Issue 02 | Horror
Cover Art: Zahida's Anger, Sabahat Ali Wani (2022)
In addition to borrowing from/use of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio's Medusa (1598), Zahida's Anger is an artist's attempt to highlight the horror of sexual violence in Kashmir.
First Published by Variant Literature, Issue 13 (Winter 2023).
Kashmir has its own horrors. We have heard many stories about ghosts since our childhood – stories about Abdullah Jinn and Wai Wuf – remember! Maaje Zevwe tried to capture such stories we were once told as children, that still live in the dusty old corners of our psyche. However, some stories don't simply live but continue to haunt us. The horrors of the Gawakadal massacre and Kunan Poshpora are very much alive in our minds as ghosts that never leave us alone and accompany us everywhere. Our horrors are not limited to what children hear while they are being put to sleep but have a violent history of their own. Therefore, in Issue 02, Maaje Zevwe attempted to peek into the horrors of Kashmiri women and asked: How do Kashmiri women view Kashmiri horror literature, folklore and stories? How are horror and feminism, horror and politics, and horror and sexuality, related? How do Kashmiri women define their ghosts and who is responsible for them?