India used rape as war weapon in occupied Kashmir: Mazari

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari in a message on International Day for Elimination of Sexual Violence on Friday said India has used rape as a weapon of war in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

In a series of tweets, she said: “Today is Int Day for Elim[ination] of Sexual Violence. While societies all over are confronted with this menace & govts, incl[uding] ours, are fighting this crime, it is condemnable when states themselves indulge in this crime as Indian govts as a matter of policy have been doing in IOJK.”

Today is Int Day for Elim of Sexual Violence. While societies all over are confronted with this menace & govts, incl ours, are fighting this crime, it is condemnable when states themselves indulge in this crime as Indian govts as a matter of policy have been doing in IOJK

— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) June 19, 2020

Shireen Mazari said the Occupation Indian state has used rape as a weapon of war in IOJK, recalling a mass rape by Indian occupation forces in the villages of Kunan and Poshpora on Feb 23, 1991, which is internationally documented.

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“Modi’s Hindutva Supremacist Govt has carried on with this state-sponsored crime in IOJK,” she lamented.

Meanwhile, expressing solidarity with Kashmiri Women on international day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui in a statement today said that Pakistan condemns India’s use of rape as an instrument of state policy to subjugate the Kashmiri people in the occupied territory.

She said the world must wake up to these war tactics in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in violation of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law as well as applicable UN Security Council Resolutions.

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She said, in the past three decades, more than 11,000 women have been victims of rape or gang-rape at the hands of Indian occupation forces in occupied Jammu & Kashmir. “We reaffirm our complete solidarity with these Kashmiri women and their families.”