AI Generated Summary
- As the Security Council deliberated on the findings, India’s intervention drew sharp focus on the historic atrocities of 1971 and the persistence of sexual violence as a tool of oppression, underscoring the continuing challenge of addressing impunity in conflict zones worldwide.
- Speaking at an open debate on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) on Tuesday, Indian Chargé d’Affaires Eldos Mathew Punnoose accused the Pakistan Army of committing “heinous crimes of gross sexual violence” against hundreds of thousands of women in what was then East Pakistan.
- In a strong statement before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India has condemned Pakistan for what it described as organised sexual violence against women during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and for continuing such practices over the decades within its own borders.
In a strong statement before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), India has condemned Pakistan for what it described as organised sexual violence against women during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and for continuing such practices over the decades within its own borders.
Speaking at an open debate on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) on Tuesday, Indian Chargé d’Affaires Eldos Mathew Punnoose accused the Pakistan Army of committing “heinous crimes of gross sexual violence” against hundreds of thousands of women in what was then East Pakistan. The debate was addressed by Pramila Patten, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, who presented the latest annual report on CRSV.
Punnoose recalled the systematic use of rape as a weapon during the 1971 conflict, noting that Pakistani forces are estimated to have assaulted between 200,000 and 400,000 ethnic Bengali women and girls, with many victims driven to suicide. He referred to documented accounts of military-run “rape camps” and cited General Tikka Khan, known as the “Butcher of Bengal,” as the architect of the campaign, formally called Operation Searchlight. This military operation, aimed at crushing Bengali nationalism, has been described as a genocide targeting ethnic Bengalis—especially non-Muslims.
India’s envoy also criticised what he called Pakistan’s “weaponisation of violence against women” in targeting minority communities. He pointed to reports by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) that document abduction, trafficking, forced marriages, domestic servitude, sexual violence, and coerced religious conversions. Punnoose said such practices continue “unabated and with impunity,” and are even validated by Pakistan’s judiciary.
The remarks came in response to Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, who had earlier alleged sexual violence and forced disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir. “It is ironical that those who perpetrate these crimes are now masquerading as champions of justice,” Punnoose retorted, calling Pakistan’s stance “duplicitous and hypocritical.” He reiterated India’s “unwavering commitment” to combat sexual violence in conflict and assist survivors.
Global Surge in Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
The UNSC debate also heard sobering figures from Patten’s report, which revealed a 25 per cent increase in verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2024, totalling 4,600 incidents. Patten emphasised that this figure is likely a “chronic undercount,” representing only the cases the UN could confirm.
Children have been increasingly targeted, with cases of sexual violence against minors—some as young as one year old—rising by 35 per cent. The highest numbers of confirmed cases were recorded in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Somalia, and South Sudan.
The report also identified new regions where such violence has been documented, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s previously unaffected areas, Libya, and the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories.
As the Security Council deliberated on the findings, India’s intervention drew sharp focus on the historic atrocities of 1971 and the persistence of sexual violence as a tool of oppression, underscoring the continuing challenge of addressing impunity in conflict zones worldwide.
