Nazir Ahmed Lone, 14 yrs,

was one of the thousands of

child soldiers of the

ongoing violence in J & K.

He lost his leg when he stepped

on a land mine planted in

his father's field.

Children being the most innocent and vulnerable victims of the conflict, are our only link to the future. While we have no right to deprive them of a ‘normal’ and healthy future, it is our moral duty that we try our best to undo the damage that has been done for no fault of theirs.  Though bwf intends to work in various areas, working for children in conflict areas and situations has been our prime focus.

In J & K, scores of thousands of children have been orphaned due to violence; a million of them have dropped out of their childhood. They have suffered immensely as casualties in the ongoing turmoil as their very inherent rights to life, survival and development are threatened. In other words, their physical, psychological, social and economic well being has been affected enormously. They are bearing the unbearable and understanding the inexplicable in an environment which tends to teach them A for AK47, B for Blast, C for Crackdown…etc. Boys are the potential recruits (as child soldiers) of the ongoing violence. Girls esp. orphans bear much more as they are the targets of cultural and moral policing and discrimination. bwf had to zero in on the rehabilitation of these children as there were no homes or places of rehabilitation exclusively for girls in the Kashmir valley.  

-chairperson, bwf

Zahida Bano, 5 yrs., has nightmares after she saw her parents and younger brother being shot by a militant group.

8 yr. old Rubina Bano lost her speech after she witnessed her parents die in  a cross firing.