The brutal rape and murder of two young women in Shopian on May 29, by the security forces of the state, led to widespread protests, bandhs and demonstrations all over the Kashmir Valley, which continued for over two weeks. People poured out on to the streets demanding justice, conviction and punishment of the culprits, self-determination, removal of the armed forces and repeal of the AFSPA which gives immunity to the armed forces in their crimes. The police, armed forces and state administration cracked down on the protestors with tear gas and lathis, injuring hundreds of people, including women and children, some of whom are reported to have succumbed to their injuries.

People are particularly enraged by the manner in which the police and the state administration have tried to cover up the whole issue and exonerate the perpetrators of the crime. The road along which the women were reported to have gone after leaving their orchard lies in a high security area, next to the CRPF and police camps, yet the police deny having noticed anything. A press release issued by the police on May 30 denied any signs of assault on the bodies of the victims. On June 1 the J&K Chief Minister called it "a case of drowning", even as it was being pointed out that the stream in which the bodies were found had only knee deep water. Gujjar nomads who had been residing in tents in the area with their flock, who reportedly claimed to have heard the screams of the women on the night of May 29, were forced by the security forces to leave the area the same night. The family members of the victims have accused the police of tampering with evidence at the place where the dead bodies were found. They have also accused the SP of Shopian of trying to influence the doctors performing the autopsy of the victims and of harassing and intimidating the family.

Only after sustained protests on the streets, an FIR was lodged on June 7, more than a week after the incident. The post mortem report as well as a FSL report on May 6 established that the women had been raped and then murdered. Meanwhile, the Bar Association of Shopian has alleged that the prime eye witnesses are in the cusotdy of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the police, but the investigating officials (IOs) had not produced them before the chief magistrate for recording their statements till May 17, suggesting attempts to silence the witnesses. Following the mass protests, a judicial enquiry has been set up, but it has been reported that this lacks credibility among the people because it is headed by a retired High Court judge selected by the Chief Minister, instead of a judge nominated by the CJI, as is the normal procedure.

Even as people in Kashmir continue to demand that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act be revoked and the army sent back to the barracks, even as people openly express their hatred for "the men in uniform" and are fed up with the extent of militarisation there, the Army Chief has arrogantly declared that the army presence in J&K cannot be reduced. Home Minister P. Chidambaram visited J&K on June 11, in an attempt to placate the mood of the Kashmiri people, but apart from some soothing noises, he did not promise anything definite. 

For over 60 years now, the Indian ruling class has refused to address the concerns of the Kashmiri people, including their demand for self determination. Kashmir has been turned into an army camp, and tens of thousands of Kashmiri women have been raped and Kashmiri people murdered by the armed forces. The brutal occupation of Jammu & Kashmir by the Indian armed forces, against the will of the people, is at the heart of the problem. The AFSPA allows the armed forces to commit all kinds of atrocities against the people, as it grants them immunity from normal criminal procedure and the legal and judicial process. The democratic and civil rights and liberties of the people are ruthlessly trampled on. The people of Kashmir have been consistently asserting their right to self determination, up to and including secession. They have been demanding an end to the brutal army occupation of their land. But the practice of the Indian ruling class over the years has revealed that it is only concerned about the beautiful land of Jammu & Kashmir and its military strategic importance, and not about its people. By conducting elections periodically, under the shadow of the gun, as it did last year, with the army literally forcing people to vote at gun-point, it tries to make out that there is democracy and a civilian government in place, but this flies in the face of the day-to-day experience of the Kashmiri people.

At the same time, the ruling class has cynically tried to divide the people of the state along regional and religious lines, through its political parties like Congress and BJP, as was seen once again last summer during the agitations over the acquisition of land by the state for the Amarnath yatra. It tried to use the issue of land acquisition along the yatra route as a symbol of the Centre's ocupation of Kashmir. It tried to use it to whip up passions on religious lines and obscure the fact that the problem is one of denial of national rights of the Kashmiri people. It has consistently used the strategic location of J&K to justify the heavy army presence there in the name of countering the "threat from Pakistan" and "threat of terrorism".

People's Voice fully supports the demands of the people of Kashmir that those guilty of the rape and murder of the women in Shopian should be immediately convicted and punished, that the armed forces should be withdrawn from the Kashmir Valley, that AFSPA should be revoked and human rights violations of the Kashmiri people should be ended. We demand that the central government address the concerns of the Kashmiri people and stop using force to crush their aspirations.

The aspirations of a people for self determination can never be crushed with force. The reorganization of the Indian Union as a voluntary union of nations and peoples, with each constituent nation and people having the right to self determination, up to and including secession, is the demand around the Indian people must unite, in order to bring about an end to the tragedy of the Kashmiri people.