MUZAFFARABAD: Students and civil society activists staged a rally, calling for justice to the victims of mass rape in India-held Kashmir on the 29th anniversary of the horrifying incident.

On the night of Feb 22-23 in 1991, a group of Indian soldiers from the 4th Rajputana Rifles had raped scores of women in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora of Kupwara district.

However, no one was prosecuted for the heinous crime to this day, as while the Indian army rejected the allegations as “worthless” the governments and state institutions in Delhi and Srinagar kept on thwarting desperate efforts by the survivors for justice.

The rally was held on Saturday from Upper Chattar to Bank Square under the aegis of the International Forum for Justice and Human Rights (IFJHR), a Srinagar-based rights group.

Holding a banner and placards, the activists called upon the United Nations and the international community to shun their silence on the issue and instead prove their repeated commitments to human rights, justice and dignity of women.

“UN: Make India accountable for its crimes against humanity,” read the banner.

“The gory incident speaks volumes about the fact that occupation forces have been using rape as a war weapon against the innocent women in occupied Kashmir,” said Hina Mushtaq, a second year student, adding that it was responsibility of the international community in general and the UN in particular to bring those criminals to book.

Asim Rashid, another student, maintained that the Kunan-Poshpora incident was a slap in the face of the so-called largest democracy.

“At the same time, it is a question mark on the conscience and claims of the civilised world regarding supremacy of human rights and values,” he said.

Usman Ali Hashim, who was residing with a family in Poshpora village in connection with his schooling when the mass rape occurred in 1991, was also among the rally’s participants.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2020