Rape of Justice in Shopian

It appears that the Indian state’s mantra, when it comes to dealing with minorities, Kashmiris and the peoples of northeast is that “justice must not be done, and it must never be seen to be done”.

Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association (JTSA) condemns the brazenness with which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has given a clean chit to the security forces in the double rape and murder of Asiya Jan (17) and Neelofar Jan (22) in Shopian. The CBI has brashly tried to resuscitate the theory of “death by drowning” as the cause of death of the two young women, proclaiming: “It is a case of drowning. No rape or murder.” All those who questioned the drowning theory had been either successfully intimidated to retract their statements, or victimised or discredited. The CBI, while pleading for discharge of the accused officers – namely, Javed Mattoo (Superintendent of Police – SP), Rohit Baskotra (Deputy SP), Shafeeq Ahmed (Station House Officer) and Ghazi Abdul Kareem (Sub-Inspector) – has sought to demonise those who defied the diktats of the investigating agencies and had the conviction to stand by truth – doctors, lawyers, activists and civilians – by pressing criminal charges against them. This is a concerted attempt to silence all those who stand for truth and justice.