‘Reopen all rape, murder cases in Kashmir since 1990’

Demanding exemplary punishment to the culprits in the gruesome rape and murder case of a minor girl of Kathua, chairman APHC Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Friday said all the rape cases reported in Kashmir during past three decades including the mass rape of Kunan-Poshpora should be reopened and reinvestigated so that the guilty “roaming free” are brought to book.

Addressing the Friday congregational gathering at the historic Jamia Masjid, here, the Mirwaiz urged the world human rights bodies to raise their voice against the brutal rapes and murders of Kashmiri women committed over the years, and ensure justice was delivered.

   

The Mirwaiz who was allowed to address the Friday gathering after two Fridays, said the rape and murder of the Kathua child had shaken entire world and at the same time the incident had refreshed “our old wounds and reminded Kashmiris of many similar brutal  mass rape and murders committed here by the forces who continue to roam freely.”

The Mirwaiz said the incidents like Kunan Poshpora, Chaksaidpora, Pazipora, Dooru, Shopian (Asiya-Neolofar) are the glaring examples of “war crimes committed by the forces in Kashmir since 1990 in a bid to incite fear and intimidate freedom seeking people of Kashmir.”

He said the rape and murder of the minor Kathua girl was “premeditated”. “It was aimed to push and drive out Bakerwal community from the area by instilling fear among them, like the Kunan Poshpora act, which was committed to force the entire Kashmir population into submission,” he, according to a statement issued here, said.

The Mirwaiz, according to the statement, said while on one hand the people of J&K are demanding stern punishment to the culprits of Kathua case, at the same time “we demand reopening of all rape and murder cases that happened in Kashmir since 1990 and to bring the culprits in those cases to book after investigation.”

The Mirwaiz also urged all the “pro-justice people across the globe to rise to the occasion and ensure justice is delivered to all the victims of rape and murder in J&K.”

Mirwaiz also lambasted the ruling regime for imposing frequent curbs and caging the resistance leadership in jails and homes. 

He said, “How long the rulers would curb the resistance leadership and the people?”

He said today strong voices are emanating across India and Pakistan saying that war is no solution and that Delhi must accept the ground reality and address the core issue of Kashmir.

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