JK: Ulemas join hands with NGOs against suicides

Srinagar, June 25: Concerned over the sudden spurt in suicide cases in the Kashmir valley, particularly by youths and married women, ulemas (Islamic scholars) have joined hands with social organisations to stem the trend.

An senior cleric, addressing a large gathering in a mosque near the historic Lal Chowk, said it was the duty of everyone to stop ''this unIslamic act''.

''Anyone who commits suicide will go to Jahanam (hell),'' he claimed and urged people not to join the 'namaz Janazah' (the funeral prayer) of anyone who commits suicide.

He said the act was against Islamic principles and the teachings of Prophet Mohammad.

''The Prophet also did not participate in the 'namaz Janazah' of a man who had committed suicide,'' he added.

The official Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Bashir-ud-din told UNI that committing suicide was against the teachings of Holy Quran and Prophet Mohammad.

He said he will also launch a campaign to urge the people not to participate in the funeral prayers of those who commit suicide.

He said besides other reasons, ''failure in love'' was mainly responsible for driving young girls and boys to take this extreme step.

Despite introduction of Art of Living and Yoga classes to help security forces, engaged in counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir valley, to combat mental stress, about three dozen security personnel committed suicide while about a dozen others were killed by their colleagues in Jammu and Kashmir during the past two years.

The Mufti said Islam has given equal rights to men and women, adding a girl was free choose her life partner. He also urged the youth to accept their parents decision which was ''always in their interest''. Officials said the nearly two-decade-old militancy has made the situation worse as there was hardly any suicide cases prior to the eruption of insurgency in the late eighties.

Unemployment, failure in love, marital discord and other domestic reasons were cited as main reasons behind forcing the people in the strife-torn state to take the extreme step.

According to official figures 61 people committed suicide in 2006, while the figure has shot up dramatically this year and stands at 50 for the first six months of the current year. More than two dozen others survived the suicide attempts during the same period this year.

A number of social organisations were engaged in educating the people about the practice, particularly among the youths and married women.

Social experts say apart from social factors, insurgency and related factors were responsible in the sudden increase in suicide case in the Valley.

UNI