I faced the power of his gun with the power of my mind. I felt no fear. I had the axe. Had the axe not been there; there was a rolling pin, a ladle. If I had a gun, they would have seized it long ago. These are my only implements. No one can take them away from me.
-Jana, a carpet worker, who escaped molestation by a Border Security Force soldier. Awanpora village

I knew my husband was a militant. I knew that someday he would be killed. I grieve but I do not complain. When you are a militant, you are ready to die. But why did they kill the other seven men. They were innocent, they had not killed anybody. I have to bring up my children. Where does a woman go? What can she do? If women become militants, what will happen to the children? Who will look after them? Who wants this killing? A woman cannot become a militant.
-Jameela. Malangaon, Bandipora