifted a ban on women aged from 10 to 50.

Lalit Salve

”Menstruation? … I don’t know.

Perhaps something happened during my teenage years.

I don’t know… Don’t know.”

These hesitant words are spoken by the first police constable in India to have undergone Genital Reconstruction Surgery. Once Lalita, he became Lalit Bhau Salve.

Malala Yousafzai

Young Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai says that “one child, one pen, one book and one teacher can change the world”. Aimen Rubab agrees but points out that problems arise if the child is a girl, the pen is not free, books are not available and teachers are “totally biased against female students”.

When a young girl is married off, there’s no denying it; her childhood ends and injustice begins. Not only is deprived of further opportunities for education, she is robbed of her innocence and the right to achieve her full potential.

Kashmiri muslim school girls dressed in traditional outfits

I met two innocent girls singing at a crossroads during my trip to the Kashmir valley. There was an exuberance infused in their song and they were dancing without any care for tomorrow. It was probably a folk song. I don’t remember the girls’ names now. But I still recall their fondness for Maggi. One of them told me that whenever they got money from the tourists, they immediately headed to spend it at a local food stall. This little encounter with the two happy and talented souls stayed with me as a serendipitous memory for some time.

© Muzamil Bhat

Chasing her dream of becoming a hockey player, Inayat Farooq from central Kashmir’s Budgam district has had to battle all the odds in Indian society since deciding to play at this beloved sport.