The Konan Poshpora limbo is a symbol of the state’s failure to consolidate peace in J&K.
The silences that surround the Konan Poshpora rape allegations were thrown into sharper relief by the statement of S.M. Yasin, Kupwara deputy commissioner at the time of the incident. The first government official to visit the villages and record the testimonies of the victims in 1991, Yasin says he was threatened and offered promotions to induce him to change his report. In a letter to the divisional commissioner (DC) soon after the incident, Yasin had said he was “ashamed to put in black and white” the brutalities that had taken place. In the 23 years since, the Konan Poshpora investigation has become a case study in official denial and the failure of justice in J&K.
The mass rapes of Konan Poshpora have become part of a grim folklore in J&K. Ensuring that justice is done in cases such as this one would have been a way to address the deep hurt in the Valley. The relative calm of the last few years, which saw a fall in militant violence, was an opportunity to do so. The government should have used this moment to build trust through more responsive processes of justice. The Konan Poshpora limbo shows how it has failed.
