In solitude and silence she cries, for love
The plain life of Wiwiek Widiasati took an unexpected romantic turn in 2016 when Abid Hussain Lone, then 35-year-old, traveled to Indonesia. Started from social media conversations to reading nikaah (wedding) with ‘her man’ in her homeland, Ms. Widiasati was living her dream.
Wiwiek Widiasati was now Saima. Abid Hussain Lone’s Saima.
Within a year, the couple had a baby girl, Adifa. Unknown of the ground reality, the couple came to Mr. Lone’s homeland, Kashmir valley.
Soon, the volatile conflict shadowed their life, and in a day, Saima was not merely widowed, ‘their’ baby, 3-months-old, Adifa was not merely orphaned, but the only support she had in the Valley, the only shoulder to cry and laugh upon was buried on 15 December 2018. Mr. Lone was among the seven civilians who lost their lives on 15 December near the encounter site in Sirnoo area, Pulwama.
“It has been 33 days now; I am living here without my beloved. It is becoming more difficult for me; he used to come home by Magrib (dusk). He would knock the door and greet the salam, but now — he will never come,” said Ms. Saima.
Thirty-five kilometers down the southern side of the Valley, a village, surrounded by dense apple orchards, the macadamized road divides the village, Kareemabad, under the Pulwama district; notably most conflict-affected area since 2016 civilian uprising.
“I want to stay here, and Insha-Allah, I will; my husband is here. I and my husband’s family feel his presence in our daughter,” added Ms. Saima with Adifa playing in her lap.
Mr. Lone’s father died a natural death a few years ago. Ms. Saima is now living with her 4-months-old daughter, Adifa Jan in Mr. Lone’s ancestral house. Her mother-in-law is using small English slangs to conversate with her: “take the fire-pot it’s cold. Adifa Jan is looking for milk.”
But she is quite old, and most of the women in her village cannot speak English. “We all want her to stay with us, we see the hope in Saima and her daughter,” said Mr. Lone’s mother.
A week after Mr. Lone’s untimely death in December last year, the family couldn’t find Ms. Saima at home at dusk. She went to his grave, and was found resting her head on it, wailing, “Wake up, wake up! our baby is waiting.” After it, the family barred her from going there. She protested, went mute, and alienated herself; failing to get her back to life, the family agreed to take her to the grave as per schedule.
Many times, looking at Adifa crying in her lap, Ms. Saima would console her, and re-iterates, “He is alive, he is alive,” and would often call ‘her’ by ‘his’ name.
A few kilometers away from their home, there is a local ‘martyrs’ graveyard’. Following the Friday prayers, young boys visit there to offer prayers; in a similar fashion, Ms. Saima visits the grave of her husband, at least thrice in a week now.
“After four or five months, I will apply for OCIA (Overseas Citizenship of India) citizenship, and will start looking for jobs in the Kashmir,” concluded Ms. Saima.
As the country celebrates its 70 years of execution of the longest constitution in the world, somewhere in the disputed region, hundreds long for their loved ones to return home or justice.
By The Kashmir Walla
Wiwiek Widiasati was now Saima. Abid Hussain Lone’s Saima.
Within a year, the couple had a baby girl, Adifa. Unknown of the ground reality, the couple came to Mr. Lone’s homeland, Kashmir valley.
Soon, the volatile conflict shadowed their life, and in a day, Saima was not merely widowed, ‘their’ baby, 3-months-old, Adifa was not merely orphaned, but the only support she had in the Valley, the only shoulder to cry and laugh upon was buried on 15 December 2018. Mr. Lone was among the seven civilians who lost their lives on 15 December near the encounter site in Sirnoo area, Pulwama.
“It has been 33 days now; I am living here without my beloved. It is becoming more difficult for me; he used to come home by Magrib (dusk). He would knock the door and greet the salam, but now — he will never come,” said Ms. Saima.
Thirty-five kilometers down the southern side of the Valley, a village, surrounded by dense apple orchards, the macadamized road divides the village, Kareemabad, under the Pulwama district; notably most conflict-affected area since 2016 civilian uprising.
“I want to stay here, and Insha-Allah, I will; my husband is here. I and my husband’s family feel his presence in our daughter,” added Ms. Saima with Adifa playing in her lap.
Mr. Lone’s father died a natural death a few years ago. Ms. Saima is now living with her 4-months-old daughter, Adifa Jan in Mr. Lone’s ancestral house. Her mother-in-law is using small English slangs to conversate with her: “take the fire-pot it’s cold. Adifa Jan is looking for milk.”
But she is quite old, and most of the women in her village cannot speak English. “We all want her to stay with us, we see the hope in Saima and her daughter,” said Mr. Lone’s mother.
A week after Mr. Lone’s untimely death in December last year, the family couldn’t find Ms. Saima at home at dusk. She went to his grave, and was found resting her head on it, wailing, “Wake up, wake up! our baby is waiting.” After it, the family barred her from going there. She protested, went mute, and alienated herself; failing to get her back to life, the family agreed to take her to the grave as per schedule.
Many times, looking at Adifa crying in her lap, Ms. Saima would console her, and re-iterates, “He is alive, he is alive,” and would often call ‘her’ by ‘his’ name.
A few kilometers away from their home, there is a local ‘martyrs’ graveyard’. Following the Friday prayers, young boys visit there to offer prayers; in a similar fashion, Ms. Saima visits the grave of her husband, at least thrice in a week now.
“After four or five months, I will apply for OCIA (Overseas Citizenship of India) citizenship, and will start looking for jobs in the Kashmir,” concluded Ms. Saima.
As the country celebrates its 70 years of execution of the longest constitution in the world, somewhere in the disputed region, hundreds long for their loved ones to return home or justice.
Indonesian woman travelled to Kashmir with husband, now going back alone
‘Since I arrived here, I only saw cordons and fear’
Srinagar, Dec 19 (KNS): It was love at first site. Abid Hussain, 35, travelled to Indonesia in 2016 after completing his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in a bid to get a job in a private company and his luck favoured him.
Abid got a job in a private company in Jakarta, Indonesia and on the first day he saw a girl and at the very first gaze, he fell in love with her. Both started dating each other. Abid suggested the girl to change her name as it was a bit difficult to pronounce.
She agreed to be named as Saima. Abid and Saima married in 2017. In September 2018, the duo gave birth to a female baby.
On Abid’s request, Saima agreed to travel to Pulwama district in first week of December where she met her mother-in-law, father-in-law and other family members of her husband.
She faced problems as she couldn’t understand Kashmiri language as she could in my speak English.
Abid and his sister used to talk to Saima in English and she steadily started mingling with her in laws and other women in Sirnoo area of Pulwama district.
But everything changed with the staccato sounds of the bullets during an encounter between forces and three holed up militants on December 15. Not just the three militants were killed but seven civilians also including Abid.
“I had asked my husband to get milk for our baby from the market. When he didn't return after an hour, I started looking for his and after two hours came to know that he has been killed by the army,” said Saima, as tears swell her eyes.
She told KNS that her husband never told her that situation was this bad in Kashmir. “Nobody understands my language here. I am having Indonesian passport and I am not a Kashmiri citizen,” she said.
Saima now has decided to pack her bags to fly back to her home country. “I came here with my husband. Now I won’t live here. I will go back to my country. Army has killed my husband and now they will kill me too,” she said.
“I have called my parents and they asked to return as soon as possible. Since I arrived here, I only saw cordon, cordon and cordon. Their highest level of fear they looms large on every face here.” (KNS)
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