Kashmir women bear more persecution than men. Assaulted by rape, they live in constant fear of their honor and dignity stripped off by Indian armed forces. A retired army officer, SP Sinha, validate their fears.

A former Indian Army official, Maj Gen (R) SP Sinha, called for the mass rape of Kashmiri women on Indian television. A short video from the news program floated on the internet and sparked fury on social media. The video incited furor among people.

Listen this Ex Army officer Maj Gen SP Sinha. He said "Balatkar ke badle Balatkar" (rape for rape) as a revenge for Kashmiri Pandit exodus. He should be striped off his rank without any pensionary benefit. FIR needs to be filed.@DefenceMinIndia@PMOIndia@adgpi pic.twitter.com/nyIvGOzCkF — Syed Shahbaj Kabir (@CitizenKabir) November 17, 2019

Don’t worry. Maj Gen SP Sinha was an Ordnance officer. He was never into fighting. His role was logistical not operational. AFSPA is there to protect the fighters from the draconian ultra left activists who are always trying to harass the armed forces trying to fight terrorists. https://t.co/enE54MYPqv — Danvir Singh chauhan (@danvir_chauhan) November 17, 2019

SP Sinha, a retired army officer is a serving BJP official, who joined the party in 2013. His explosive comments of ‘death for death and rape for rape’ unleashed an outrage on social media, with hundreds and thousands of social media users from India and across the globe reproached the Indian government and BJP.

They demanded an explanation of Sinha’s fiery assertions. Despite continuous calls from the host of the show and fellow analysts, Sinha repeatedly shouted his demand to rape and dishonor Kashmiri women to revenge the death of Indian soldiers and mass atrocities against Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s during their departure from the valley.

A former officer of @adgpi Maj Gen SP Sinha, who joined BJP in 2013, advocated "death for death, rape for rape" for Kashmiris, leading parts of a TV debate audience to demand the same. Imagine the fate of women in conflict areas where such men wield power with total impunity. https://t.co/mFcy3lEpmY — Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) November 17, 2019

https://twitter.com/varnishant/status/1196106495730958338

Sinha’s assertions have ruthlessly laid bare the hidden bigot and scorn among BJP towards Muslims and Kashmiris. This also endorses the impression that a fight in Kashmir is beyond politics and is gradually taking shape of extremism; religious and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Muslims.

Read more: India makes pop songs about settling with fair Kashmiri girls

The abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A was one such bigoted attempt to further oppress the Kashmiri Muslims from raising their voice and quash their decades-long freedom movement.

Women deemed weak and more vulnerable, have been under constant attack by BJP. Earlier, soon after the revocation of Article 350 and 37-A, songs of marrying fair Kashmiri women, and objectifying them as things of possession hit the Indian social media. The misogyny echoed further in other relating social media content.

Unbelievably, even a leader of BJP’s women wing also encouraged Hindu men to openly rape Kashmiri women. She was, however, removed from her post following obnoxious comments.

https://twitter.com/varnishant/status/1196074144929959936

Firstly Maj Gen SP Sinha was never in command of combat troops in J&K or else where in the country. He is from logistics stream & nothing to do with combat. I as a combat soldier always maintained we are humans first & soldiers later. We all condemn his reprehensible comments. https://t.co/MbT2W46uUp — Narender Kumar (@narry13) November 17, 2019

Mass Pape Allegations

Indian Armed Forces, however, are alleged of the mass rape of Kashmiri women in 1991. More than 30 Kashmiri women were raped by Indian Army officers in two villages, Kunan and Pushpora, in a mass operation in 1991. Though the Indian Army has denied these allegations the UN report published confirms the allegations and even slammed the Indian authorities for obstructing efforts to deliver justice to the victims.