Srinagar: Bringing tears into the eyes of many in the audience here at hotel Grand Mumtaz after victims of Kunan-Poshpora mass rape recounted the bone-chilling incident here today and sought support of people of Kashmir to bring the perpetrators to justice.
“We were ruthlessly raped by the soldiers. We have been stigmatized, left alone by our own people and denied justice by successive regimes for the past 23 years,” one of the victims of 1991 mass rape case narrated during a programme here leaving every eye moist.
Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (J&KCCS) Sunday organised a seminar ‘Kashmiri Women’s Resistance Day’ to remember the sacrifices laid down by Kashmiri women since 1947.
Speaking on the occasion members of Support Group for Justice for Kunan Poshpora Survivors (SGJKPS) on Sunday reminded the people of the atrocities, assaults, abductions, disappearances and human rights violations that women of Jammu and Kashmir have been subjected to, by security and para-military forces.“Rapes and sexual assaults, which are internationally recognized as a war crime, and a form of torture, have been extensively and routinely used as a weapon of war in Jammu and Kashmir,” said one of the members of SGJKPS.
One of the victims while speaking about that untoward incident recalled February 23, 1991 as the darkest day for them. “We don’t feel alive as if we don’t exist for outside world. But we will struggle till our last breath,” one of the victims said.
Adding to the aftermaths of that incident one of the survivors said they were being taunted for being the residents of Kunan – Poshpora as if they were the culprits. “Many of the school going children left education for being abused continuously. Because of the social stigma associated with it they preferred to stay indoors,” said one of the victims.
Meanwhile, Syed Mohammad Yasin, who was Deputy Commissioner Kupwara for the first time broke silence since the mass rape incident happened saying when he refused to give clean chit to the culprits and close the case, he was threatened and transferred from one place to another.
Yasin at the time of the incident recalled his visit to the twin villages after receiving information from village chowkidar about the mass rape.
“I was shocked to see the plight of the women. The victims, including old and young, were weeping and crying. They narrated their ordeal. I must say I felt ashamed while recording their statements. A woman told me that she was kept under jackboots by the soldiers while her daughter and daughter-in-law were being raped before her eyes. A pregnant woman was not spared either; she gave birth to a deformed baby four days after the incident,” Yasin said.
“I collected bloodstained clothes of victims and empty wine bottles from the village and handed them over to the police for investigations. The men too were interrogated so that they don’t take up the issue or disclose the tragic events to the masses,” Yasin said while addressing a gathering at a hotel here on the ‘Kashmiri Women’s Resistance Day’ organized by J&K Coalition of Civil Society, the support group for ‘Justice for Kunan-Poshpora Survivors’ to mark 23rd anniversary of the ‘mass rape’.
Yasin reiterated what he had mentioned in his report about the February 23, 1991 incident—“the soldiers from 4 Rajputana Rifles behaved like wild beasts and allegedly gang raped up to 32 women without any consideration of their age, marital status or pregnancy. The victims ranged in age from 13 to 60.”
Yasin said the Press Council of India team led by senior journalist B G Varghese, which later gave a clean chit to the Army, had asked him to “save the soldiers in the national interest.”
“I told him (Varghese) ‘are you not ashamed of what your Army has done in Kunan-Poshpora?’ However, he started threatening me and my family. Even the Special Secretary tried to persuade me to close the case. However, I refused to do so. Later, I was transferred from one place to another but I never comprised over my report.”
Yasin said the then Governor had summoned him and asked what made him to write that Army soldiers had acted like beasts. “I replied that they were worse than beasts.” He also said the then Special Secretary, SS Kapur, had direct involvement in trying to shelve the case and shield the perpetrators.
“What kind of democracy is India? How do they claim that their Army is disciplined? They have the worst Army. The Kunan-Poshpora mass rape is a blot on the face of Indian democracy,” Yasin said.
Twin Kunan and Poshpora villages in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district witnessed mass rape of over 40 women allegedly by the soldiers of the Army’s 4 Rajputana Rifles of 68 Brigade during the intervening night of February 23 and 24 in 1991.
“We can never forget the horrific night when we lost everything – our chastity, dignity and self-respect. Army personnel cordoned our village and ordered all men out of homes. They barged into our homes…we resisted, cried for help but to no avail. That night seemed too long and unending and they raped us one by one brutally,” recounted one of the victims.
“For many days we were lying in the same condition as Army continued the cordon around our village. Many young girls were bleeding profusely, some were crying and others left shell shocked. It was like a hell all around.”
For some minutes there was complete silence in the audience at a local hotel here. After some moments only sobs could be heard. “Due to gang-rape uterus of 18 young victims were damaged and had to be surgically removed. We faced social boycott for no fault of ours. Successive regimes left no stone unturned to hush up the case by changing our statements. Since 1991 no one came to our rescue. We have been fighting a lone battle,” the victims said.
The audience stood up and gave a standing ovation as a mark of tribute to resilience and courage of these victims.
“When a girl was gang-raped in Delhi whole country rose against it. But in our case there was total silence. We don’t want any women to suffer like us. We don’t want money or jobs but justice. We were raped but through our struggle we will expose and dishonor the accused. It is our last wish to get the accused punished,” the victims said.
Even though we may confront more challenges in the journey of justice, but we will never allow the perpetrators to get away, or bury their injustices under the castles of fake promises and development. We will neither forget nor forgive. We shall continue to endorse, support, recognize and remember the sacrifices of women of Jammu and Kashmir. We shall continue to fight and resist against all forms of structural violence perpetrated against women in Jammu and Kashmir, the victims said.(GNS)