Ever since more than 40 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Pulwama on February 14, the Indian mainstream has gone mad, with more hawkish nationalists calling for revenge and war. It has even led to Indian aerial bombings on Pakistan, with Pakistan's president, Imran Khan, claiming that this was "done for domestic consumption" in advance of an election.

The suicide attack took place in Indian-administered Kashmir where an armed insurgency for independence has been going on for years. The Indian government generally blames neighbouring Pakistan for supporting a movement in Muslim-dominated Kashmir, claiming that Pakistan wants to annex the territory through uprising.

As the lone bomber involved was a Kashmiri Muslim, and the Pakistan-based Islamic extremist group Jaish-E-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the incident, supporters of ruling right-wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party and others have started a nationwide campaign against Pakistan and the Kashmiri people.

Calls are being made for “Blood for Blood”, while Kashmiris settled in other states of India have come under well-orchestrated attacks from angry mobs.

The anger also spilled outside India in countries among a sizeable population of the Indian diaspora. Candlelight vigils and prayers were organized for the slain soldiers and donations for the bereaved families started pouring in from celebrities.

Though it is sad that so many families lost their loved ones in a single stroke, the hysteria caused by this tragedy has suppressed the wails of Kashmiri women who lost their honour on a single night 28 years ago at the hands of Indian forces.

On February 23, 1991, the Indian army cracked down on two Kashmiri villages, Konan and Poshpora, and allegedly tortured 200 men and gang-raped up to 150 women. Because of shame and a fear of reprisal, many women remained silent.

Close to 40 women dared to step forward to fight for justice and yet years have passed, and there is no justice and closure. This is partly because the Indian army continues to enjoy immunity under repressive laws that give protection to the its forces in conflict zones.

The anniversary of the incident came and passed without much coverage in the media.  

Root causes of terror ignored

In an environment of hypernationalism, any critical questioning of the role of Indian forces is more likely to be discouraged by the political leadership and media pundits—and that is what seemed to have happened in this case.

Undoubtedly, we should all deplore the killings of soldiers who mostly came from poor and less privileged families. But are we ready to question the repression of people by the custodians of peace and security?

Konan and Poshpora are not the only instances of state barbarity or sexual violence by Indian forces. There have been many other instances of how, in the name of maintaining peace or protecting the so-called national interest, political activists have been murdered through extrajudicial means all over India. Custodial rapes have been used as a weapon to punish communities fighting for their rights, including the right to self-determination, as in the case of Kashmir.

Those who are spewing so much hatred against Pakistan or Kashmiris because of the killings of more than 40 soldiers and calling for revenge need to take a moment to remember shameful episodes such as what happened in Konan and Poshpora.

They need to see how repression has caused more misery and violence rather than bringing permanent peace. If we cannot treat our own people with respect, we have no right to confront our enemies, both perceived and real, for merely taking advantage of a disorder created by us.

For the record, the lone attacker involved in Pulwama was also detained and humiliated by the Indian forces for no fault of his own, according to his family. He was returning home when he was picked up during a protest and forced to rub his nose on the ground.

Those talking of revenge are forgetting that such harshly punitive measures have turned many into separatists and extremists. And in the end, it's ordinary soldiers coming from poor families who suffer and not those who incite passions for their narrow political ends.

The Konan Poshpora incident is a reminder that not everything served to the citizens as a recipe for peace by the ruling classes can be accepted at face value. We cannot let them decide in our name what is good for the nation.

Rather than mimicking them, we need to make them accountable for the crisis in Kashmir and ask them to resolve the problem through dialogue and justice for the victims of the Konan Poshpora mass rape and other excesses committed in the name of unity and integration.