22,991 women widowed, 11,275 molested in IIOJK since Jan 1989

SRINAGAR:  As International Women’s Day is being observed worldwide today, the miseries and agonies of Kashmiri women continue unabated at the hands of Indian troops and police personnel in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

A report compiled by Raies Mir at Research Section of Kashmir Media Service revealed on the occasion of International Women’s Day that the miseries and victimization of Kashmiri women at the hands of Indian forces—including the army, Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Special Operations Group, police and other agencies—continue unabated in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

In 1947, during the Jammu massacres, mass rapes were perpetrated by Dogra troops alongside Hindu fanatics in a brutal campaign against the territory’s Muslim population. Thousands of Muslim women were abducted, raped and subjected to unimaginable horrors, particularly in Jammu, Rajouri, Poonch and Kathua. These atrocities were not random acts of violence but a systematic attempt at ethnic cleansing, actively facilitated by the forces of the Dogra State under Maharaja Hari Singh.

Since the 1988 popular uprising, scholars and human rights organizations have consistently documented the use of rape as a weapon of war by Indian state forces, including the Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF). The deliberate and targeted nature of these crimes underscores the continuing pattern of oppression in IIOJK, where sexual violence remains a tool of subjugation and terror against the local population.

After 1989, Indian forces selectively raped, tortured and killed Kashmiri Muslims and burnt their homes and business centers. Indian forces have committed rape as a form of retaliation against civilians who were demanding the right to self-determination under UN supervision.

According to a 1993 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Indian forces used rape as a method of retaliation against Kashmiri civilians. Most rape cases, according to the report, occurred during cordon-and-search operations.

In October 1992, representatives from the Asia Watch group and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) traveled to Kashmir to document rape and other human rights abuses and violations of the laws of war by Indian forces. Later they released a book titled “Rape in Kashmir” on May 9, 1993.

The report revealed that since January 1989, Indian state terrorism has rendered 22,991 women widowed, while 11,275 women were molested by Indian forces’ personnel. The report also reveals the devastating impact of Indian state terrorism on women in IIOJK. Since January 2001, at least 690 women have been martyred by Indian forces’ personnel. The report further pointed out that the majority of Kashmiris suffering from multiple psychological problems are women.

The report cited some of the most heinous crimes committed against Kashmiri women, including the mass rape in Kunan-Poshpora, the rape and murder of Aasiya Jan and her sister-in-law Neelofar Jan in Shopian, and the rape and murder of 8-year-old Aasifa Bano in Kathua, each exposing the culture of impunity granted to the Indian forces establishment in the territory.