“None of the Chief Ministers in the state has even visited the victims in last so many years, which is painful”
SRINAGAR: An eight member delegation of Indian civil society members and human rights activists visited the Kunan-Poshpora villages in north Kashmir and met victims of an alleged mass-rape that took place 22 years ago.
The delegation, headed by senior journalist and civil society activist Seema Mustafa, visited homes and interacted with victims.
Seema Mustafa termed the incident as “a blot on the face of democracy”.
“We want the the guilty to be brought to book,” she said.
A group of army soldiers are alleged to have raped 36 women after they cordoned off the Kunan-Poshpora villages and launched a house-to-house search for militants.
According to the villagers, the troops ordered menfolk out of their homes and then raped the hapless women.
A team of the Press Council Of India headed by B G Verghese gave a clean chit to the troops and said there were inconsistencies in testimonies of the women. It also called the charges against the army men “a well-concocted bundle of fabricated lies”.
However Kashmir-based media persons as also human rights activists dismissed the report as a “cover up”.
Two years ago the State Human Rights Commission recommended to the state government to reopen the case and compensate the victims.
Mustafa said “it was unfortunate that the political leadership has isolated them (rape victims) over the last 20 years.
“None of the Chief Ministers in the state has even visited the victims in last so many years, which is painful,” she said and added that their sole purpose of the delegation’s visit was “not to refresh the wounds of the victims but to see whether the victims have been reached out to.”
She said the delegation will make a report and hold a press conference to highlight the issue.
“We will also meet the Defence Minister after going back to Delhi and take up the matter with him.”
