I smell of blood!!

I have always felt pride in what our army does - who wouldn't? These people protect our country and give their all to ensure that we, the common people, sleep in peace. However, yesterday, I read about the Kunan-Poshpora incident (those who are not aware of the details please do refer to the wiki link - Kunan Poshpora incident - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). I felt ashamed of myself and our country. Me - because this inhumane incident happened in 1991 and I was unaware of it (I always took pride in being aware of current affairs) and our country - well, because our government and army do not give two hoots for the common Kashmiri (be it a Hindu or Muslim)! We took to the streets and became one when the Delhi rape happened but no one and I mean NO ONE was there when our army took advantage of a search operation and raped 53 women (official figures, while unofficial figures go up to 100).

Our government found these allegations to be baseless and called this incident to be "a massive hoax orchestrated by militant groups". WOW!! I mean Wow! These men (who are supposed to protect their countrymen and women) behaved like beasts and raped these women (including one pregnant woman whose child was born four days later with a fractured arm) and our government and the army failed to take an action against them because it would cause disrepute to an institution (the Indian army!). I do not say that all army personnel are like that but if there is a problem then it is the job of the government to acknowledge it and take care of it. By allowing these people to go free, the Indian government has given unofficial permission to the Indian army to do what they want so that their backs are saved! Do you know that these women (after 23 years) continue to suffer the aftermaths of that gruesome incident? They are ostracised by society, most of them are unmarried because as per society, they are no longer pure.

My God, what have we become? What have we all become?

I always thought Kashmir is an integral part of India and we should fight for it no matter what. But, after reading this article, I smell of blood - blood of innocent men, women and children - who have not been given the freedom of choice to choose their destiny. Since when have I (as an Indian citizen) have more right than a Kashmiri to choose his destiny? Am I the one who sees their women raped, their men killed and their children made orphans? Do the people who face these atrocities day in and day out not have the right to live their life and not branded as terrorists?

If I do not hold the majority view and say that Kashmir is a part of India and should always remain so, I am called "unpatriotic". From when has patriotism been defined on the basis of lack of humanity? I know for sure that I will be touching a few raw nerves here but all I am asking is for us to just think for once, from their point of view, as a human being - forget your country everything and just for once think of them as humans! Or will we just settle to wash our hands off this blood - the blood of innocent people?

 

I agree that the whole problem also lies in the fact that there are other states who are waiting in line if plebiscite is allowed in Kashmir whether it is a TN or North east or others. Also, another reason why our government will never allow a plebiscite is because Kashmir is strategically important for our country and we cannot let go of it. - But my question continues to remain the same - if there is a problem in the army and there is when it treats women like it has in Kashmir, then why is nothing being done to tackle the situation? Why are Kashmiris who speak about army's atrocities always labelled as a terrorist? Where is the government going wrong when army is responsible for such a massacre?

 

There are two sides to everything, you are completely right. In American army, there have been several cases of army men sexually assaulting their own colleagues who maybe men or women. Here too, most often army turns a blind eye to such sexual atrocities and victims fail to report such crimes to their seniors for fear of being isolated by their colleagues and not getting a fair decision in their favour. In fact, if you remember there was much hue and cry about an army wife who came out and talked about how wife swapping is common in the army in India and how she was expected by her husband to sleep with his seniors (Sex and the armed forces - The New Indian Express). All these incidents even if they come out no strict actions are taken to resolve these issues or conduct an evaluation to understand why this happens?

 

I think blaming the circumstances and environment is an easy way out. Serial killers too manage to get away with doing vicious crimes by blaming abuse and frustration for their mental inabilities. If it is so known that leading such a life can cause men to behave like animals, then why does the army and government not take necessary steps to deal with such issues? Armies across the world have only recently admitted PTSD exists, before army men were expected to deal with stress after war (by being man enough). But still very few army men will acknowledge they have PTSD, which clearly shows a lack of awareness in the system for such issues among these men. Steps need to be taken to make people feel comfortable about dealing with such issues.