Kunan Poshpora incident
Encyclopedia
The Kunan Poshpora incident occurred on February 23, 1991, when units of the Indian army
launched a search and interrogation operation in the village of Kunan Poshpora, located in Kashmir
's remote Kupwara District
. At least 53 women were allegedly gang raped by soldiers that night. However, Human Rights organizations including Human Rights Watch
have reported that the number of raped women could be as high as 100. Although the Indian government's investigations into the incident rejected the allegations as "baseless," international human rights organizations have expressed serious doubts about the integrity of these investigations and the manner in which they were conducted, stating that the Indian government launched a "campaign to acquit the army of charges of human rights violations and discredit those who brought the charges."
cordoned off the village of Kunan Poshpora to conduct a search operation. The men were taken from their homes and assembled in an open field for interrogation overnight. Once the men had been taken away, soldiers allegedly gang raped a large number of village women overnight till 9:00 AM the next day. Local villagers alleged that up to 100 women "were gang-raped without any consideration of their age, married, unmarried, pregnancy etc.," The victims ranged in age from 13 to 80. The village headman and other leaders have claimed that they reported the rapes to army officials on February 27, but the officials denied the charges and refused to take any further action. However, army officials claim that no report was ever made. On March 5, villagers complained to Kupwara district magistrate S.M. Yasin, who visited the village on March 7 to investigate. In his final report, he stated that the soldiers "behaved like wild beasts" and described the attack as follows:
He went on to state:
, Chief Justice
of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, led a fact-finding mission to Kunan Poshpora. Over the course of his investigation, he interviewed fifty-three women who claimed to have been raped by the soldiers, and tried to determine why a police investigation into the incident had never taken place. According to his report, villagers claimed that a police investigation into the event had never commenced because the officer assigned to the case, Assistant Superintendent Dilbaugh Singh, was on leave. Farooqi later stated that in his 43 years on the bench he "had never seen a case in which normal investigative procedures were ignored as they were in this one." Just a few months later, in July, 1991, Dilbaugh Singh was transferred to another station without ever having started the investigation.
On March 18, divisional commissioner Wajahat Habibullah
visited the village, and filed a confidential report, parts of which were later released to the public. He concluded:
In response to criticism of the government's handling of the investigation, the army requested the Press Council of India
to investigate the incident. The investigative team visited Kunan Poshpora in June, more than three months after the alleged attacks. Upon interviewing a number of the alleged victims, the team claimed that contradictions in their testimony rendered their allegations of rape "baseless." The team interviewed hospital officials who stated that one of the women who had been pregnant at the time of the incident had given birth to a child with a fractured arm just 4 days afterwards. She claimed that she had been kicked during the rapes; a pediatrician who visited the village as part of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Basic Rights Committee, confirmed her story. The Press Council team claimed that the fetus had been injured during delivery. Medical examinations conducted on 32 of the women between March 15 and 21, nearly one month after the incident, confirmed that the women had wounds on their chests and abdomens, and that the hymens of three of the unmarried women had been torn. The team claimed that "such a delayed medical examination proves nothing" and that the medical findings were typical among villagers. Ultimately, the team concluded that the charges against the army were, "well-concocted bundle of fabricated lies" and "a massive hoax orchestrated by militant groups and their sympathizers and mentors in Kashmir and abroad...for reinscribing Kashmir on the international agenda as a human rights issue.
The Press Council's dismissal of all the Kunan Poshpora allegation, and the manner in which it carried out its investigation were widely criticized. Human Rights Watch
wrote:
Asia Watch, in its 1991 report, stated:
The United States Department of State
, in its 1992 report on international human rights, rejected the Indian government's conclusion, and determined that there was "was credible evidence to support charges that an elite army unit engaged in mass rape in the Kashmiri village of Kunan Poshpora."
Outraged over the government's handling of the situation, divisional commissioner Wajahat Habibullah immediately resigned, and asked for early retirement from the Indian Administrative Service
.
dismissed all of the allegations of mass rape as groundless. No further investigations were conducted.
In 1994, a Women’s Initiative report featured the testimony of several of the alleged victims. Many complained of social ostracism from their families and communities because of the "shame" of having been raped. Some of the alleged victims reportedly committed suicide after the incident. According to the report, not a single marriage proposal had been received for any women, raped or not, in the village for three years after the incident.
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
launched a search and interrogation operation in the village of Kunan Poshpora, located in Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
's remote Kupwara District
Kupwara District
Kupwara District is located in Jammu and Kashmir, India.-Administration:Kupwara district has 3 tehsils: Handwara, Karnah and Kupwara.This district consists of 11 blocks: Sogam, Tangdar, Teetwal, Ramhal, Kupwara, Rajwal, Kralpora, Langate, Wavoora, Trehgam and Kalaroo...
. At least 53 women were allegedly gang raped by soldiers that night. However, Human Rights organizations including Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
have reported that the number of raped women could be as high as 100. Although the Indian government's investigations into the incident rejected the allegations as "baseless," international human rights organizations have expressed serious doubts about the integrity of these investigations and the manner in which they were conducted, stating that the Indian government launched a "campaign to acquit the army of charges of human rights violations and discredit those who brought the charges."
Allegations of mass rape
According to reports, on February 23, 1991 at approximately 11:00PM soldiers from the 4th Rajputana RiflesRajputana Rifles
The Rajputana Rifles is the most senior rifle regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally raised in 1921 as part of the British Indian Army, when six previously existing regiments were amalgamated together to form six battalions of the 6th Rajputana Rifles...
cordoned off the village of Kunan Poshpora to conduct a search operation. The men were taken from their homes and assembled in an open field for interrogation overnight. Once the men had been taken away, soldiers allegedly gang raped a large number of village women overnight till 9:00 AM the next day. Local villagers alleged that up to 100 women "were gang-raped without any consideration of their age, married, unmarried, pregnancy etc.," The victims ranged in age from 13 to 80. The village headman and other leaders have claimed that they reported the rapes to army officials on February 27, but the officials denied the charges and refused to take any further action. However, army officials claim that no report was ever made. On March 5, villagers complained to Kupwara district magistrate S.M. Yasin, who visited the village on March 7 to investigate. In his final report, he stated that the soldiers "behaved like wild beasts" and described the attack as follows:
He went on to state:
Investigations
Following the district magistrate's report, increased publicity about the incident led to strong denials from Indian military officials. On March 17, Mufti Baha-ud-Din FarooqiMufti Baha-ud-din Farooqi
Mufti Baha-ud-Din Farooqi: was the twelfth Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir. He served as Chief Justice from March 7, 1983 to August 23, 1983...
, Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir, led a fact-finding mission to Kunan Poshpora. Over the course of his investigation, he interviewed fifty-three women who claimed to have been raped by the soldiers, and tried to determine why a police investigation into the incident had never taken place. According to his report, villagers claimed that a police investigation into the event had never commenced because the officer assigned to the case, Assistant Superintendent Dilbaugh Singh, was on leave. Farooqi later stated that in his 43 years on the bench he "had never seen a case in which normal investigative procedures were ignored as they were in this one." Just a few months later, in July, 1991, Dilbaugh Singh was transferred to another station without ever having started the investigation.
On March 18, divisional commissioner Wajahat Habibullah
Wajahat Habibullah
Wajahat Habibullah is Ex Chief Information Commissioner of the Government of India since October 26, 2005. He was an officer of the Indian Administrative Service from 1968 until his retirement in August 2005...
visited the village, and filed a confidential report, parts of which were later released to the public. He concluded:
"While the veracity of the complaint is highly doubtful, it still needs to be determined why such complaint was made at all. The people of the village are simple folk and by the Army’s own admission have been generally helpful and even careful of security of the Army’s officers… Unlike Brig. Sharma I found many of the village women genuinely angry … It is recommended that the level of investigation be upgraded to that of a gazetted police officer."
In response to criticism of the government's handling of the investigation, the army requested the Press Council of India
Press Council of India
The Press Council Of India is a statutory body in India that governs the conduct of the print media. It is one of the most important bodies that sustain democracy, as it has supreme power in regards to the media to ensure that freedom of speech is maintained. However, it is also empowered to hold...
to investigate the incident. The investigative team visited Kunan Poshpora in June, more than three months after the alleged attacks. Upon interviewing a number of the alleged victims, the team claimed that contradictions in their testimony rendered their allegations of rape "baseless." The team interviewed hospital officials who stated that one of the women who had been pregnant at the time of the incident had given birth to a child with a fractured arm just 4 days afterwards. She claimed that she had been kicked during the rapes; a pediatrician who visited the village as part of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Basic Rights Committee, confirmed her story. The Press Council team claimed that the fetus had been injured during delivery. Medical examinations conducted on 32 of the women between March 15 and 21, nearly one month after the incident, confirmed that the women had wounds on their chests and abdomens, and that the hymens of three of the unmarried women had been torn. The team claimed that "such a delayed medical examination proves nothing" and that the medical findings were typical among villagers. Ultimately, the team concluded that the charges against the army were, "well-concocted bundle of fabricated lies" and "a massive hoax orchestrated by militant groups and their sympathizers and mentors in Kashmir and abroad...for reinscribing Kashmir on the international agenda as a human rights issue.
The Press Council's dismissal of all the Kunan Poshpora allegation, and the manner in which it carried out its investigation were widely criticized. Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
wrote:
While the results of the examinations by themselves could not prove the charges of rape, they raised serious questions about the army's actions in Kunan Poshpora. Under the circumstances, the committee's eagerness to dismiss any evidence that might contradict the government's version of events is deeply disturbing. In the end, the committee has revealed itself to be far more concerned about countering domestic and international criticism than about uncovering the truth.
Asia Watch, in its 1991 report, stated:
"The alacrity with which military and government authorities in Kashmir discredited the allegations of rape and their failure to follow through with procedures that would provide critical evidence for any prosecution – in particular prompt medical examinations of the alleged rape victims — raise serious concerns about the integrity of the investigation...Given evidence of a possible cover-up, both the official and the Press Council investigation fall far short of the measures necessary to establish the facts in the incident and determine culpability."
The United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, in its 1992 report on international human rights, rejected the Indian government's conclusion, and determined that there was "was credible evidence to support charges that an elite army unit engaged in mass rape in the Kashmiri village of Kunan Poshpora."
Outraged over the government's handling of the situation, divisional commissioner Wajahat Habibullah immediately resigned, and asked for early retirement from the Indian Administrative Service
Indian Administrative Service
The Indian Administrative Service is the administrative civil service of the Government of India. It is one of the three All India Services....
.
Aftermath
Following the release of the Press Council's report, Indian authoritiesGovernment of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
dismissed all of the allegations of mass rape as groundless. No further investigations were conducted.
In 1994, a Women’s Initiative report featured the testimony of several of the alleged victims. Many complained of social ostracism from their families and communities because of the "shame" of having been raped. Some of the alleged victims reportedly committed suicide after the incident. According to the report, not a single marriage proposal had been received for any women, raped or not, in the village for three years after the incident.