GOVERNMENT CHOOSES ARMY OVER VICTIMS, TRUTH AND JUSTICE
Kunan Poshpora
Press release
24 July 2014
Despite the passage of 23 years, Government of Jammu and Kashmir and all its representatives continue to protect the Indian army for its crimes in Kunan Poshpora. On 1 July 2014, the High Court division bench recognized the State’s responsibility for the crimes committed in Kunan Poshpora and ordered the Government to explore the possibilities of payment of compensation, and sought a status report on the investigations carried out thus far.
The Government chose to spend the last three weeks to file a review petition against this order, and submitted today that no compensation could be given, and that investigations in the case were continuing properly.
On July 24, survivors of the crime and their families were present in court. They chose to be present to send a clear message to perpetrators and their protectors and facilitators that the people of Kunan Poshpora will not forget and will not forgive.
The High Court did not accept the contentions of the government counsel, who in turn sought a further three weeks time to consider the issue. The case is listed for 12 August 2014.
The reality is that the Government has, as always, chosen to side with the perpetrators of the crime – the Indian army. For more than a year virtually no investigations in the case have been carried out. The government has no interest in providing relief and justice to the survivors of Kunan Poshpora. To serve their own interests and positions, they are willing to sacrifice the rights of the survivors of the Kunan Poshpora mass rape and torture. The ruling elite including the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Law Minister Saifullah Mir through their conduct have proved that they are on the side of the Indian army and that they have chosen to be our enemies.
Issued by Kunan Poshpora Village Committee