25th April 2018<\/p>\n
H.E. Taranjit Singh Sandhu
\nHigh Commissioner
\nHigh Commission of India
\nColombo 3.<\/p>\n
Your Excellency,<\/p>\n
The Rape and Murder of 8 year old girl: Women\u2019s Groups and Activists <\/strong>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 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,<\/p>\n Signed by:<\/p>\n Organizations<\/p>\n \u2022 Center for Social Concerns- Jaela<\/p>\n \u2022 Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum- Colombo 5<\/p>\n \u2022 Mannar Women’s Development Federation<\/p>\n \u2022 Women’s Action Network<\/p>\n \u2022 Muslim Women Development Trust- Puttalam<\/p>\n \u2022 Affected Women’s Forum – Akkaraipattu<\/p>\n \u2022 Women and Media Collective \u2013 Colombo<\/p>\n \u2022 Women’s Education and Research Centre (WERC)<\/p>\n Individuals<\/p>\n \u2022 Radhika Coomaraswamy- Former Under Secretary General of the United Nations<\/p>\n \u2022 Dr Malathi de Alwis- Visiting faculty, University of Colombo<\/p>\n \u2022 Camena Guneratne- Professor Open University of Sri Lanka<\/p>\n \u2022 Sarala Emmanuel- Suriya Women’s Development Centre<\/p>\n \u2022 Deshanbandu Jezima Ismail- Chairperson Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n \u2022 Professor Savitri Goonesekere- Board Member of the Global partnership on VAC<\/p>\n \u2022 Annie Kurian- Centre for Social Concerns<\/p>\n \u2022 Prema Gamage- Freelance Consultant<\/p>\n \u2022 Dr. Kumari Jayawardhane- Secretary. Social Scientists Association<\/p>\n \u2022 Professor Maithree Wickramainghe- University of Kelaniya<\/p>\n \u2022 Silma Ahamed- Activist Mother<\/p>\n \u2022 Florine Marzook- Researcher<\/p>\n \u2022 Shreen Abdul Saroor- Women’s rights activists<\/p>\n \u2022 Mahalaxumy Kurushanthan- Women’s rights activists<\/p>\n \u2022 Juwairiya Mohideen- Women’s rights activists<\/p>\n \u2022 Jensila Majeed- Women’s rights activists<\/p>\n \u2022 Vanie Simon- Women’s rights activists<\/p>\n \u2022 C.Y. Idamegama- Gender Consultant<\/p>\n \u2022 Inoka Priyadarshani- Social Researcher.<\/p>\n \u2022 Chandra Welegedera- Director, Women\u2019s Development Centre, Badulla<\/p>\n \u2022 Selvy Thiruchandran PhD- Trustee and Board Member Women’s Education and Research Centre (WERC)<\/p>\n \u2022 Fathima Cader- Print and Electronic Media Journalist<\/p>\n \u2022 Chulani Kodikara- PhD candidate- University of Edinburgh<\/p>\n \u2022 Ein Lall- Documentary film maker.<\/p>\n \u2022 Dr. Farzana Haniffa- Senior Lecturer. University of Colombo<\/p>\n \u2022 Munza Mushtaq- Journalist<\/p>\n \u2022 Sumika Perera- Coordinator Women’s Resource Center, Kurunegala<\/p>\n \u2022 Dr. Sepali Kottegoda DPhil (Sussex) Director Programmes – Women’s Economic Rights and Media Women and Media Collective<\/p>\n \u2022 Kumudini Samuel- Director, Programmes and Research. Women and Media Collective<\/p>\n \u2022 Dr. Nimalka Fernando- Women’ s Political Academy, Mothers and Daughters of Lanka<\/p>\n \u2022 Anusha David- Chairman, Headlines<\/p>\n \u2022 Shafinaz Hassendeen- Director- Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n \u2022 Faizun Zackariya- Director- Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n \u2022 Anberiya Hanifa- Director- Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n \u2022 Iffath Anwar- Bachelor in Social Work- National Institute of Social Development<\/p>\n \u2022 Manjuka Sritharan- Bachelor in Social Work- National Institute of Social Development<\/p>\n \u2022 Aathifa Thowfeek- Trainee- Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/p>\n \u2022 Dilrukshi Handunnetti,- Journalist and Lawyer & South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN)<\/p>\n \u2022 Hunniya Wazeer. Directress cum Principal. British International College, Matara<\/p>\n \u2022 Yasmin Aziz- Activist<\/p>\n \u2022 Farzana Khan- Director Viyakata(Pvt) Ltd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 25th April 2018 H.E. Taranjit Singh Sandhu High Commissioner High Commission of India Colombo 3. Your Excellency, The Rape and Murder of 8 year old girl: Women\u2019s Groups and Activists Express Concern We are deeply disturbed by the recent events in Rasana, in the Kathua district of Kashmir and shocked by the fact that a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,24,82,18,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities-gender","category-featured","category-international","category-sexuality","category-sgbv"],"yoast_head":"\n