Note from the Founder, Ms Simran Kour

When I was 11 years old, my school summer vacations were extended. As happy as I was for more holidays, I was also disturbed because of the reason. The year was 2008 and J&K had the infamous Amarnath Land Controversy that included month long protests, injuries and deaths because the general population of the regions of Jammu and Kashmir were on the opposing sides. 5 years later, the infamous Kishtwar riots took the lives of 3 people and injured 80 due to religion based violence. It's hard to look past the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits of the 90s. It's also hard to not feel disgusted by the fact in 2018, protests took place even upon the rape of a minor girl because apparently it is that easy to manipulate the regional and religious differences in J&K. Post Pulwama attack, curfew was imposed in Jammu city following violence in which at least 12 persons were injured and dozens of vehicles torched by the mob. The Army had to be called to help maintain law and order. Internet services were shut down for almost a week. These are just a few examples. In between the Jammu massacres of 1947, the mass rape at Kunan Poshpura in 1991 to the very recent Srinagar grenade attack in March 2022 that killed 2, there are plenty of examples of identity based violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

An act of violence is disturbing in itself. But it is made worse when instead of condemning it, we begin justifying it because of the victim's ‘identity’ and therefore, him or her deserving it. Another thing that I have seen happening around me is the competition of who suffered the most, whose pain is the greatest. Biases, stereotypes, and identity based discrimination fuels violence in the community. 

At Eqra, we envision a peaceful and inclusive world and we strive to work towards it through our projects by co-creating solutions with community members