India strongly condemned Pakistan during a UN debate, highlighting the “heinous crimes of gross sexual violence” against women in erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971, and asserted that the pattern continues “with impunity to this day.” The statement came during an open debate on ‘Innovative Strategies to Ensure Access to Life-Saving Services and Protection for Survivors of Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones.’

1971 Atrocities and Continuing Patterns

Briefly addressing what he called a “baseless allegation” raised by the Pakistan delegate, Eldos Mathew Punnoose, India’s Counsellor and Charge d’Affaires, said that the 1971 instances of sexual violence against women were “a matter of shameful record.” He was referring to a series of massacres and rapes in East Pakistan, in what is now Bangladesh.

“This deplorable pattern continues unabated and with impunity to this day,” Punnoose said. “Rampant abduction, trafficking, child early and forced marriages and domestic servitude, sexual violence and forced religious conversions of thousands of vulnerable women and girls as weapons of persecution towards religious and ethnic minority communities are reported and chronicled, including in the recent OHCHR reports,” he added.

Global and Domestic Efforts Against Sexual Violence

Punnoose also criticized those committing such acts while presenting themselves as advocates of justice. “The duplicity and hypocrisy is self-evident,” he said, responding to Pakistan’s allegation regarding sexual violence in Kashmir.

“Perpetrators of heinous acts of conflict-related sexual violence must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and brought to justice.” “Sexual violence in conflict zones not only destroys individual lives but tears apart the very fabric of societies, leaving lasting scars on communities for generations,” he added.

Punnoose referred to UN Security Council Resolution 2467 of 2019 which highlights the need to provide victims access to national relief and reparations programmes, healthcare, psychosocial care, safe shelter, legal aid and rehabilitation and reintegration support. He also listed India’s global efforts to eliminate sexual exploitation in peacekeeping, humanitarian and development work and mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s participation in the Circle of Leadership on prevention of and response to sexual exploitation in UN operations. At the domestic level, he said India has a comprehensive strategy for women’s safety which could be used to support survivors in conflict zones.

“India is ready to share the expertise and experience with interested Member States through our comprehensive training programmes,” he added.