Ashamed of Kunan-Poshpora mass rape: Salman Khurshid ‘Soldiers Need AFSPA Protection; Kashmir Our Family Matter’ ABID BASHIR Srinagar, June 28: After 22 years of the mass rape of several women alleged by armed forces in Kunan-Poshpora villages of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid Friday tendered an apology for the incident, saying he feels ashamed over the fact that the ‘incident has happened in his country.’ This is for the first time that a Union Minister has issued an apology over the mass rape. “What can I say? I can only say that I am ashamed that it happened in my country. I am apologetic and appalled that it has happened in my country,” Khurshid said while replying to a query over the issue during an interactive session with civil society members here. He said so many people suffer who don’t deserve it. “It is like a war. At the end of the war you still shake hands, you sign a peace document and you begin to talk to very people who have been killing or marauding you,” the Union Minister said. Later talking to Greater Kashmir on the sidelines of the function, Khurshid said his heart cries for incidents like Kunan Poshpora. “I won’t pinpoint who and which agency is behind the incident but whatever has happened is very painful,” he said. Khurshid, flanked by State Congress chief Prof Saifudin Soz, said he was shocked as he was not able to do anything about the issue. “At the end of the day, is there a choice between choosing that we forget, if we can, correct as we must and make people accountable as is necessary and then learn to move on (Sic),” he said. Asking the participants of the session to study the history and struggle of former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela, who is presently unwell, the Union Minister said: “You will know what forgiveness is, you will know what struggle is and you will know what building hope out of despair is.” The minister said that it is plain human nature to learn to move forward for which conditions need to be laid. ON REVOCATION OF AFSPA: The Union Minister said that Acts like AFSPA were not just in J&K as they are in North East as well. “The army has been facing a tough time in Kashmir over the past couple of decades. This issue is being discussed in New Delhi as well. There are areas where there is no AFSPA, but we still talk to them with full sensitivity. We have lost some very brave cadres in forces here,” Khurshid said in reply to a query that what was his take on revocation of the act as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and separatist groups had been demanding. The Union Minister further said that forces have not come to Kashmir on their own. “They were ordered to come here. They have faced lot of casualties and the latest count is eight. We have to protect them as they protect us at our borders,” he said. Khurshid said one-sided decision can’t be taken on AFSPA revocation. “It is of course the issue to be dealt by the defence ministry and the Prime Minister. One thing that you (people) can do is that you can say this Act is not necessary. To say that in black and white this Act should go is not reasonable,” he said. “I have no fixed position over the issue. I believe one day Kashmir will change. When Kashmir changes, we all will change so will the army.” ON KASHMIR ISSUE: Khurshid said there is no need of out of box solutions for finding solution to Kashmir. “These are some formalities which some people want to see fulfilled. I don’t think there is much in out of box stuff. But yes there is a problem in Kashmir which we have understood broadly but more specifically we have not understood the problem,” he said. He said in Kashmir there is a problem as to with whom New Delhi has to negotiate. “Those elected believe that others are not representatives and those who are not elected are against those elected. So there is an absolute confusion as to with whom negotiations should be held,” he said. “The solution is that we need to carry forward with multiple conversations which would lead us to solutions.” He said some people believe that New Delhi doesn’t understand Kashmir. “We have tried our best to reach out to people and to know their problems. The situation has dramatically changed on ground,” he said. The Union Minister said there were problems in Kashmir but that doesn’t mean in other States of India there were no problems. “We have problems in Telangana, Uttarakhand and other States similar to those in Kashmir. But Kashmir is special. We want Kashmir to lead India,” he said. “In Afghanistan, there was violence for 10 years but at the end those advocating violence had to accept dialogue as a means of solution.” To a query whether he accepted Kashmir as a dispute, Khurshid in his guarded reply said: “Dispute is a small word. Disputes would be settled by one or the other person. What is more important is the human element.” ON HAJJ QUOTA: “The Saudi Government has reduced 20 per cent quota for the States. They have reduced their own quota by 40 per cent due to constructions in Makkah. We will try our best to take care of the problems being faced by Private Tour Operators,” he said. On delay in issuing of Passports, the Union Minister said there were some cases where passports were being delayed to some people. “I will talk to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and try to sort out the issue,” he said. Earlier, addressing Congress workers at Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters at M A Road here, Khurshid talked about his roots in Kashmir by stating that every time he visits Kashmir, the journey reminds him of his childhood days. “We used to live near cantonment area (BB Cant) and my father worked in a transport company. I had a pet rabbit that one day entered into the cantonment area for never to return. I am still waiting for his return,” Khurshid said, smiling. "That rabbit became a symbol of the beautiful life and progress of this place. It seems that you are also yearning to get that bunny back in your lives," he said. He said Kashmir problem is an internal issue of India. “There is no need for any outsider to point fingers at us on what we have to do or if we have done something wrong. It is an issue within the family. Kashmir is our family matter and whenever there is an issue within the family that is settled by the family members themselves,” he said. "We may have discussions and altercations within the family in our home and say that justice has not been done with us. But this is an internal issue and we have mechanism of discussions and talks through which we can comfortably solve every issue, and we will do that," Khurshid said. He said Kashmir should be a crown of India in all means, physically and emotionally. Talking to GK, the Union Minister said in J&K autonomy flows through Article 370. “We believe that this article should be strengthened at all levels,” he said. To a query on 8000 disappearances, Khurshid said this is a serious issue world over. “We have to see why these disappearances take place. There has to be a strong mechanism and this issue needs to be probed at the highest level by using the law of the land,” he said. On dialogue with Pakistan and possible Taliban spillover, Khurshid said that during talks with the previous Pakistan leadership, some major headway was achieved but due to change in political scenario, the talks were left midway. “Now that there is new government in Pakistan headed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, we should give him some time to settle down. There are some issues like giving India the status of most favoured nation that we would like to be discussed with the Pakistan leadership,” he said. To a query about whether there was a chance of Taliban spillover to Kashmir after the withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan, he said they were in touch with United States over the issue. “We are closely monitoring the situation and also the proposed talks between US and Taliban,” he said. The incident THE twin Kunan and Poshpora villages in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district witnessed mass rape of over 40 women allegedly by the soldiers of the Army’s 4 Rajputana Rifles of 68 Brigade during the intervening night of February 23 and 24 in 1991. A local court in Kupwara recently ordered the police to further investigate the case, with the Judicial Magistrate JA Geelani seeking the investigation by a police official not below the rank of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) within a time-bound period of three months. The victims of the incident in Kunan-Poshpora villages had filed a protest petition in the court against the police’s closure report in the case. The petition mentioned that police investigation into the case was incomplete. In 2011, the J&K State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) recommended to the Government to re-investigate the case. The Commission had asked for constitution of a Special Investigation Team headed by an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police who would conduct the investigation. Reopening of the case has been the long pending demand of the victims and human rights groups in the Valley, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and Support Group for Justice for Kunan-Poshpora. After the incident in 1991, police had lodged an FIR under section 376, 452 and 342 at police station Trehgam against the Army. “Right from February 1991, all successive governments and district administrations have been guilty of callous, negligent, insensitive and indifferent attitude towards the victims as if nothing has happened in Kunan-Poshpora on the intervening night of February 23 and 24, 1991,” the SHRC had observed in its judgment. However, the Press Council of India (PCI) team, which visited Kashmir in June 1991, claimed that charges against the army were "well-concocted bundle of fabricated lies." The J&K government closed the investigations as “untraced”. Following this, the victims approached the SHRC in 2004.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 05:37:50 +0000
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