Women’s rights in Jammu and Kashmir is a major issue as men are generally taken in higher regard than women. Kashmiri women, members of a patriarchal society are fighting inequality and discrimination for decades.
In a typical Kashmiri society, women’s identity is intertwined with their husbands’, once a woman is married off; she becomes the man’s responsibility.
As a result, many of these women who are divorced or widowed get into a survival crisis with no source of income.
Also, Kashmiri women have been at the direct and indirect receiving ends of the conflict with layered and complex consequences. Conflict affects and complicates social relationships for them.
However, the armed conflict in Kashmir has forced Kashmiri women to take on new roles. With their sons, husbands, brothers, or fathers serving jail sentences, these women have had to shoulder heavy responsibilities within and outside the home.
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They have not only faced the situation bravely, but their difficulties and personal tragedies have also actually empowered them.
One such woman is Zarka Tanzeel from Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district. She is believed to be the first woman who introduced Kashmir’s own detergent powder in the local market.
Before setting up her business, she went through a lot of struggles including her married life and work.
29-year-old Zarka completed her studies in Srinagar and got married in Budgam district. After her graduation in Commerce, she worked as a school teacher but always wanted to build her own brand.
She discussed the ideas with her husband, Syed Tanzeel and both searched on the internet looking for various ways to start a small-scale business unit.
Later, the plan to come up with a detergent brand struck Zarka’s mind and she began collecting more information about small-scale units.
As there were no sufficient funds, she approached the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI), Budgam. But the fundraising wasn’t enough to set up her venture. Zarka sold her jewellery, and set up her factory with the manpower expertise from Gujarat.
In 2017, the couple had started working on the formalities and by August 2019, the brand was ready. Zarka was all set to launch her detergent brand under the name, “KMR Sheen”. But, Article 370 was abrogated and Kashmir went into lockdown.
Although she was disappointed, Zarka did not give up. She waited patiently for everything to return to normalcy.
Once lockdown was lifted, Zarka procured more machines and equipment, building her factory with all the required facilities.
In 2020, she was ready to give it another chance before COVID-19 enforced another lockdown.
Zarka almost gave up when her husband and in-laws supported her and encouraged her to not give up on her dreams.
Finally, in March 2021, her unit went into full functionality. Zarka introduced her detergent in the market of Budgam and her product began selling like hotcakes.
She is now generating employment for the youth of Kashmir. They have also got a resource person from Gujarat who trains the staff in the factory about the preparation of detergent.
Currently, Zarka sells small sachet packages and plans to expand on operation in the future.
Zarka’s story is an example of how entrepreneurship is a path full of challenges but if a woman has the right kind of support from her family and friends, she can achieve anything and everything.
