Aakash Hassan
SRINAGAR
A 25-year old Kashmiri girl has come up with her debut novel Tearful Pages that highlights gender-based issues in society.
Azra Mufti, working as assistant professor at Chandigarh group of colleges in Punjab’s Mohali, has completed the book in the eight months of time.
The author in conversation with Kashmir Life said her debut novel is collection of the haunting and painful stories based on gender issues that have crept into the society.
“It is about the women living in the present world and the problems they face,” Mufti said. “From my researches and personal experiences, I realized that rampant crimes are being committed against women.”
She said the book also contains the laws that women can help women to protect themselves—“about which most women remain unaware.”
Though her work is fictitious, but Mufti says, it clearly relates with the contemporary situation.
Published by Punjab-based RIGI Publications, the book is going to be released on December 1, 2016.
The book covers a wide range of stories that deal with domestic violence, female feticide, war crimes, cyber bullying, the publisher has mentioned in its note.
The author hails from north Kashmir’s Baramulla district and is now settled in Punjab for last six years.
After studying at Baramulla’s St Josephs School up to Class 12, Mufti has done her bachelors and MBA from Punjab Technical University. She formerly worked as Assistant professor in Islamic University of Science and Technology Awantipora, Kashmir.
Azra has been writing articles covering a wide-range of topics including women empowerment and current issues in number of dailies of Kashmir and elsewhere.
“I have been a book lover since my childhood,” she said. “It is what helped me in my writing skills.”
She attributes writing of her book to her parents.
“They are my inspiration and it is because of their guidance that I was able to write a book,” Azra said.
She believes her personal experience as one of the reasons for her book.
“I have seen women being harassed at different levels of my life and that played a major role that I came to write this book,” she says. “I hope my book will help women and that is my only aim.”
