KateCurmi92 at 12:30, 25 February 2026

2026-02-25T12:30:47Z

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{{Short description|Mass rape in Kashmir}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir}}
The '''Kunan Poshpora incident''' was a [[mass rape]] that occurred on 23 February 1991 when a unit of the [[India]]n security forces, after being fired upon by militants, launched a search operation in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora, located in [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Kashmir]]'s remote [[Kupwara district]].<ref name=":0">
{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/unravelling-a-mass-rape/article4892195.ece|title=Unravelling a 'mass rape'|last=Jha|first=Prashant|work=The Hindu|access-date=2017-05-13|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227130251/http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/unravelling-a-mass-rape/article4892195.ece|archive-date=2017-02-27|url-status=live}}
</ref><ref name="nyt">
{{cite news |last1=Crossette |first1=Barbara |date=7 April 1991 |title=India Moves Against Kashmir Rebels |page=3 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/07/world/india-moves-against-kashmir-rebels.html?pagewanted%3Dall%26src%3Dpm |access-date=2017-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002143347/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/07/world/india-moves-against-kashmir-rebels.html?pagewanted%3Dall%26src%3Dpm |archive-date=2018-10-02}}
</ref> While the [[first information report]] filed in the local police station after a visit by the local magistrate reported the number of women who reported rape as 23, the [[Human Rights Watch]] assessed the number of survivors to be up to 100.<ref name= "abdication">{{cite book|title=Abdication of Responsibility: The Commonwealth and Human Rights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QTz5PCDvjEC|year=1991|publisher=Human Rights Watch|isbn=978-1-56432-047-6|pages=13–20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=International Human Rights Organisation|title=Indo-US shadow over Punjab|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MWluAAAAMAAJ|year=1992|publisher=International Human Rights Organisation}}''"...reports that Indian armymen belonging to the 4th Rajputana Rifles of the 68 Mountain Division entered a settlement at Kunan Poshpora in Kupwara district on the night of February 23–24, 1991 and gangraped a minimum of 23 and a maximum of 100 women of all ages and in all conditions."''</ref>

The accusations were denied by the Indian army as the government "determined that the evidence was not sufficient" and issued a statement condemning the accusations as "terrorist [[propaganda]]".<ref name="Reuters001" />

The government's investigations into the incident rejected the reports as "baseless".<ref name="Reuters001">{{Cite news |agency=Global Press Institute |date=7 March 2012 |title=Mass Rape Survivors Still Wait for Justice in Kashmir |url=https://news.trust.org/item/20120307023000-i7m26/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207122324/https://news.trust.org//item/20120307023000-i7m26/ |archive-date=7 February 2021 |access-date=2023-07-04 |work=Thomson Reuters Foundation}}</ref> However, international human rights organizations have expressed serious doubts about the integrity of these investigations and the manner in which they were conducted. Human Rights Watch stated that the government had launched a "campaign to acquit the army of charges of human rights violations and discredit those who brought the charges."<ref name="HRW_India_1992_001">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/ASW-07.htm |title=Human Rights Watch World Report 1992 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |work=World Report 1992 |date=1 Jan 1992 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012082133/http://www.hrw.org/reports/1992/WR92/ASW-07.htm |archive-date=12 October 2012 }}</ref><ref name="UNRefWorld_HRWWR1992_India">
{{cite web | url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/467fca501a.html | title=Human Rights Watch World Report 1992 - India | publisher=UNHCR Refworld | date=1 Jan 1992 | access-date=2008-12-18 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521060258/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/467fca501a.html | archive-date=2011-05-21 | url-status=live }}
</ref>

==Incident==
The ''[[New York Times]]'' had quoted the residents of the Kunan Poshpora neighbourhood stating that militants had fired on security forces nearby, which prompted the search operation by the forces.<ref name="nyt"/> On 23 February 1991 the paramilitary troops of the [[Central Reserve Police Force]] and the [[Border Security Force]] cordoned off the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora to conduct a search operation for the militants. The men in the village were assembled outside and interrogated about the militant activity while the village was searched. After the search operation was over, villagers complained that many women were raped by soldiers that night.<ref name="nyt"/>

Later on the local leader of the Hizb-e-Islami militant group gave an interview to the ''New York Times'' in which he denied the claim that the group had shot first, but added that his commandos were armed to fight the forces off.<ref name="nyt"/>

== Investigations ==
The [[Press Council of India]] investigated the case in summer 1991 and concluded that the rape reports could not be proven. Following that, the government declared the case as "unfit for launching criminal prosecution" in September 1991 and closed it a month later.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

The Press Council's conclusions were criticised by the Human Rights Watch which stated that the results of the examinations still raised questions about the activity of the Indian army in Kunan Poshpora. According to HRW, the Press Council's investigative committee had dismissed any evidence that may contradict the government version of events. The HRW report accused the committee of being focused on shielding the Indian government from criticism rather than uncovering truth.<ref name="abdication" />

The [[United States Department of State]], in its 1992 report on international human rights, stated that there was "credible evidence" that supports the mass rape charges against the army unit at Kunan Poshpora.<ref name="NYT002">
{{cite news |last1=Crossette |first1=Barbara |title=State Department Cites China and Other Nations for Human-Rights Abuses |work=The New York Times |page=6 |date=1 February 1992 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/01/world/state-department-cites-china-and-other-nations-for-human-rights-abuses.html?pagewanted%3Dall%26src%3Dpm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002180555/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/01/world/state-department-cites-china-and-other-nations-for-human-rights-abuses.html?pagewanted%3Dall%26src%3Dpm |archive-date=2018-10-02 |access-date=2017-09-02 }}
</ref>

== Litigation ==
In 2004, one of the alleged victims approached the [[J&K State Human Rights Commission]] seeking a reinvestigation of the case. In 2007, more women asked the SHRC to reopen of the case. The villagers from the two villages formed Kunan-Poshpora Coordination Committee (KCC) headed by 70-year-old man Ghulam Ahmad Dar to seek justice for the victims.<ref name="TheIndianExpress" />

In October 2011, the [[Jammu & Kashmir Human Rights Commission]] asked the J&K government to reinvestigate the reported mass rape case and compensate the victims.<ref name="NewsOct2011_001">{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/shrc-wants-jammu-and-kashmir-army-mass-rape-case-reopened-143852-2011-10-20 |title=Human rights panel asks Jammu and Kashmir govt to reopen army mass rape case |newspaper=India Today |date=21 October 2011 |last=Ganai |first=Naseer}}</ref>

A writ petition filed in the [[Jammu and Kashmir High Court]] in 2013 alleged that more than 30 women had been raped. The charges had not been proved and there had been no progress in trial. The High Court observed that it hoped the committee appointed by the J&K government would examine and quickly implement the recommendations of the SHRC.<ref name="newindianexpressSC"/>

In December 2017, the J&K government approached the [[Supreme Court of India]] against orders of the High Court. The top court directed that the appeals should be heard expeditiously.<ref name="newindianexpressSC">
{{cite news |title=1991 Kunan Poshpora mass rape incident: Supreme Court admits Jammu and Kashmir's plea |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/dec/04/1991-kunan-poshpora-mass-rape-incident-supreme-court-admits-jammu-and-kashmirs-plea-1718371.html |access-date=4 October 2018 |publisher=newindianexpress.com |date=4 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005071903/http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/dec/04/1991-kunan-poshpora-mass-rape-incident-supreme-court-admits-jammu-and-kashmirs-plea-1718371.html |archive-date=2018-10-05 |url-status=live }}
</ref>

==Social impact==
''[[The Indian Express]]'' reported on 21 July 2013 that the victims and their families were being socially ostracised by other villagers in the locality.<ref name="TheIndianExpress">
{{cite news|title=The Silence of a Night|author=Bashaarat Masood|author2=Rifat Mohidin|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-silence-of-a-night/1144455/|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=2013-07-21|pages=10, 11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727034414/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-silence-of-a-night/1144455|archive-date=2013-07-27|url-status=live}}
</ref> The only government school in the two affected villages teaches up to standard eight. The students going for higher education in the nearby Trehgam and Kupwara were taunted due to the incident and most of them choose to drop out after class eight.<ref name="TheIndianExpress"/> Families not involved in the incident at the same villages have disassociated socially with the victims' families. Villagers claimed that it was difficult to find grooms for their children.<ref name="TheIndianExpress"/>

In February 2026, [[Azim Premji University]] [[Sarjapura]] was vandalized by [[Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad]] for allowing a reading circle to conduct a discussion program titled ''Kunan Poshpora'' in the campus.<ref name=":0" />

== See also ==
* ''[[Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora?]]''
* [[Rape during the Kashmir conflict]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Social issues in India}}
{{Sexual abuse}}
{{Rape in India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunan Poshpora Incident}}
[[Category:1990s in Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Rape in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Indian military scandals]]
[[Category:1991 crimes in India]]
[[Category:Indian war crimes in the Kashmir conflict]]
[[Category:Rape in India]]
[[Category:Mass sexual assault]]
[[Category:Wartime sexual violence in Asia]]
[[Category:February 1991 in India]]
[[Category:February 1991 crimes]]
[[Category:Kupwara district]]

1991 Kunan Poshpora incident - Revision history

KateCurmi92 at 12:30, 25 February 2026