Srinagar: On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Kashmiri women continue to endure relentless suffering, fear, and oppression under Indias military occupation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) since 1947.
The last 37 years, Indian forces³including the army, paramilitary, police, and intelligence agencies³have martyred 2,356 women and molested 11,269. Under draconian laws, Indian forces enjoy impunity to imprison Kashmiris for demanding their internationally recognized right to a plebiscite.
The report highlighted that Kashmiri women are among the worst victims of the ongoing conflict, leaving 22,991 women widowed since 1989. Indian forces have systematically used rape and sexual assault as weapons of war to suppress the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination, acknowledged by the United Nations.
Over three dozen prominent women³including Hurriyat leaders Aasiya Andrabi, Nahida Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi, Sobia Aziz, Sheema Shafi Waza, and others³remain under illegal detention in Tihar Jail in Delhi and other Indian prisons under fabricated charges.
The report noted that sexual violence is routinely weaponized by Indian forces to humiliate, silence, and collectively punish Kashmiris for their political demands. Women also live in constant fear due to enforced disappearances of their sons, husbands, and brothers.
Notable cases cited include:
Kunanposhpora, Kupwara (February 23, 1991): Around 100 women gang-raped during a cordon and search operation.
Shopian (May 29, 2009): Two women, Aasiya and Neelofar, abducted, gang-raped, and killed in custody.
Kathua (January 2018): 8-year-old Aasifa Bano repeatedly gang-raped by Indian policemen and communal Hindus affiliated with Hindutva groups.
The report stressed that Kashmiri women also face mental trauma due to killings, arbitrary arrests, and enforced disappearances of their loved ones. It called on international human rights bodies to act against Indias heinous crimes and gross violations of womens rights.
Advocate Abdul Rashid Minhas, APHC spokesman, said Kashmiri women remain the worst victims of Indian state terrorism but continue to play a vital role in the ongoing freedom movement.
APHC-AJK leaders³including Ghulam Muhammad Safi, Mehmood Ahmad Saghar, Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Advocate Pervez Ahmed, Shamim Shawl, Mushtaq Ahmed Butt, and Zahid Ashraf³condemned Indias state terrorism and legal impunity, highlighting that since August 5, 2019, Indian forces have been empowered to target Kashmiri women while violating their social, human, and personal rights.