SRINAGAR: Leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have expressed profound disappointment over the lack of justice for the victims of the Kunan-Poshpora mass rape, even after more than three decades.
According to Kashmir Media Service reports, Indian troops reportedly gang-raped approximately 100 women of all ages, ranging from eight to eighty, during a siege and search operation in the Kunan-Poshpora area of Kupwara district on the night of February 23, 1991.
APHC leader Muhammad Yousaf Naqash, in a statement from Srinagar, described the Kunan-Poshpora incident as a glaring example of India’s unscrupulous actions. He asserted that from the very beginning, Indian policymakers and implementers had utilized every cruel tactic as a method of warfare, intending to demonstrate to Kashmiris that India could disregard their dignity, honor, and values through any form of aggression.
Separately, Hurriyat leaders Fayaz Hussain Jafari and Syed Sibte Shabbir Qummi, in their individual statements from Srinagar, accused India of using the rape of women as a weapon of war to suppress the Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination, citing the tragic incident of Kunan-Poshpora as a clear example.
They lamented the passage of a significant amount of time without any of the involved Indian troops being held accountable, with many of the victimized women passing away without receiving justice. Despite enduring humiliation, incarceration, and widowhood due to Indian military actions, Kashmiri women’s morale remains unbroken, they added.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Islamic Tanzeem-e-Azadi Jammu and Kashmir, in a statement from Srinagar, expressed concern over the continued detention of party Chairman Abdul Samad Inqilabi. He reiterated the commitment to never accept India’s forced occupation of their homeland and vowed to resist its military aggression at any cost.
