9 April 2023: The Co-Creation of Moje Kasheer - Home for Humanity in Kashmir

At this confluence of Ramadan, Easter and Passover, we take pleasure in celebrating the inception of Moje Kasheer (Mother Kashmir) – a Home for Humanity in Kashmir for the Grandmothers, Mothers and Daughters of Kashmir to regenerate their homeland. Moje Kasheer will serve as a Home for Humanity for Women to heal the past, reclaim the present and pioneer the future.

This Home for Humanity, lodged in a region historically renowned for spiritual unity and religious and communal coexistence, yet shaken by violent conflict in recent decades, raises its universal call for Human Unity in Diversity.

A brainchild of Nilima Bhat, Founder of Shakti Leadership (which is also a Home for Humanity), Moje Kasheer was officially launched in Kashmir’s capital Srinagar on International Women’s Day (8 March 2023) as a collaborative initiative of Shakti Leadership, World Unity Center (part of Foundation for Peace and Compassionate Leadership) and the Home for Humanity movement.

The launch of Moje Kasheer involved a long preparation period by the co-convening organisations, and interactive sessions on the ground in Kashmir on March 7 to 9 with a number of pioneering partner organisations, including Alumni of the Centre for Women's Studies and Research, University of Kashmir, led by Dr. Roshan Ara; the Teachers, Principal and Founders of DPS Srinagar School; and leading philanthropist Nighat Shafi Pandit and her dynamic team at HELP Foundation.

On March 8, an international online seminar via zoom brought together members of the global Home for Humanity community from all continents. Including an evocative address by our co-chair Dr. Jean Houston, Kashmiri and international speakers expressed solidarity with and support for the long-isolated women of Kashmir. We equally expressed profound solidarity with Afghan women, with a speech by our community member Homa Alizoy, former Supreme Court Judge in Afghanistan. Young women changemakers of Kashmir joined us by reciting poems, singing songs, and sharing their visions with an interested audience from all over the world. We also heard the inspiring experiences of other women-led Homes for Humanity from around the world.

It felt like a new beginning had been made - connecting women's voices, visions and achievements to, indeed, heal the past, reclaim the present and pioneer the future.

In this spirit, we greet you all

Alexander & Rama and the Home for Humanity Family