Srinagar: In occupied Kashmir, the puppet authorities imposed strict restrictions in Kunanposhpora area of Kupwara district, today, to prevent people from expressing solidarity with the victims of a mass rape perpetrated by Indian troops twenty six years ago. Indian troops had gang-raped around 100 women of all ages from eight to eighty years old on the night of February 23 in 1991 during a siege and search operation in Kunanposhpora.
Different pro-freedom organizations had planned to visit the area to condemn the heinous crime committed by the occupation troops. However, the puppet authorities imposed strict restrictions and sealed all the roads leading to Kunanposhpora. The authorities also disallowed holding of an event in Srinagar on the completion of 26 years to Kunanposhpora tragedy.
The All Parties Hurriyet Conference Chairman, Syed Ali Gilani, and other Hurriyet leaders including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Muhammad Yasin Malik and Shabbir Ahmed Shah in their statements in Srinagar said that Kunanposhpora mass rape was the most tragic incident of the history of Kashmir. They appealed to the international community to probe the episode to bring the perpetrators to book.
Meanwhile, Indian troops, in their fresh act of state terrorism, martyred a woman in Mulu Chitragam area of Shopian district, today. Locals told mediamen that the troops barged into the residential houses, ransacked the household goods and thrashed the inmates. Earlier, five Indian soldiers were killed and at least six others were injured in an attack in the same area.
People staged forceful demonstrations in Shopian, Kulgam and Palhallan areas against the state terrorism unleashed by Indian troops. Indian police fired pallets and teargas shells to disperse the protesters injuring several people. The students of Kashmir University, Srinagar, staged a protest in the campus over the disappearance of a student.
On the other hand, members of the High Court Bar Association as part of protest programmes issued by the joint resistance leadership staged demonstrations in Srinagar against the Indian brutalities in the territory. Speaking on the occasion, the Bar Association President, Mian Abdul Qayoom, said that there was no rule of law in the territory and the people were arrested irrespective of their age and sex.
Speakers at a seminar organized by the APHC-AJK chapter in Islamabad, today, demanded strict action against the Indian troops involved in Kunanposhpora mass rape and other such incidents in occupied Kashmir. A large number of people participated in a rally organized in Muzaffarabad by the International Forum for Justice and Human Rights Jammu and Kashmir to express solidarity with the victims of Kunanposhpora tragedy.