23
FEBRUARY: KASHMIRI WOMEN’S RESISTANCE DAY BY KHURRAM PARVEZ: POSTED BY HABIB
YOUSAFZAI
ASSALAM-O-ALAIKUM!
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From: Khurram Parvez <
khurramparvez@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 10:16 PM
Subject: 23 FEBRUARY: KASHMIRI WOMEN’S RESISTANCE DAY
Press Release, 14
February 2014
For
twenty four years the women of Jammu and Kashmir have been subject to
widespread and systematic gendered human rights violations, including rapes,
sexual assaults, abductions, disappearances, extra judicial executions, and
torture perpetrated by the Indian state- paramilitary, army, Jammu and Kashmir
Police and others. Through these years, women from Jammu and Kashmir have
struggled for truth, justice, and to lead lives free of fear, threats, violence
and stigma. They have refused to let their voices be silenced, against
tremendous odds, whether it is by speaking out against their perpetrators,
publicly exposing official attempts at cover ups, organizing as women’s groups,
or approaching the State Human Rights Commission [SHRC], or legal forums for
justice. On the occasion of the twenty third anniversary of the mass rape and
torture at Kunan Poshpora, and recognizing the resilience and courage of all
women in Jammu and Kashmir against State violence, we urge all sections of
Kashmiri society to commemorate 23 February from this year as the Kashmiri
Women’s Resistance Day.
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. All the organs and agencies of the State have deliberately
impeded processes of justice and truth for victims, and have colluded to ensure
impunity to armed forces. They have specifically fostered and endorsed impunity
for sexual crimes, within the wider culture of impunity that prevails in Jammu
and Kashmir. The Kunan Poshpora case is emblematic of both this pervasive
culture of impunity, and of the long-standing resistance against such
atrocities. On the intervening night of 23/24 February 1991, personnel of
the Indian Army, 4th Rajputana Rifles, 68 Mountain Brigade, gang raped many
women of Kunan and Poshpora while the men from the villages were subject to
mass torture. On 21 October 1991, the case was closed as untraced; however no formal
closure report was submitted before a competent court. In April 2013, 50
Srinagar based women from diverse
age groups and backgrounds, filed a PIL before the High
Court of Jammu and Kashmir demanding the re-opening and re-investigation of the
case. This PIL prompted the police to file a closure report, which on being
resisted by the survivors, led to an order for further investigations. To date,
the police are in contempt of the Court’s orders, as the time granted by the
Court has expired and they carried out no investigations in the villages. The
Indian army has now sought to shut down the investigations altogether, by
filing a revision petition against the Magistrate’s order of further
investigation, which the survivors are resisting at the Kupwara Sessions Court.
The government of Jammu and Kashmir, whether through the police or the Public
Prosecutor, have repeatedly displayed their lack of seriousness in prosecuting
the case or bringing the perpetrators to justice. To commemorate Kashmiri Women’s Resistance Day
this year, a special programme organized by Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society
and the Support Group for Justice for Kunan Poshpora Survivors will be held on 23
February at 1:30 p.m, [exact venue to be decided, and announced]. We call on
all members of civil society, political parties, women’s groups, student
organizations and others to endorse, recognize and remember the struggle,
resistance and sacrifices of the women of Jammu and Kashmir on this day. Public
support and solidarity for the struggle of the survivors of mass rape and
torture in Kunan Poshpora, as part of a wider movement towards ending
impunity for sexual crimes and violence against women in Jammu and
Kashmir, is vital, on this, the ‘Kashmiri Women’s Resistance Day, 2014’ .
Jammu
Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS)
Support
Group for Justice for Kunan Poshpora Survivors
