On Shopian Incident in J&K

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), that met in New Delhi, has issued the following statement on June 21, 2009

THE Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its condemnation of the ghastly incident of rape and murder of two young women in Shopian, Kashmir that occurred on May 29, 2009. The initial efforts of the local administration to cover-up the truth and to pass it off as an incident of drowning is extremely reprehensible. Now autopsy reports by the Forensic Science Laboratory have confirmed that rape had occurred and even gang-rape cannot be ruled out.

It is most unfortunate that this horrific incident took place soon after the Lok Sabha elections at a time when hopes had been raised that some semblance of normalcy was returning to the state and when very large numbers of tourists from all over the country had started visiting the Valley.

The Shopian incident has aroused very strong protests all over the state and the Central Committee is extremely critical of the strong arm methods adopted by some sections of the administration to deal with the protestors. The Central Committee feels that the situation should have been dealt much more sympathetically and hopes that the Commission of Enquiry ordered by the state government will submit its report immediately and that the most stringent punishment will be meted out to the guilty.

The Central Committee urges the Jammu & Kashmir government to talk to the local people and assure them of its determination to ensure speedy and just action so that peace is restored at the earliest.