ESSAR BATOOL AND NATASHA RATHER - The denial of rape by soldiers in Kashmir illustrates the impunity enjoyed by the armed forces
On 8 March 2016,
celebrated internationally as Women’s Day, Kanhaiya Kumar, the president of the
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union, gave a speech in the university’s
campus. Close to end of his speech, Kumar also asserted that he would not stay silent on the issue
of human rights violations.“While we have a lot of respect for the
soldiers in the armed forces,” he said, “we will still say that rape of women
is committed by security forces in Kashmir.” Though the audience greeted his
statement with applause, several politicians and sections of the media reprimanded
Kumar for saying this. The Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (the youth wing
of the BJP) filed a complaint against Kumar for uttering
“poisonous words against the Indian army.” This sentiment was echoed by an
anchor at the Zee News channel, who accused Kumar of “speaking like a separatist.”
Among the critics of
Kumar was also the journalist Shekhar Gupta. In a tweet, Gupta said that Kumar was “losing it,”
and that by saying that the army rapes women in Kashmir, he was employing the
“stereotypes of the rough 90s.” Gupta then asked Kumar to “read newspapers
Comrade.” In doing so, he betrayed not only ignorance and prejudice, but also
shed light on an attitude often adopted by much of India’s supposed
intelligentsia: it is so enamoured by the valour and gallantry associated with
the armed forces that it fails to acknowledge, or even hear of, any crimes
committed by their members. In conflict areas such as Kashmir, the Indian armed
forces have used severe forms of intimidation—torture, extrajudicial killings,
disappearances, kidnapping and rape—to curb resistance.
Of all the tactics in
their arsenal, army personnel have often turned to sexual violence as the most
convenient form of retribution for rebellion. In these areas, rape is a potent
weapon used to discourage resistance and humiliate the population. The
intelligentsia and much of the rest of the population of India, have, through
their blind spot, propagated a system of impunity that saves the armed forces
from ever having to answer for their crimes. For us, as Kashmiri women, Gupta’s
statement is illustrative of a long line of violent attempts that aim to
protect the image of the Indian state.
The rapes committed by
members of the Indian armed forces are well documented through independent
investigations of national and international enquiries by agencies, such as Asia
Watch, the Asia wing of the international organisation Human Rights Watch and
Physicians for Human Rights, a non-profit organisation. Although several rapes
committed by the members of the armed forces are not reported in areas such as
Kashmir due to the fear of reprisals and the associated stigma, there are
reported cases that prove this a reality even today.
On 30 May 2009, the
bodies of 22-year-old Neelofer Jan and her 17-year-old sister-in-law Asiya Jan
were found in a stream in the Shopian district in Kashmir, not far from the
Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) camp in the region. Neelofer and Asiya’s
family alleged that they had been abducted, raped and murdered by the members
of the security forces. Later that day, the police released a press statement
stating that no marks were found on the bodies. However, two hours later, the
police withdrew this statement. The incident sparked violent protests across
the Kashmir valley, which were to last 47 days.
In one of its August
2009 issues, the bi-monthly magazine Frontline carried a story
titled, ‘A Flawed Inquiry.’ In it, the magazine recounted the
investigation. On 1 June, Omar Abdullah, the then chief minister of the state,
appointed a one-man commission headed by the retired Justice Muzaffar Jan to
look into the matter. Four days later, under pressure from its alliance
partners, the Congress, the state government asked the police to register an
FIR. Jan’s report, which was released on 10 July, confirmed that the women had
been raped, that the location at which the bodies were found suggested that the
perpetrator was likely not a civilian, and that not enough evidence was left
behind to name a perpetrator.
However, the report contained an annexure that
seemed to suggest that Neelofer and Asiya’s family were involved in their
murder. Two days after the report was published, Justice Jan distanced himself
from it, saying that the police had tampered with his report and added the
annexure despite his rejection of it. As protests continued in the state, the
police and the government vehemently denied these claims. A few months later,
the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Little came of
the CBI enquiry. No one was ever held responsible for the crime.
The Shopian case made
is only one example of the lack of retribution for sexual violence in Kashmir.According to documents released by WikiLeaks, in 2005,
the International Committee of the Red Cross informed United States diplomats
based in New Delhi that of the 1,298 detainees of the Indian forces it
interviewed in Kashmir, 304 reported torture of a sexual nature. It is
important to mention here that men in conflict zones, too, have routinely been
subject to sexualized forms of torture, across contexts and situations.
Those who think that
rapes committed by the Army personnel are part of stereotype that Kashmiris
harbour and propagate need to revisit the facts. Rape is used as a tactic of
reprisal in most militarised zones in India. In 2013, 70 cases of sexual violence were registered against
Indian Armed forces. On 10 July 2004, a Manipuri woman, Thangjam
Manorama Devi, was picked up from her home by members of the 17 Assam Rifles
regiment that were posted in the state, for allegedly working for a militant
organisation. She was raped and shot in the genitals repeatedly, and her
bullet-riddled body was found in nearby fields on the next day. This incident
sparked protests across Manipur, many of which were widely covered by the media… read more:
http://www.caravanmagazine.in/vantage/denial-rape-soldiers-kashmir-shekhar-gupta-impunity-armed-forces
see also
Comrade Abdul Sattar Ranjoor (CPI), killed by terrorists March 23, 1990
read more about Com Ranjoor here; here; and here
Comrade Abdul Sattar Ranjoor (CPI), killed by terrorists March 23, 1990
read more about Com Ranjoor here; here; and here
