{"id":59042,"date":"2018-04-30T18:00:33","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T23:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=59042"},"modified":"2018-04-30T18:00:33","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T23:00:33","slug":"sri-lankan-women-groups-and-activists-write-to-indian-envoy-in-colombo-expressing-concern-over-the-alleged-torturegangrape-and-murder-of-8-year-old-girl-asifa-in-a-temple-in-kashmir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=59042","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lankan Women Groups and Activists Write to Indian Envoy in Colombo Expressing Concern Over the Alleged Torture,Gangrape and Murder of 8 Year old girl Asifa in a Temple in Kashmir."},"content":{"rendered":"

Several Women’s groups and individual activists in Sri Lanka have together expressed concern over a horrible incident in India where an eight year old girl Asifa was allegedly tortured and gang-raped over a period of four days in a temple at Rasana in the Kathua district of Kashmir and killed by strangulation. In a letter sent collectively to the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Taranjit Singh Sandhu the concerned organizations and individuals have stated they were “deeply disturbed by the recent events” and said ” As members of the regional community we raise our voice in protest for particular reasons that make this case more horrific than others that have taken place in our region in the last year or two”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The full text of the letter and list of signatories are posted below – <\/p>\n

25th April 2018
\nH.E. Taranjit Singh Sandhu
\nHigh Commissioner
\nHigh Commission of India
\nColombo 3. <\/strong><\/p>\n


\nYour Excellency,<\/em><\/p>\n

The Rape and Murder of Asifa: Women\u2019s Groups and Activists Express Concern<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are deeply disturbed by the recent events in Rasana, in the Kathua district of Kashmir and shocked by the fact that a young eight year old was tortured and gang raped in a temple over a four-day period before she was strangled and killed. Let us begin by saying that we welcome the response of the average Indian citizen whose outrage and mobilization is an inspiration to other societies faced with similar atrocities. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As members of the regional community we raise our voice in protest for particular reasons that make this case more horrific than others that have taken place in our region in the last year or two. First it took three months for the facts to come to light and we commend the men and women Jammu Kashmir police force for finally bringing this matter to light before the courts. Secondly, ministers from the ruling government attended rallies in support of the accused uttering communal statements despite the brutal nature of the crime. Thirdly, lawyers and the Bar association of the area also came out in support of the accused and tried to block the police from bringing their evidence to court. These are unconscionable matters and the Indian public has taken the lead in responding to the vicious nature of this behavior. Finally, the use of rape of a child as a weapon to terrorize another community is particularly heinous and deserves national, regional and global condemnation.<\/p>\n

Your Excellency, we fear for our region in that many of our societies are experiencing governmental action and political movements that enable hate crimes, hate speech and general intolerance toward another community. This is done through the creation of organizations that engage in vicious acts and sometimes enjoy impunity as well as through the social media. We urge India and the governments of the region to take bold steps to confront these issues and to return South Asia to its roots where respect for diversity and humanity were part of its cultural heritage and many of the movements of independence from colonialism.<\/p>\n

Yours sincerely, <\/em><\/p>\n

Signed by: <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Organizations<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\tCenter for Social Concerns- Jaela<\/p>\n

\u2022\tMuslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum- Colombo 5<\/p>\n

\u2022\tMannar Women’s Development Federation<\/p>\n

\u2022\tWomen’s Action Network <\/p>\n

\u2022\tMuslim Women Development Trust- Puttalam<\/p>\n

\u2022\tAffected Women’s Forum – Akkaraipattu <\/p>\n

\u2022\tWomen and Media Collective \u2013 Colombo<\/p>\n

\u2022\tWomen’s Education and Research Centre (WERC)<\/p>\n

Individuals<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022\tRadhika Coomaraswamy- Former Under Secretary General of the United Nations<\/p>\n

\u2022\tDr Malathi de Alwis- Visiting faculty, University of Colombo <\/p>\n

\u2022\tCamena Guneratne- Professor Open University of Sri Lanka<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSarala Emmanuel- Suriya Women’s Development Centre<\/p>\n

\u2022\tDeshanbandu Jezima Ismail- Chairperson Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n

\u2022\tProfessor Savitri Goonesekere- Board Member of the Global partnership on VAC <\/p>\n

\u2022\tAnnie Kurian- Centre for Social Concerns<\/p>\n

\u2022\tPrema Gamage- Freelance Consultant<\/p>\n

\u2022\tDr. Kumari Jayawardhane- Secretary. Social Scientists Association<\/p>\n

\u2022\tProfessor Maithree Wickramainghe- University of Kelaniya<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSilma Ahamed- Activist Mother<\/p>\n

\u2022\tFlorine Marzook- Researcher<\/p>\n

\u2022\tShreen Abdul Saroor- Women’s rights activists <\/p>\n

\u2022\tMahalaxumy Kurushanthan- Women’s rights activists <\/p>\n

\u2022\tJuwairiya Mohideen- Women’s rights activists <\/p>\n

\u2022\tJensila Majeed- Women’s rights activists <\/p>\n

\u2022\tVanie Simon- Women’s rights activists <\/p>\n

\u2022\tC.Y. Idamegama- Gender Consultant <\/p>\n

\u2022\tInoka Priyadarshani- Social Researcher.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tChandra Welegedera- Director, Women\u2019s Development Centre, Badulla<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSelvy Thiruchandran PhD- Trustee and Board Member Women’s Education and Research Centre (WERC)<\/p>\n

\u2022\tFathima Cader- Print and Electronic Media Journalist<\/p>\n

\u2022\tChulani Kodikara- PhD candidate- University of Edinburgh<\/p>\n

\u2022\tEin Lall- Documentary film maker.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tDr. Farzana Haniffa- Senior Lecturer. University of Colombo<\/p>\n

\u2022\tMunza Mushtaq- Journalist<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSumika Perera- Coordinator Women’s Resource Center, Kurunegala <\/p>\n

\u2022\tDr. Sepali Kottegoda DPhil (Sussex) Director Programmes – Women’s Economic Rights and Media Women and Media Collective<\/p>\n

\u2022\tKumudini Samuel- Director, Programmes and Research. Women and Media Collective<\/p>\n

\u2022\tDr. Nimalka Fernando- Women’ s Political Academy, Mothers and Daughters of Lanka<\/p>\n

\u2022\tAnusha David- Chairman, Headlines<\/p>\n

\u2022\tShafinaz Hassendeen- Director- Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n

\u2022\tFaizun Zackariya- Director- Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n

\u2022\tAnberiya Hanifa- Director- Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n

\u2022\tIffath Anwar- Bachelor in Social Work- National Institute of Social Development<\/p>\n

\u2022\tManjuka Sritharan- Bachelor in Social Work- National Institute of Social Development<\/p>\n

\u2022\tAathifa Thowfeek- Trainee- Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n

\u2022\tDilrukshi Handunnetti,- Journalist and Lawyer & South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) <\/p>\n

\u2022\tHunniya Wazeer. Directress cum Principal. British International College, Matara<\/p>\n

\u2022\tYasmin Aziz- Activist<\/p>\n

\u2022\tFarzana Khan- Director Viyakata(Pvt) Ltd<\/p>\n

******<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Several Women’s groups and individual activists in Sri Lanka have together expressed concern over a horrible incident in India where an eight year old girl Asifa was allegedly tortured and gang-raped over a period of four days in a temple at Rasana in the Kathua district of Kashmir and killed by strangulation. In a letter …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Sri Lankan Women Groups and Activists Write to Indian Envoy in Colombo Expressing Concern Over the Alleged Torture,Gangrape and Murder of 8 Year old girl Asifa in a Temple in Kashmir.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59042"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59043,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59042\/revisions\/59043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}