As the world is observing the International Women’s Day, today, miseries of the Kashmiri women inflicted by Indian forces’ personnel continue unabated in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to a report released by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service, on the occasion of the global day, thousands of women are among 95,981 Kashmiris martyred by Indian state machinery since January 1989. At least, 681 women have been assassinated by the troops since January 2001 till date. The report pointed out that Indian troops molested 11,250 women including the victims of Kunanposhpora mass rape.
The report revealed that hundreds of school girls were injured in pellet firing by Indian troops, while many including 19-month-old Hiba Jan and 2-year-old Nusrat Jan were blinded. Over a dozen women including Aasiya Andrabi, Fehmeeda Sofi, Naheeda Nasreen and Naseema Bano are facing illegal detention for supporting the Kashmiri people’s righteous demand for self-determination.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference and High Court Bar Association in their statements in Srinagar said the International Women’s Day has no significance for the Kashmiri women as they continue to face victimization at the hands of Indian troops. They said India is using the rape of women in IIOJK as a weapon of war to suppress the Kashmiris’ freedoms movement. They deplored that thousands of Kashmiri women had no information about the whereabouts of their husbands who were subjected to enforced disappearance by Indian troops. Senior APHC leader Professor Abdul Ghani Butt addressing a meeting in Srinagar said war is no solution as it only brings destruction to human societies. He called upon Pakistan and India to start a dialogue process to resolve the long-pending Kashmir dispute, once and for all.
On the other hand, speakers at seminar organized by APHC-AJK chapter in Islamabad, today, appreciated the role of Kashmiri women in the ongoing struggle for freedom of Jammu and Kashmir. They urged the international community to help bring honourable and just resolution of the Kashmir dispute to restore the dignity of all the Kashmiris including the tormented women.
Protest rallies and a seminar were held by APHC-AJK leaders in Muzaffarabad to draw the attention of world community towards the Indian oppression on women in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.—KMS
