We should take a moment to honor Parveena Ahangar, known as “the iron lady of Kashmir” & the chairperson & co-founder of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP). She once said the APDP, which was formed in 1994, “originated out of my pain, & pain of hundreds of mothers like me.”

Her 17-year-old son Javed Ahmad Ahangar was disappeared in the middle of the night on August 18, 1990 by the NSG, an Indian special forces unit. She looked for him in jails across India.

That is her in the left foreground of this photo at the APDP protest today in Srinagar.

You can follow or contribute to the work of the APDP at their website: http://apdpkashmir.com/

(Photo by Qazi Irshad)