SRINAGAR, Feb 22, 2018: People’s Political Party (PPP), Chairman and senior leader, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Engineer Hilal Ahmad War has expressed deep sorrow and pain on the 27 Th anniversary of Kunan- Poshpora mass rape. Mr. War stated that “It gives me immense pain to state that about 27 years ago, our wounded paradise the valley of Kashmir witnessed one of the worst ever human rights violations in the human history committed by the Indian army known as the infamous Kunan-Poshpora mass rape. The honor of large number of women of this village on 23 February 1991 was chastised and molested by the occupying forces.”
Hilal Ahmad War has asked State Government to reopen the Kunanposhpora mass rape case so that the perpetrators’ of this heinous crime are punished in order to meet the ends of justice. He appealed the people and Tradesmen of Kunanposhpora to observe complete shutdown onFebruary 23 in the adjoining areas of Kunanposhpora, Kupwara as a mark of protest against this inhuman and heinous crime.
It is pertinent to mention here that on the intervening night of February 23 and 24, 1991, An Army Battalion of the 4th Rajasthan Rifles, 68th Brigade of Indian Army cordoned off the village, the men were taken to a field for an overnight interrogation and the women were gang-raped in their homes without any consideration for their age and marital status. The age of the victims ranged from 13 to 80.
Engineer Hilal also deplored the lack of justice and condemned the Indian State for failing to nail the demons behind this gravest crime and called for the international community intervention into this grave matter. This heinous crime should have been taken up by International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the criminals should have been tried and punished according to the International humanitarian law.
PPP Chief also urged upon the world human rights defenders to wake up from their deep slumber and highlight these tragic episodes. He said that we can show our solidarity and sympathy towards to victims of Kunan-Poshpora in form of unified voice by forging unity among all the Human Rights Organizations of South-Asia in particular in order to punish the culprits of Kunan-Poshpora Mass Rape.
