SRINAGAR: All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have expressed deep regret that despite the passage of more than three decades, victims of Kunan-Poshpura mass rape have not been provided justice, local media reported on Saturday.
Indian forces had gang-raped 100 women on the night of February 23, 1991, during a siege and search operation in the Kunan-Poshpora area of Kupwara district in IIOJK.
In a statement, APHC leader Muhammad Yousaf Naqash said the Kunan-Poshpora incident serves as a vivid example of New Delhi’s unhesitant actions.
He said that from the outset, India’s policymakers and implementers had employed every inhumane measure and step as a tool of war, aiming to convey to Kashmiris that New Delhi could disrespect their self-worth, values and honour through any form of aggression.
‘India Using Rape of Women as a Weapon of War to Suppress Kashmiris’ Struggle’
Hurriyat leaders Syed Sibte Shabbir Qummi and Fayaz Hussain Jafari in their separate statements in Srinagar said New Delhi is using the rape of women as a weapon of war to suppress the Kashmiris’ struggle for the right to self-determination and the tragic incident of Kanan-Pushpura is its clear example.
They added a long time has passed but none of the involved Indian personnel have been punished to date and many of the victimized women have left the world without justice. The Indian forces in the occupied territory have humiliated thousands of Kashmiri women, many Kashmiri women have been locked up in jails for years, and thousands of Kashmiri women have become widows due to the massacre of innocent people but despite all this, India could not lower their morale, the leaders said.
On the other hand, the spokesman of Islamic Tanzeem-e-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir said that the Indian forces’ open threats to imprison and detain the people of IIOJK, including the Hurriyat leadership cannot change the reality of the Kashmir dispute.
He expressed a serious concern over the continued detention of the party Chairman Abdul Samad Inqilabi and vowed to never accept New Delhi’s forced occupation of their motherland and to resist its military aggression at any cost. APP
