Indian activists meet Kunan-Poshpora rape victims after 23 yrs ‘We want the case reopened; it’s a blot on democracy’ By Reader Correspondent Published: Sat, 15 June 2013 10:42 PM Srinagar: In a first visit of its kind, an eight-member delegation of Indian civil society, including a Member Parliament, Friday visited the twin villages of Kunan-Poshpora in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district and met the victims of the infamous mass rape incident of February 1991. The delegation headed by journalist and civil society activist Seema Mustafa visited the houses of the victims and interacted with them. “Some victims interacted with the group and narrated the happenings of the fateful night when troops of 4th Rajputana Rifles of the Army indulged in mass molestation of at least 40 women,”news agency KNS said. Seema termed the mass rape incident as“blot on the face of democracy.”She said,“We want that the case should be reopened and the guilty should be brought to the book. It is a blot on the face of democracy and justice should be provided to the victims.” Seema said they had gone to the village to see for themselves whether political leadership had gone to meet the victims.“It is unfortunate that the political leadership has isolated them over 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, adding that their sole purpose of the visit was not to refresh the wounds of the victims but to see whether the victims have been reached out to. “There has been no move forward over the years and no government has bothered to listen to their plight,”she said.“We 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.” The delegation included West Bengal MP Saleem Ahmad of CPI (M), state general secretary of Maharashtra CPI (M) Paresh Mandal, a retired IAS officer from Gujarat, John Dayal of Christian Organisation, and Sahiba Farooqi of a women’s organization.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 03:54:47 +0000
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