Revision as of 22:25, 11 December 2014 view sourceRegentsPark (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Administrators45,701 edits remove pre-republic of india stuff← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 22:18, 4 October 2024 view source XTheBedrockX (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users79,046 edits ± 3 categories using HotCat | ||
(292 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown) | |||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Organized breaches of fundamental human rights in Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir}} | |||
Since the ], Kashmir has been a disputed and divided territory with human rights abuses in both the section administered by India (]) and that administered by Pakistan (] and ]). | |||
{{about|human rights abuses throughout the larger region of Kashmir|human rights abuses in Indian-administered territory|Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir|human rights abuses in Pakistani-administered territory|Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir}} | |||
{{pp-protect|small=yes}} | |||
{{EngvarB|date=December 2014}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} | |||
'''Human rights abuses in Kashmir''' have been perpetrated by various belligerents in the territories controlled by both ] and ] since the two countries' ] began with ], shortly after the ]. The organized breaches of fundamental human rights in ] are tied to the contested territorial status of the region, over which India and Pakistan have fought ]. More specifically, the issue pertains to abuses committed ] (comprising the territories of ] and ]) and ] (comprising the territories of ] and ]). | |||
==Background== | |||
==Indian-administered Kashmir== | |||
===Durrani Empire=== | |||
The Mughal rule was followed by the ] of ].<ref name=imperialgazet-gulabsingh/> | |||
===Incidents near the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan=== | |||
===Sikh and Dogra rule=== | |||
The ] (LOC) is a military control line between Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. The line does not constitute a legally international boundary but it is a ] border, designated in 1948 as a cease-fire line, it divided Kashmir into two parts and closed the Jehlum valley route, the only entrance of the ]. This territorial division which, to this day still exists severed many villages and separated family members from each other.<ref>Ranjan Kumar Singh, '''Sarhad: Zero Mile''', (Hindi), ''Parijat Prakashan'', {{ISBN|81-903561-0-0}}</ref><ref name="loc kashmir">{{cite book | author=Women in Security, Conflict Management, a Peace (Program) | title=Closer to ourselves: stories from the journ towards peace in South Asia | url=https://books.google.com/books?q=line+of+control+separated+villages+families+relatives+in+kashmir&btnG=Search+Books | access-date=27 December 2012 |year=2008 | publisher=WISCOMP, Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama 2008 | page=75}}</ref> The ] planted by the ] alongsides of the line have killed scores of innocent people and left thousands as disabled. Without compensation, these disabled persons in the Indian Kashmir are fighting for the survival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tehelka.com/mines-of-war-maim-innocents/|title=Mines of war maim innocents|publisher=tehelka.com|access-date=27 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213185513/http://www.tehelka.com/mines-of-war-maim-innocents/|archive-date=13 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
In 1819, Kashmir was conquered by the armies of the ] under ] of ].<ref name=imperialgazet-gulabsingh>''Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 15''. 1908. "Kashmir: History." pp. 94-95.</ref> As the Kashmiris had suffered under the Afghans, they initially welcomed the new Sikh rulers.<ref name=schofield_p5-6>{{Harvnb|Schofield|2010|pp=5–6}}</ref> However, the Sikh governors turned out to be hard taskmasters, and Sikh rule was generally considered oppressive,<ref name=madan2008-p15>{{Harvnb|Madan|2008|p=15}}</ref> due to the remoteness of Kashmir from the capital of the Sikh empire in Lahore;<ref name=zutshi_p39-41>{{Harvnb|Zutshi|2003|pp=39–41}}</ref> ] was appointed governor of Kashmir in 1820. With the help of his officer, ], an autocratic ] rule was established which lasted till the ].<ref name=imperialgazet-gulabsingh/> The Sikhs enacted a number of anti-Muslim laws,<ref name=zutshi_p39-41/> which included handing out death sentences for cow slaughter,<ref name=schofield_p5-6/> closing down the ] in Srinagar,<ref name=zutshi_p39-41/> and banning the '']'', the public Muslim call to prayer.<ref name=zutshi_p39-41/> Kashmir had also now begun to attract European visitors, several of whom wrote of the abject poverty of the large Muslim peasantry and of the exorbitant taxes under the Sikhs.<ref name=schofield_p5-6/> According to some contemporary accounts, high taxes had depopulated large tracts of the countryside, allowing only one-sixteenth of the cultivable land to be cultivated.<ref name=schofield_p5-6/> | |||
During ], the ] and the supporters of ] blocked the Srinagar-Jammu National highway (]). The only national highway which connects ] to the rest of India remained closed for several days and stopped the supply of essential commodities.<ref>{{cite news|last=Masoodi|first=Nazir|author2=Razdan, Nidhi |url=http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080054234&ch=6/24/2008%209:54:00%20PM|title=J&K tense over land transfer to Amarnath shrine|publisher=NDTV|date=24 June 2008|access-date=27 November 2012}}</ref><ref name="hindustantimes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/special-news-report/News-Feed/It-s-not-Jammu-or-Kashmir/Article1-329067.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017180609/http://www.hindustantimes.com/special-news-report/News-Feed/It-s-not-Jammu-or-Kashmir/Article1-329067.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 October 2012|title=It's not Jammu or Kashmir|work=Hindustan Times|access-date=27 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/protests-in-delhi-over-amarnath-land-row_10065628.html|title=Protests in Delhi over Amarnath land transfer row|publisher=thaindia.com|access-date=27 December 2012|archive-date=16 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016122137/http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/protests-in-delhi-over-amarnath-land-row_10065628.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In response to the blockade, on 11 August 2008, under the leadership of ], 50,000 to 2,50,000 Kashmiri protesters attempted to cross the Line of Control to ]. The protesters were stopped at ] which resulted in killing of fifteen people and hundreds injured when police and Indian paramilitary forces fired on them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/316196/troops-open-fire-as-250-000-march-to-muzaffarabad-aphc-leader-sheikh-aziz-killed|title=Troops open fire as 250,000 'march to Muzaffarabad': APHC leader Sheikh Aziz killed|first=Jawed|last=Naqvi|date=12 August 2008|website=DAWN.COM}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/amarnath-row-5-killed-in-firing-at-march-to-pok/articleshow/3352939.cms|title=Amarnath row: 5 killed in firing at march to PoK | India News - Times of India|website=The Times of India|date=11 August 2008 }}</ref><ref name="times_tensions">{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> A slogan raised by the protesters was, {{transliteration|hi|Khooni lakir tod do aar paar jod do}} (Break down the blood-soaked Line of Control let Kashmir be united again).<ref name="Aazadi Kashmir">{{cite book | author=Arundhati Roy | title=Aazadi for Kashmir | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDEEAAAAMBAJ&q=line+of+control+in+kashmir+most+inhumane&pg=PA23 | access-date=27 December 2012 |year=2008 | publisher=Outlook publishing | page=23}}</ref> | |||
In 1845, the ] awarded Kashmir to the Dogra ruler ] for 75 lakhs.<ref name=imperialgazet-gulabsingh/> The area included Ladakh in the east, Jammu in the south, central Kashmir valley, ] in the northeast, the ] in the north, and ] in the west.<ref name=bowers>Bowers, Paul. 2004. , International Affairs and Defence, House of Commons Library, United Kingdom.</ref> ]'s 1895 book '']'' reflects the oppression of the people under the autocratic rule of dogras: {{quote|“The peasants were overworked, half-starved, treated with hard words and hard blows, subjected to unceasing exactions and every species of petty tyranny... While in the cities a number of unwholesome and useless professions, and a crowd of lazy menials, pampered the vices or administered to the pride and luxury of the great."<ref name="Sir Walter Lawrence">{{cite book | author=Sir Walter Roper Lawrence | title=The Valley of Kashmir | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=DqAHweWRUs0C&pg=PA2&lpg=PP1&dq=the+valley+of+kashmir&lr=&output=html_text | accessdate=24 December 2012 |year=1895 | publisher=Asian Educational Services | isbn=9788120616301 | page=2–}}</ref>}} | |||
===Jammu and Kashmir=== | |||
In the British census of India of 1941, Kashmir registered a Muslim majority population of 77%, a Hindu population of 20%, and a sparse population of Buddhists and Sikhs comprising the remaining 3%.<ref name=bose-sumantra-2005-p15-17>{{Harvnb|Bose|2005|pp=15–17}}</ref> That same year, Prem Nath Bazaz, a ] journalist wrote: “The poverty of the Muslim masses is appalling. ... Most are landless laborers, working as serfs for absentee landlords ... Almost the whole brunt of official corruption is borne by the Muslim masses.”<ref>Quoted in {{Harvnb|Bose|2005|pp=15–17}}</ref> For almost a century until the census, a small Hindu elite had ruled over a vast and impoverished Muslim peasantry.<ref name=bose-sumantra-2005-p15-17/><ref name=talbot-singh-p54>{{Harvnb|Talbot|Singh|2009|p=54}}</ref> Chronically indebted to landords and moneylenders, having no education or awareness of rights,<ref name=bose-sumantra-2005-p15-17/> the Muslim peasants had no political representation until the 1930s.<ref name=talbot-singh-p54/> In 1947, at the conclusion of ] in the subcontinent, Kashmir saw invasion and occupation at the hands of ] and ].<ref name="division of Kashmir">{{cite book | author=Arthur Mark Weisburd | title=Use of Force: The Practice of States, 1945-1991 | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ASPds6gT1CsC&pg=PA98&dq=kashmir+was+invaded+by+india+and+pakistan+1947&output=html_text&cd=10 | accessdate=24 December 2012 |year=1997 | publisher=Penn State Press, 1997| isbn=9780271016801 | page=98}}</ref> | |||
{{main|Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir}} | |||
{{Further|Rape in Kashmir Conflict | |||
|List of massacres in Jammu and Kashmir | |||
}} | |||
Human rights abuses in ], a ] administered by ], are an ongoing issue. The allegations range from mass killings, ]s,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Binish Ahmed|date=August 8, 2019|title=Call the crime in Kashmir by its name: Ongoing genocide|url=http://theconversation.com/call-the-crime-in-kashmir-by-its-name-ongoing-genocide-120412|website=The Conversation|language=en}}</ref> torture,<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 2019|title=Kashmir: Indian Army accused of torture|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urRENlRFBUQ|website=BBC News (via Youtube)}}</ref> ]<ref name="Hartjen" /> to suppression of ] and bans on religious gatherings.<ref>{{Citation|title=Indian forces clash with Kashmir Muslims marking holy month|date=August 31, 2020|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ssG8OISAYg|work=]|language=en}}</ref> ] have taken place in the region since 1990. The ], ], ] and various ] groups have been accused of committing severe human rights abuses against ].<ref name="Hartjen">{{cite book|last=Hartjen|first=Clayton|title=The Global Victimization of Children: Problems and Solutions|url=https://archive.org/details/globalvictimizat00hart|url-access=limited|year=2011|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4614-2178-8|edition=2012|author2=S. Priyadarsini |page=}}</ref><ref name="Rnews">{{cite news|title=23 years on, Kashmiri Pandits remain refugees in their own nation|newspaper=]|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/kashmiri-pandits-remain-refugees-in-their-own-nation/20120119.htm|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="Hindwan">{{cite journal|last=Hindwan|first=Sudhir|title=Policing the police|journal=Indian Defence Review|year=1998|volume=13|issue=2|editor1-first=Bharat|editor1-last=Verma|page=95|publisher=Lancer|issn=0970-2512}}</ref> | |||
{{Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir}} | |||
==Post-partition== | |||
According to official figures released in the ] around 47,000 people—including 7,000 police personnel and 20,000 militants—have died because of ] {{As of|2009|July|lc=y}}, and 3,400 have disappeared.<ref name=reuters>{{Cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-36624520081121|title=India revises Kashmir death toll to 47,000|author=Reuters Editorial|work=Reuters India|access-date=2017-05-20|language=en-IN|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508113654/http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-36624520081121|archive-date=8 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/228506/40000-people-killed-in-kashmir-india/|title=40,000 people killed in Kashmir: India|work=The Express Tribune}}</ref><ref name="fact">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/14/india-act-un-rights-report-kashmir|title=India: Act on UN Rights Report on Kashmir|date=14 June 2018}}</ref> According to a 2006 report by ], at least 20,000 civilians have died in the conflict.<ref name=HRW2006>{{cite report| url= https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/india0906web.pdf |title= Everyone Lives in Fear: Patterns of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir |publisher=] |date=September 2006 |page=1}}</ref> A ] issue accused India of systemic human rights abuses, it stated that US diplomats possessed evidence of the apparent widespread use of torture by Indian police and security forces.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/16/wikileaks-cables-indian-torture-kashmir | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Jason | last=Burke | title=WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir | date=25 December 2012}}</ref> '']'' in 2019 also reported of "systematic" torture perpetrated by Indian authorities without punishment or accountability.<ref>{{Cite web|date=26 May 2019|title=The Indian Government Has Systematically Used Torture to Crush Opposition in Kashmir, New Report Finds|url=https://theintercept.com/2019/05/26/india-kashmir-torture/|access-date=20 September 2020|website=The Intercept|language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
===Line of Control=== | |||
The ] (LOC) is a military control line between Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. The line does not constitute a legally international boundary but it is a ] border, designated in 1948 as a cease-fire line, it divided Kashmir ito two parts and closed the Jehlum valley route, the only entrance of the ]. This territorial division which, to this day still exists severed many villages and separated family members from each other.<ref>Ranjan Kumar Singh, '''Sarhad: Zero Mile''', (Hindi), ''Parijat Prakashan'', ISBN 81-903561-0-0</ref><ref name="loc kashmir">{{cite book | author=Women in Security, Conflict Management, a Peace (Program) | title=Closer to ourselves: stories from the journ towards peace in South Asia | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?q=line+of+control+separated+villages+families+relatives+in+kashmir&btnG=Search+Books | accessdate=27 December 2012 |year=2008 | publisher=WISCOMP, Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lam 2008 | isbn= | page=75}}</ref> The ] planted by the ] alongsides of the line have killed scores of innocent people and left thousands as disabled. Without compensation, these disabled persons in the Indian Kashmir are fighting for the survival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tehelka.com/mines-of-war-maim-innocents/|title=Mines of war maim innocents|publisher=tehelka.com|accessdate=2012-12-27}}</ref> | |||
India rejected a UN panel in April 2019 asking about steps taken by New Delhi to address alleged abuses listed in their ] report.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Suhasini Haidar|date=2019-05-21|title=India cuts off UN panel after Jammu & Kashmir report|language=en-IN|work=]|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-cuts-off-un-panel-after-jammu-kashmir-report/article27190445.ece|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> ] halted its operation in India in September 2020 after alleged government freezing of its bank accounts, which the rights group partly attributed to its calls for Indian authorities to account for "grave human rights violations in ] and Jammu & Kashmir."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-29|title=Amnesty International's claims of 'witch-hunt' a ploy to divert attention from illegalities: Govt|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/amnesty-international-india-6630818/|website=]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-30|title=Russia, China, Israel and Now India: Countries where Amnesty Has Had Rough Time with Govts|url=https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/russia-china-israel-and-now-india-countries-where-amnesty-has-had-rough-time-with-govts-2918669.html|website=]|language=en}}</ref> India's ] raided several NGOs in October 2020 for alleged funding to terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the action was criticized by a spokesman for activist ] as a case of "crackdown on the human rights defenders in Kashmir".<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-10-29|title=NIA raids NGOs, trusts in Kashmir, Delhi in connection with terror funding case|language=en-IN|work=]|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/nia-raids-6-ngos-trusts-in-kashmir-delhi-in-connection-with-terror-funding-case-says-officials/article32969613.ece|access-date=2021-08-10|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> | |||
During ], the ] and the supporters of ] blocked the Srinagar-Jammu National highway (]). The only national highway which connects ] to the rest of India remained closed for several days and stopped the supply of essential commodities.<ref>{{cite news|last=Masoodi|first=Nazir|author2=Razdan, Nidhi |url=http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080054234&ch=6/24/2008%209:54:00%20PM|title=J&K tense over land transfer to Amarnath shrine|publisher=NDTV|date=2008-06-24|accessdate=2012-11-27}}</ref><ref name="hindustantimes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/special-news-report/News-Feed/It-s-not-Jammu-or-Kashmir/Article1-329067.aspx|title=It‘s not Jammu or Kashmir|publisher=hindustantimes.com|accessdate=2012-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/protests-in-delhi-over-amarnath-land-row_10065628.html|title=Protests in Delhi over Amarnath land transfer row|publisher=thaindia.com|accessdate=2012-12-27}}</ref> In response to the blockade, on 11 August 2008, under the leadership of ], 50,000 to 2,50,000 Kashmiri protesters attempted to cross the Line of Control to ]. The protesters were stopped at ] which resulted in killing of fifteen people and hundreds injured when police and Indian paramilitary forces fired on them.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref name="times_tensions"></ref> A slogan raised by the protesters was, ''Khooni lakir tod do aar paar jod do'' (Break down the blood-soaked Line of Control let Kashmir be united again).<ref name="Aazadi Kashmir">{{cite book | author=Arundhati Roy | title=Aazadi for Kashmir | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=QDEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA23&dq=line+of+control+in+kashmir+most+inhumane&output=html_text&cd=3 | accessdate=27 December 2012 |year=2008 | publisher=Outlook publishing | isbn= | page=23}}</ref> | |||
=== |
==== Indian security forces ==== | ||
In September 1990 the ] was enacted in ] after passing in the ] to handle the rise in ].<ref name=afspa> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001190813/http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/Armed%20forces%20_J%26K_%20Spl.%20powers%20act%2C%201990.pdf |date=1 October 2008 }} Indian Ministry of Law and Justice Published by the Authority of New Delhi</ref> Human rights group Amnesty claim that the special powers under (AFSPA) gives the security force immunity from alleged violations committed,<ref name="Egyesült">{{cite book|last=Egyesült|first=Államok|title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007|year=2008|publisher=House, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations|isbn=9780160813993|page=2195}}</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111165624/http://www.cfr.org/publication/17155/crisis_in_kashmir.html |date=11 January 2011 }} ] retrieved 11 September 2012</ref> and condemn it.<ref name="amnesty.org">{{citation|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/002/1995/en/ |title=INDIA: Summary of human rights concerns in Jammu and Kashmir |publisher=Amnesty International |date=20 February 1995 }}</ref><ref name="AI Press Release Feb 2012">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2012/02/india-security-forces-cannot-claim-immunity-under-afspa-must-face-trial-violations/|title=India: Security forces cannot claim immunity under AFSPA, must face trial for violations.|date=7 February 2012|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="TrustLaw">{{cite web|url=http://news.trust.org//item/20120307023000-i7m26/?source=search|title=Mass Rape Survivors Still Wait for Justice in Kashmir|last=Global Press Institute|date=7 March 2012|publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation|access-date=22 April 2017|archive-date=22 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422221745/http://news.trust.org//item/20120307023000-i7m26/?source=search|url-status=dead}}</ref> United Nations ] ] has urged India to repeal AFSPA and to investigate the disappearances in Kashmir.<ref name="Navi Pillay">{{cite web|title=India has duty to use global influence to speak out on human rights|url=http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30280&Cr=india&Cr1=human+rights|publisher=United Nations News Service|access-date=7 March 2012|date = 25 March 2009}}</ref> | |||
{{main|Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir}} | |||
'''Human rights abuses in ]''', a ] administered by ], are an ongoing issue. The abuses range from mass killings, ], torture, ]<ref name=Hartjen /> to political repression and suppression of ]. The Indian army, central reserve police force, border security personnel and various ] groups have been accused and held accountable for committing severe human rights abuses against ].<ref name=Hartjen>{{cite book|last=Hartjen|first=Clayton|title=The Global Victimization of Children: Problems and Solutions|year=2011|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4614-2178-8|edition=2012|author2=S. Priyadarsini |page=106}}</ref><ref name=Rnews>{{cite news|title=23 years on, Kashmiri Pandits remain refugees in their own nation|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/kashmiri-pandits-remain-refugees-in-their-own-nation/20120119.htm|accessdate=25 December 2012|newspaper=Rediff News}}</ref><ref name=Hindwan>{{cite journal|last=Hindwan|first=Sudhir|title=Policing the police|journal=Indian Defence Review|year=1998|volume=13|issue=2|editor1-first=Bharat|editor1-last=Verma|page=95|publisher=Lancer|issn=0970-2512}}</ref> A ] issue accused India of systemic human rights abuses, it stated that US diplomats possessed evidence of the apparent widespread use of torture by Indian police and security forces.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/16/wikileaks-cables-indian-torture-kashmir | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Jason | last=Burke | title=WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir | date=25 December 2012}}</ref> | |||
On 26 February 2009 the Chief Minister stated the act should be repealed, the security forces however said that revoking the act would be detrimental to security and help terrorist moral, though the militancy has declined the act is still in force<ref name=Chatterji>{{cite book|last=Chatterji|first=Angana P.|title=South Asian Feminisms|year=2012|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822351795|page=|editor=Ania Loomba, Ritty A. Lukose|url=https://archive.org/details/southasianfemini00unse/page/195}}</ref> International NGO's as well as the US state department have documented excesses such as disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions carried out during India's counter terrorism operations.<ref name="Forsythe p.306">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of human rights, Volume 1|last=Forsythe|first=David P.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0195334029|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QbX90fmCVUC&q=kashmir|page=306}}</ref> | |||
====Paramilitary groups==== | |||
During the eruption of armed rebellion the insurgency has claimed to have specifically targeted the Hindu ]s minority and violated their human rights.<ref name=BBCuk>. BBC news.</ref> Reports by Indian government state 219 Kashmiri pandits were killed and around 1,40,000 migrated due to millitancy while over 3000 stayed in the valley.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm |title=Front Page : "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989" |publisher=The Hindu |date=2010-03-24 |accessdate=2012-08-03 |location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=731448 |title=219 Pandits Killed in J&K Since 1989 |publisher=news.outlookindia.com |date= |accessdate=2012-08-03}}</ref> Reports from ], Human Rights Watch and the ] confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by Pakistan-backed militants.<ref name=Forsythe>{{cite book|last=Forsythe|first=David P.|title=Encyclopedia of human rights, Volume 1|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195334029|page=306}}</ref> | |||
Human rights watch has also accused the ] of using children as spies and messengers,<ref name=Hartjen /> India army have targeted reporters and human rights activists, they have also been accused of committing over 200 rapes in an attempt to intimidate the local population.<ref name="Catherwood">{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide|last=Catherwood|first=Christopher|publisher=Infobase|isbn=978-8130903637|edition=1st|page=260|author2=Leslie Alan Horvitz|year=2007 }}</ref><ref name=Karatnycky>{{cite book|last=Karatnycky|first=Adrian|title=Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties|year=2001|publisher=Transaction|isbn=978-0765801012|page=616}}</ref> Wikileaks cables are reported to contain material stating that the International Committee of the Red Cross briefed US officials in India, alleging that India "condoned" torture and that "sexual penetration" formed part of the maltreatment of victims. The ICRC alleged that of the 1296 detainees interviewed, 681 had reported of being tortured. Of those, 304 individuals complained of sexual torture/abuse.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8208084/WikiLeaks-India-systematically-torturing-civilians-in-Kashmir.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Nick | last=Allen | title=WikiLeaks: India 'systematically torturing civilians in Kashmir' | date=17 December 2010}}</ref> | |||
According to a report published by ''Asia Watch'': {{quote|In Kashmir, the militant forces do not control territory and their military operations are generally characterised by ambushes of government forces and hit-and-run attacks for which they rely on weapons such as AK-47s, grenades, mines and other small arms. However, the guerrillas command considerable support throughout the valley and may take refuge among local civilians following these operations. Unable to locate or identify the militants, government forces routinely respond to the attacks by retaliating against entire villages, killing and assaulting civilians and destroying their property.<ref name="Cashmere">{{cite book | authors=James Goldston, Patricia Gossman | title=Human Rights in India: Kashmir Under Siege | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=jrGwSsSchRUC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA17&dq=indian+troops+in+jammu+and+kashmir&lr=&output=html_text | accessdate=25 December 2012 |year=2000 | publisher=Asia Watch Committee (U.S.), Human Rights Watch (Organization) | isbn=9780300056143 | page=19}}</ref>}} | |||
In 2005 ] conducted a survey in Kashmir which found that the number of people who had witnessed a rape in Kashmir since 1989 was comparably far higher than the number of people who had witnessed a rape in other conflict zones such as Chechnya and Sri Lanka.<ref name=":32">{{cite journal|year=2014|title=Rape, Impunity And Justice In Kashmir|url=http://www.sociolegalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Rape-Impunity-and-Justice-in-Kashmir.pdf|journal=Socio-Legal Review|volume=10|page=22|last1=Kazi|first1=Seema|doi=10.55496/ZCWJ8096 |access-date=28 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118224034/http://www.sociolegalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Rape-Impunity-and-Justice-in-Kashmir.pdf|archive-date=18 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The survey found that 13% of respondents had witnessed rape and 11.6% of the interviewees had themselves been victims of sexual abuse since 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artsenzondergrenzen.nl/pdf/KASHMIRFINALVERSION221106.pdf|title=Médecins Sans Frontières – Kashmir: Violence and Health|access-date=6 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108061947/http://www.artsenzondergrenzen.nl/pdf/KASHMIRFINALVERSION221106.pdf|archive-date=8 November 2013}}</ref><ref>, Combat Law, 10 October 2007</ref><ref name=":32" /> Dr Seema Kazi states that rapes committed by Indian security forces outstrips the rapes committed by militants in both scale and frequency.<ref>{{cite journal|year=2014|title=Rape, Impunity And Justice In Kashmir|url=http://www.sociolegalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Rape-Impunity-and-Justice-in-Kashmir.pdf|journal=Socio-Legal Review|volume=10|page=23|last1=Kazi|first1=Seema|doi=10.55496/ZCWJ8096 |access-date=28 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118224034/http://www.sociolegalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Rape-Impunity-and-Justice-in-Kashmir.pdf|archive-date=18 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Professor William Baker stated at the 52nd United Nations Commission on Human Rights that rape in Kashmir was an active strategy of the Indian forces to humiliate Kashmiri people.<ref>{{cite journal|year=2014|title=Rape, Impunity And Justice In Kashmir|url=http://www.sociolegalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Rape-Impunity-and-Justice-in-Kashmir.pdf|journal=Socio-Legal Review|volume=10|page=28|last1=Kazi|first1=Seema|doi=10.55496/ZCWJ8096 |access-date=28 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118224034/http://www.sociolegalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Rape-Impunity-and-Justice-in-Kashmir.pdf|archive-date=18 November 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
According to a resolution passed by the ] in 2006, Islamic terrorists infiltrated the region in 1989 and since then nearly 400,000 Pandits were either murdered or forced to leave their ancestral homes.<ref name=USHR>{{cite web|title=Pallone introduces resolution condemning human rights violations against kashmiri pandits|url=http://www.house.gov/list/press/nj06_pallone/pr_feb15_kashmir.html|publisher=U.S. House of Representatives|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref> | |||
In April 2002, authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir arrested three Indian paramilitary soldiers following the gang rape of 17-year-old girl.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1940088.stm |title=SOUTH ASIA | Kashmir troops held after rape |work=BBC News |date=19 April 2002 |access-date=10 March 2012}}</ref> In July 2011, there were anti-India protests in Srinagar against the alleged rape of a 25-year-old village woman in the village of Manzgam.<ref>{{cite web|author=correspondents in Srinagar |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/kashmir-protests-alleged-rape-by-soldiers/story-e6freuyi-1226100366625 |title=Kashmir protests alleged rape by soldiers |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=Australia |date=23 July 2011 |access-date=10 March 2012}}</ref> | |||
These groups targeted the ] forcing an estimated 100,000 to flee and an estimated 350,000 are displaced since 1990.<ref name=Catherwood>{{cite book|last=Catherwood|first=Christopher|title=Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide|publisher=Infobase|isbn=978-8130903637|edition=1st|author2=Leslie Alan Horvitz |page=260}}</ref> | |||
In October 2011, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir apologised for the release of names, parentages and addresses of 1400 rape victims. However, no details were revealed as to whether the rapes were by security forces, militants or part of crime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_718711.html |title=Kashmir leader apologises for rape victims list |work=The Straits Times |date=1 October 2011 |access-date=10 March 2012}}</ref> Liaquat Ali Khan, an academic writer considers that these excesses in Kashmir do not have official sanction but are easy to commit because of the powers, to cordon and search villages and suburbs, that are vested to security forces by the law.<ref name="Khan2006">{{cite book|author=L. Ali Khan|title=A theory of international terrorism: understanding Islamic militancy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LZT6S_9QA7QC&pg=PA33|access-date=13 March 2012|year=2006|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=978-90-04-15207-6|pages=33–}}</ref> The authorities use association with terrorists to discredit the testimony of the victims, in case the association is established.<ref name="Kumar2002">{{cite book|author=Anuradha Kumar|title=Human Rights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hDtXKy85XdgC&pg=PA134|access-date=13 March 2012|date=1 January 2002|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-322-2|page=102}}</ref> The security forces have carried out extrajudicial killings, assaults and other human rights violations.<ref name=Karatnycky /> An investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir state ] has found 2730 bodies in unmarked graves at 38 sites in northern Kashmir. At least 574 of these were identified as being local people.<ref name=HRW>{{cite book|last=Watch|first=Human Rights|title=World Report 2012: Events of 2011|year=2012|publisher=Seven Stories|isbn=978-1-60980-389-6|page=329}}</ref> | |||
On 25 January 1998, 23 ]s, including nine women and four young children living in the village of ], were killed by unknown persons wearing the uniforms of Indian Army soldiers, who had tea with them, waiting for a radio message indicating that all Pandit families in the village had been covered. Thereafter, they rounded up all the members of the Hindu households and then summarily gunned them down with ] rifles<ref>{{cite web|author=IBTL |url=http://www.ibtl.in/news/states/1705/the-massacre-at-wandhama--kashmir-:-25-january-1998/ |title=The Massacre at Wandhama, Kashmir : 25 January 1998 |publisher=Ibtl.in |date= |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref><ref name="subcontinent.com">"23 Kashmiri Hindus Gunned Down on Republic Day Eve". Retrieved 2009-11-25.</ref><ref name="rediff.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/27kash.htm |title='I heard the cries of my mother and sisters',''rediff.com'' |publisher=Rediff.com |date=1998-01-27 |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref><ref name="Indian Express">{{cite web|author=PRADEEP DUTTA Posted: Jul 28, 2002 at 0000 hrs IST JAMMU |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/archive_full_story.php?content_id=6689 |title=I saw them kill my entire family ''IndianExpress.com'' |publisher=Indianexpress.com |date=2002-07-28 |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref> | |||
On April 9, 2017, in the ] a 26-year-old man captured by the Indian Army, was tied to the front of a Jeep belonging to Indian Army as a column of Indian troops was moving through a locality. The man was reportedly tied to the vehicle to dissuade other Kashmiri insurgents from hurling stones at the Indian troops. The man was accused of being involved in throwing stones at Indian troops.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/investigating-video-showing-youth-tied-to-jeep-army/article18018903.ece|title=Army uses civilian as shield, sparks outrage|last=Ashiq|first=Peerzada|work=The Hindu|access-date=2017-04-18|language=en |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Government of India stated that it would stand by the officer who took the decision to use the insurgent as a human shield.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Halder |first1=Debarati |title=Advancement of Human Rights in India: Contemporary and Emerging Challenges |date=3 May 2021 |publisher=SAGE Publishing India |isbn=978-93-5388-788-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E-EuEAAAQBAJ&dq=Leetul+Gogoi+%27human+shield%27&pg=PA262 |access-date=10 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref> ] ordered the ] to pay 10 Lakh Rupees as compensation to man used as human shield.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Datta |first1=Saurav |title=10 Lakh Compensation to man used as Human Shield – J&K Human Rights Commission |url=https://www.barandbench.com/news/compensation-jk-human-rights-commission |access-date=10 December 2021 |work=Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news |language=en}}</ref> Jammu and Kashmir government refused to pay.<ref>{{cite news |title=J&K Govt Refuses Rs 10 Lakh Compensation to 'Human Shield' Farooq Ahmed Dar |url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/jk-govt-refuses-rs-10-lakh-compensation-to-human-shield-farooq-ahmed-dar-1568953.html |access-date=10 December 2021 |work=News18 |date=6 November 2017 |language=en}}</ref> Major Leetul Gogoi was awarded a Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card by General ] for counter-insurgency operations, which included tying a Kashmiri protester to a jeep as a ].<ref>{{Citation|title=Officer Who Tied Protester To Jeep As 'Human Shield' In Kashmir Honoured By Army|date=2017|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd639Bthrys|work=]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Bollywood glorifying use of human shields|date=April 2018|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1a6642e9OU|work=]|language=en}}</ref> | |||
====Indian security forces ==== | |||
In July 1990 the Indian military was given special powers under ](AFSPA), which human rights groups claim gives the security force virtual immunity for crimes committed.<ref name="Egyesült">{{cite book|last=Egyesült|first=Államok|title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007|year=2008|publisher=House, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations|isbn=9780160813993|page=2195}}</ref> The law provides them a shield, when committing human rights violations and has been criticised by Human Rights Watch as being wrongly used by the forces.<ref> ] retrieved 11 September 2012</ref> This law is widely condemned by human rights groups.<ref name="AI Press Release Feb 2012">{{cite web|title=INDIA: SECURITY FORCES CANNOT CLAIM IMMUNITY UNDER AFSPA, MUST FACE TRIAL FOR VIOLATIONS|url=http://www.amnesty.org/zh-hant/node/29591|publisher=Amnesty International|accessdate=7 March 2012}}</ref><ref name=TrustLaw>{{cite web|title=Mass Rape Survivors Still Wait for Justice in Kashmir|url=http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/mass-rape-survivors-still-wait-for-justice-in-kashmir|publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation|accessdate=7 March 2012}}</ref> United Nations ] ] has urged India to repeal AFSPA and to investigate the disappearances in Kashmir.<ref name="Navi Pillay">{{cite web|title=India has duty to use global influence to speak out on human rights|url=http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30280&Cr=india&Cr1=human+rights|publisher=United Nations News Service|accessdate=7 March 2012}}</ref> | |||
Reports of torture emerged in 2019 during the ], with 3,000 Kashmir residents purportedly detained on 29 August.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 September 2019|title=With meticulous planning, mass arrests and 'torture', Kashmir's autonomy was lost|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kashmir-crisis-latest-india-article-370-autonomy-torture-claims-planning-a9086611.html|access-date=20 September 2020|website=]|language=en}}</ref> Activists on 25 September of the same year found that roughly 13,000 boys had been detained since 5 August, claiming that Indian authorities used excessive force during arrest and torture on some of the boys while imprisoned.<ref>{{Cite web|year=2019|title=Young boys tortured in Kashmir clampdown as new figures show 13,000 teenagers arrested|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/09/25/young-boys-tortured-kashmir-clampdown-new-figures-show-13000/|website=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> | |||
{{quote|“All three special laws in force in the state assist the government in shielding the perpetrators of human rights violations from prosecution, and encourage them to act with impunity. Provisions of the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act clearly contravene international human rights standards laid down in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as members of the UN Human Rights Committee have pointed out. One Committee member felt that provisions of the act – including imunity from prosecution – were highly dangerous and encouraged violations of the right to life“.|A clipping from a report published by the Amnesty International, 1995.<ref name="amnesty.org">http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/002/1995/en/42cb86f1-1ffe-4b90-a12d-c3f6f03b164d/asa200021995en.pdf</ref> | |||
}} | |||
{{quotation|According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an area that is proclaimed as "disturbed", an officer of the armed forces has powers to:<ref name=afspa> Indian Ministry of Law and Justice Published by the Authority of New Delhi</ref> | |||
*Fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death, against the person who is acting against law or order in the disturbed area for the maintenance of public order, after giving such due warning. | |||
A joint 2020 survey from New York's ] and a Kashmiri university found that 91% of polled college students wanted a complete withdrawal of Indian forces from the region.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Umar Lateef Misgar|date=12 March 2020|title=Young Kashmiris want Indian forces to leave: Survey|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/3/12/young-kashmiris-want-indian-forces-to-leave-survey|website=]|language=en}}</ref> According to the ] in August 2019, most Kashmiris wanted independence from India or a merger with Pakistan.<ref>{{Cite web|last=TIM SULLIVAN|date=August 15, 2019|title=Modi clamps down on Kashmir, and India loves him for it|url=https://apnews.com/article/india-ap-top-news-new-delhi-international-news-kashmir-edc2707ebcbc4e4c90106cf1b61f3a0b|website=]|language=en}}</ref> | |||
*Destroy any arms dump, prepared or fortified position or shelter or training camp from which armed attacks are made by the armed volunteers or armed gangs or absconders wanted for any offence | |||
==== Muslim militants==== | |||
*To arrest without a warrant anyone who has committed cognizable offences or is reasonably suspected of having done so and may use force if needed for the arrest. | |||
The rapes by Islamic militants have been reported since the ]. On 22 October 1947, Pashtun militants invaded ] in a Pakistan army truck, and raped women including European nuns.<ref name="Pochhammer1981">{{cite book|author=Wilhelm von Pochhammer|title=India's road to nationhood: a political history of the subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHLB4m75pisC&pg=PA512|access-date=10 March 2012|year=1981|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=978-81-7764-715-0|pages=512–}}</ref> In March 1990, the wife of a BSF inspector was kidnapped, tortured and gang-raped for many days. Then her body with broken limbs was abandoned on a road.<ref name="Joshi1999">{{cite book|author=Manoj Joshi|title=The lost rebellion|page=64|date=January 1999|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-027846-0}}</ref> On 14 April 1990, a Kashmiri Pandit nurse from the ] in Srinagar was gang-raped and then beaten to death by terrorists. ] (JKLF) took responsibility for the crime, accusing Bhat of informing the police about the presence of militants in the hospital.<ref name="HumanRightsCrisis" /><ref name="rediff_2005">{{cite web | url = http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/19kanch.htm | title = 19/01/90: When Kashmiri Pandits fled Islamic terror | publisher = rediff | date = 19 January 2005 | access-date = 10 March 2012 }}</ref> On 6 June 1990, a lab assistant at the Government Girls High School Trehgam, was kidnapped and gang raped for many days. Then she was sliced at a ].<ref name="Butalia2002">{{cite book|author=Urvashi Butalia|title=Speaking peace: women's voices from Kashmir|page=187|year=2002|publisher=Zed Books|isbn=978-1-84277-209-6}}</ref> | |||
*To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests, or to recover any person wrongfully restrained or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances and seize it. | |||
Prana Ganjoo was abducted with her husband in Sopore. She was gang-raped for a number of days before they were both killed in November 1990.<ref name="MarwahIndia)1997">{{cite book |author=Ved Marwah |title=Uncivil wars: pathology of terrorism in India |page=381 |publisher=] |isbn=978-81-7223-251-1 |year=1997}}</ref> | |||
*Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons. | |||
From 1993, reports of rape by Islamic militants had increased, and there were many cases of the militants threatening to kill the family unless a woman was handed over to the militants. According to the ], the rape victims of militants suffered ostracism and there was a "code of silence and fear" that prevented people from reporting such abuse. According to the HRW, the investigation of case of rape by militants was difficult because many Kashmiris were reluctant to discuss it for the fear of violent reprisals.<ref name="HumanRightsCrisis">. Asia Watch, a division of ]. Lat accessed on 10 March 2012. Also published as a book: {{cite book | author1=Asia Watch Committee (U.S.) | author2=Human Rights Watch (Organization) | author3=Physicians for Human Rights (U.S.) | title=The Human rights crisis in Kashmir: a pattern of impunity | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X0QQx5ObGysC&pg=PA154 | access-date=10 March 2012 | year=1993 | publisher=Human Rights Watch | isbn=978-1-56432-104-6 | page=154}}</ref> | |||
*Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be made over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with the least possible delay, together with a report of the circumstances occasioning the arrest. | |||
The increase in number of rape cases resulted in an increased number of abortions, leading to one case of murder of doctor. The doctor was accused of being an informer by the Islamic groups Hezb-ul Mujahidin and Al Jehad.<ref name="HumanRightsCrisis" /> | |||
In January 1991, a woman was forcibly asked to "marry" a militant. Her brother was killed when the family refused, and the girl was taken away.<ref name="Joshi1999" /> | |||
On 30 March 1992, armed militants demanded food and shelter from the family of a retired truck driver in Nai Sadak, Kralkhud. The family complied, but the militants killed the owner and raped his daughter and wife. Then both the women were also shot dead.<ref name="HumanRightsCrisis" /> | |||
Another women was forced to marry the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Farooq Ansari in Kishtwar in 2000. In 2005, a 14-year-old Gujjar girl was abducted from Lurkoti village by the Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, and forced to marry one of them. She was gang-raped by her "husband" and his militant friends.<ref name="married-to-brutality">{{cite news | url = http://archive.deccanherald.com/Deccanherald/feb242006/she1749442006223.asp | title = Married to brutality | work = Deccan Herald | access-date = 10 March 2012 | date = 25 February 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140315172145/http://archive.deccanherald.com/Deccanherald/feb242006/she1749442006223.asp | archive-date = 15 March 2014 | url-status = dead }}</ref> In December 2005, 15-year-old of Bajoni (Doda district) was forced to marry a ] militant, after her family was threatened with death.<ref name="married-to-brutality" /> Periodic reports by Amnesty, ], Human Rights Watch and the US state department had documented massive human rights violations by militant groups supported by Pakistan.<ref name="Forsythe p.306"/> | |||
===== Violence against Hindus ===== | |||
*Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law. Nor is the government's judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review. | |||
{{Main|Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus}} | |||
During the ], terrorism by majority sect specifically targeted the Hindu ]s minority and violated their human rights.<ref name="BBCuk">. BBC news.</ref> Reports by Indian government state 219 Kashmiri pandits were killed and around 140,000 migrated due to militancy while over 3000 stayed in the valley.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325203907/http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 March 2010|title=Front Page : "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989"|date=24 March 2010|location=Chennai, India|work=]|access-date=3 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=731448|title=219 Pandits Killed in J&K Since 1989|publisher=news.outlookindia.com|access-date=3 August 2012}}</ref> Reports from ], Human Rights Watch and the ] confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by Pakistan-backed militants.<ref name="Forsythe p.306" /> | |||
*Protection of persons acting in good faith under this Act from prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings, except with the sanction of the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.<ref name=afspa/>}} | |||
According to a report published by ''Asia Watch'': {{blockquote|In Kashmir, the militant forces do not control territory and their military operations are generally characterised by ambushes of government forces and hit-and-run attacks for which they rely on weapons such as AK-47s, grenades, mines and other small arms. However, the guerrillas command considerable support throughout the valley and may take refuge among local civilians following these operations. Unable to locate or identify the militants, government forces routinely respond to the attacks by retaliating against entire villages, killing and assaulting civilians and destroying their property.<ref name="Cashmere">{{cite book | author1=James Goldston |author2=Patricia Gossman | title=Human Rights in India: Kashmir Under Siege | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrGwSsSchRUC&q=indian+troops+in+jammu+and+kashmir&pg=PA19 | access-date=25 December 2012 |year=2000 | publisher=Asia Watch Committee (U.S.), Human Rights Watch (Organization) | isbn=9780300056143 | page=19}}</ref>}} | |||
On the 26 of February 2009 the chief minister stated the act should be repealed, the security forces however said that revoking the act would be detrimental to security and help terrorist moral, though the millitancy has declined the act is still in force<ref name=Chatterji>{{cite book|last=Chatterji|first=Angana P.|title=South Asian Feminisms|year=2012|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822351795|page=195|editor=Ania Loomba, Ritty A. Lukose}}</ref> In 1992 the ] has described the abuses carried out as having "reached a staggering proportion" and that they were "unprecedented in its brutality".<ref name=ILO>{{cite book|title=Record of proceedings|year=1992|publisher=International Labour Organization|isbn=92-2-107530-3|page=88}}</ref> International NGO's as well as the US state department have documented human rights abuses carried out during India's counter terrorism operations, disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions have all been carried out with impunity.<ref name=Forsythe>{{cite book|last=Forsythe|first=David P.|title=Encyclopedia of human rights, Volume 1|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195334029|page=306}}</ref> | |||
According to a resolution passed by the ] in 2006, Islamic terrorists infiltrated the region in 1989 and forced most of the Kashmiri Pandits to flee Kashmir. According to the report, the population of Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir had declined from 400,000 in 1989 to 4,000 in 2011.<ref name="USHR">{{cite web|title=Resolution on Kashmiri Pandits in US House|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/report/resolution-on-kashmiri-pandits-in-us-house/20110805.htm|access-date=5 August 2011|work=]}}</ref> These groups targeted the ] forcing an estimated 100,000 to flee.<ref name="Catherwood" /><ref name="Aljazeera.Kashmir conflict">{{cite web|author=Azad Essa |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/kashmirtheforgottenconflict/2011/07/2011724204546645823.html |title=Kashmir: The Pandit question | India News |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=1 August 2011 |access-date=14 August 2018}}</ref> | |||
The Indian Armed Forces which include Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force and Boder Security Force are accused of the following massacres in Jammu and Kashmir. | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
*] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
From 1994 to 1998, the ] were accused of ] by using murder, arson and rape as a weapon of war to drive out hundreds of thousands of ] from the region.<ref name="Forsythe p.306" /><ref name="Flint">{{cite book|title=Introduction to Geopolitics|last=Flint|first=Colin|publisher=Routledge|year=2011|isbn=978-0415667739|edition=2nd|page=192}}</ref> On 25 January 1998, 23 ]s, including nine women and four young children living in the village of ], were killed by unknown persons wearing the uniforms of Indian Army soldiers, who had tea with them, waiting for a radio message indicating that all Pandit families in the village had been covered. Thereafter, they rounded up all the members of the Hindu households and then summarily gunned them down with ] rifles.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtl.in/news/states/1705/the-massacre-at-wandhama--kashmir-:-25-january-1998/|title=The Massacre at Wandhama, Kashmir : 25 January 1998|publisher=Ibtl.in|author=IBTL|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="subcontinent.com">"". Retrieved 25 November 2009.</ref><ref name="rediff.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/27kash.htm|title='I heard the cries of my mother and sisters',''rediff.com''|date=27 January 1998|work=Rediff.com|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="Indian Express">{{cite web|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/archive_full_story.php?content_id=6689|title=I saw them kill my entire family ''IndianExpress.com''|date=28 July 2002|work=The Indian Express|author=PRADEEP DUTTA Posted: 28 July 2002 at 0000 hrs IST JAMMU|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref> | |||
Human rights watch has also accused the ] of using children as spy's and messengers,<ref name=Hartjen /> India army have targeted reporters and human rights activists, they have also been accused of committing over 200 rapes in an attempt to intimidate the local population.<ref name=Catherwood>{{cite book|last=Catherwood|first=Christopher|title=Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide|year=2006|publisher=Infobase|isbn=978-8130903637|author2=Leslie Alan Horvitz |page=260}}</ref><ref name=Karatnycky>{{cite book|last=Karatnycky|first=Adrian|title=Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties|year=2001|publisher=Transaction|isbn=978-0765801012|page=616}}</ref> | |||
Hindu civilians were reported in 2005 to have been subject to rape and murder perpetrated by members of terrorist organisations like the ] and the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=19/01/90: When Kashmiri Pandits fled Islamic terro|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/19kanch.htm|access-date=22 April 2017|work=]}}</ref> Muslim civilians who were considered political opponents of terrorists or those who were believed to be informers had also been raped or murdered.<ref name="hrw1">, Asia Watch, 1993 (A Division of Human Rights Watch) & Physicians for Human Rights.</ref> | |||
The security forces have carried out extrajudicial killings, assaults and other human rights violations.<ref name=Karatnycky /> An investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir state ] has found 2730 bodies in unmarked graves at 38 sites in northern Kashmir. At least 574 of these were identified as being local people.<ref name=HRW>{{cite book|last=Watch|first=Human Rights|title=World Report 2012: Events of 2011|year=2012|publisher=Seven Stories|isbn=978-1-60980-389-6|page=329}}</ref> | |||
== |
==Pakistani-administered Kashmir== | ||
===Azad Jammu and Kashmir=== | |||
====Azad Kashmir==== | |||
{{main|Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir}} | {{main|Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir}} | ||
Pakistan, an Islamic Republic, imposes multiple restrictions on peoples' religious freedom.<ref name= UNHCRpak> |
Pakistan, an Islamic Republic, imposes multiple restrictions on peoples' religious freedom.<ref name= UNHCRpak>{{citation |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,463af2212,469f2dcf2,487ca21a2a,0.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008010101/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic%2C463af2212%2C469f2dcf2%2C487ca21a2a%2C0.html|title=Freedom in the World 2008 – Kashmir (Pakistan) |publisher=] |date=2 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 October 2012}}</ref> Religious minorities also face unofficial economic and societal discrimination and have been targets of ].<ref name= UNHCRpak/> | ||
The constitution of Azad Kashmir specifically prohibits activities that may be prejudicial to the state's accession to Pakistan, and as such regularly suppresses demonstrations against the government.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> A number of Islamist militant groups operate in this area including Al-Qaeda, with tacit permission from Pakistan's intelligence.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> |
The constitution of Azad Kashmir specifically prohibits activities that may be prejudicial to the state's accession to Pakistan, and as such regularly suppresses demonstrations against the government.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> A number of Islamist militant groups operate in this area including Al-Qaeda, with tacit permission from Pakistan's intelligence.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> | ||
A report titled "Kashmir: Present Situation and Future Prospects", which was submitted to the ] by ], was critical of the lack of human rights, justice, democracy, and Kashmiri representation in the Pakistan National Assembly.<ref>, ], 2006 |
There have been allegations of human rights abuse. A report titled "Kashmir: Present Situation and Future Prospects", which was submitted to the ] by ], was critical of the lack of human rights, justice, democracy, and Kashmiri representation in the Pakistan National Assembly.<ref>, ], 8 December 2006</ref> According to the ], Pakistan's ] operates in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and is involved in extensive surveillance, arbitrary arrests, torture, and murder.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> Generally this is done with impunity and perpetrators go unpunished.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> The 2008 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determined that ] was 'Not free'.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> According to ], chairman of the International Kashmir Alliance, "On one hand Pakistan claims to be the champion of the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people, but she has denied the same rights under its controlled parts of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan".<ref name =GIC> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711090519/http://www.german-info.com/press_shownews.php?pid=115 |date=11 July 2011 }}, German Information Center, New Delhi, 12 April 2008</ref> | ||
In December 2009, activists of nationalist Kashmiri groups staged a protest in ] to condemn the alleged rigging of elections and killing of an 18-year-old student during the elections. The killing had led to widespread protests in the district.<ref>, '']'', 27 December 2009</ref> | |||
Large protests erupted during the ] where 18 people were ordered off from a bus and killed by gunmen on the Islamabad-Gilgit route. The act drew condemnation from the ] ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-12854-Tension-prevails-in-GB-after-Kohistan-killings |title=Tension prevails in GB after Kohistan killings |work=The News International |access-date=4 October 2012}}</ref> | |||
In October 2019, the protesters were demanding that Azad Kashmir's existing legislative assembly be converted into a constitutional assembly and the area's unification with the Gilgit-Baltistan region. As a result of the police trying to stop the rally, 100 people were injured.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shams |first1=Shamil |title=Why calls for independence are getting louder in Pakistani Kashmir |url=https://www.dw.com/en/why-calls-for-independence-are-getting-louder-in-pakistani-kashmir/a-50949454 |publisher=] |access-date=6 December 2020 |date=23 October 2019}}</ref> | |||
=== Gilgit–Baltistan === | |||
The main demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan is a constitutional status to the region as a fifth province of Pakistan.<ref name = indian_express>{{cite web|author=Nadeem|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gilgitbaltistan-a-question-of-autonomy/519428/1 |title=Gilgit-Baltistan: A question of autonomy |work=The Indian Express |date=21 September 2009 |access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref><ref name = gilgit_polls /> However, Pakistan claims that Gilgit-Baltistan cannot be given constitutional status due to Pakistan's commitment to ].<ref name=gilgit_polls/><ref name="dawn_gilgit">{{cite web|title=DAWN: Gilgit-Baltistan autonomy|url=http://archives.dawn.com/archives/30198|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601035500/http://archives.dawn.com/archives/30198|archive-date=1 June 2012|access-date=25 December 2012|work=]|location=Pakistan}}</ref> In 2007, ] stated that "Almost six decades after Pakistan's independence, the constitutional status of the Federally Administered Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan), once part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and now under Pakistani control, remains undetermined, with political autonomy a distant dream. The region's inhabitants are embittered by Islamabad's unwillingness to devolve powers in real terms to its elected representatives. The rise of sectarian extremism is an alarming consequence of this denial of basic political rights".<ref name=DAWN20090726>, '']'', 26 July 2009</ref> | |||
====Gilgit-Baltistan==== | |||
The main demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan is a constitutional status to the region as a fifth province of Pakistan.<ref name = indian_express>{{cite web|author=Nadeem|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gilgitbaltistan-a-question-of-autonomy/519428/1 |title=Gilgit-Baltistan: A question of autonomy |publisher=Indian Express |date=2009-09-21 |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref><ref name = gilgit_polls /> However, Pakistan claims that Gilgit-Baltistan cannot be given constitutional status due to Pakistan's commitment to the 1948 UN resolution.<ref name=gilgit_polls></ref><ref name = dawn_gilgit>{{cite web|url=http://archives.dawn.com/archives/30198 |title=DAWN: Gilgit-Baltistan autonomy |publisher=Archives.dawn.com |date= |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref> In 2007, ] stated that "Almost six decades after Pakistan's independence, the constitutional status of the Federally Administered Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan), once part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and now under Pakistani control, remains undetermined, with political autonomy a distant dream. The region's inhabitants are embittered by Islamabad's unwillingness to devolve powers in real terms to its elected representatives, and a nationalist movement, which seeks independence, is gaining ground. The rise of sectarian extremism is an alarming consequence of this denial of basic political rights".<ref name=DAWN20090726>, '']'', 2009-07-26</ref> A two-day conference on Gilgit-Baltistan was held on 8–9 April 2008 at the European Parliament in ] under the auspices of the International Kashmir Alliance.<ref name=thaindian10037588>, ''Thaindian News'', 2008-04-13</ref> Several members of the ] expressed concern over the human rights violation in Gilgit-Baltistan and urged the government of Pakistan to establish democratic institutions and rule of law in the area.<ref name=thaindian10037588/><ref name=indianexpress556767>, '']'', 2009-12-20</ref> | |||
In 2009, the Pakistan government implemented an autonomy package for Gilgit-Baltistan which entails rights similar to those of |
In 2009, the Pakistan government implemented an autonomy package for Gilgit-Baltistan which entails rights similar to those of Pakistan's other provinces.<ref name = indian_express/> Gilgit-Baltistan thus gains province-like status without actually being conferred such a status constitutionally.<ref name = indian_express/><ref name = dawn_gilgit/> The direct rule by Islamabad is replaced by an elected legislative assembly and its chief minister.<ref name = indian_express/><ref name = dawn_gilgit/> | ||
There has been criticism and opposition to this move in Pakistan, India, and Pakistan administrated Kashmir.<ref name=DAWN20090830>, ], |
There has been criticism and opposition to this move in Pakistan, India, and Pakistan administrated Kashmir.<ref name=DAWN20090830>, ], 30 August 2009</ref> The move has been dubbed as an eyewash to hide the real mechanics of power, which allegedly are under the direct control of the Pakistani federal government.<ref name=dailytimes2112010>, ], 21 April 2010</ref> The package was opposed by Pakistani Kashmiri politicians who claimed that the integration of Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan would undermine their case for the independence of Kashmir from India.<ref name = gilgit_polls>{{cite web|last=Shigri |first=Manzar |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-election-idUSTRE5AB1ZE20091112 |title=Pakistan's disputed Northern Areas go to polls |work=Reuters |access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref> 300 activists from Kashmiri groups protested during the first Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly elections, with some carrying banners reading "Pakistan's expansionist designs in Gilgit-Baltistan are unacceptable". However, many people of Gilgit-Baltistan oppose integration into Kashmir. They want their region to be merged into Pakistan as a separate province.<ref name = gilgit_polls/> | ||
==See also== | |||
In December 2009, activists of nationalist Kashmiri groups staged a protest in ] to condemn the alleged rigging of elections and killing of an 18-year old student.<ref>, '']'', 2009-12-27</ref> | |||
* ], a territorial conflict between India and Pakistan over the region of Kashmir | |||
** ], an overview of organized abuses in Indian-administered territory | |||
** ], an overview of organized abuses in Pakistani-administered territory | |||
*], an overview of the state of human rights throughout India | |||
* ], an overview of the state of human rights throughout Pakistan | |||
*], confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan in the region | |||
*] | |||
== Bibliography == | |||
Large protests erupted during the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-12854-Tension-prevails-in-GB-after-Kohistan-killings |title=Tension prevails in GB after Kohistan killings |publisher=Thenews.com.pk |date= |accessdate=2012-10-04}}</ref> | |||
* Bansal, Alok (2018). ''Gilgit-Baltistan and Its Saga of Unending Human Rights Violations''. Asian Eurasian Human Rights Forum. Pentagon Press LLP. New Delhi. {{ISBN|9789386618610|}} | |||
==See also== | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist|2}} | {{reflist|2}} | ||
{{Kashmir conflict}} | |||
] | ] | ||
] | |||
] | |||
] |
Latest revision as of 22:18, 4 October 2024
Organized breaches of fundamental human rights in Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir This article is about human rights abuses throughout the larger region of Kashmir. For human rights abuses in Indian-administered territory, see Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir. For human rights abuses in Pakistani-administered territory, see Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir.
Human rights abuses in Kashmir have been perpetrated by various belligerents in the territories controlled by both India and Pakistan since the two countries' conflict over the region began with their first war in 1947–1948, shortly after the partition of British India. The organized breaches of fundamental human rights in Kashmir are tied to the contested territorial status of the region, over which India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars. More specifically, the issue pertains to abuses committed in Indian-administered Kashmir (comprising the territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh) and in Pakistani-administered Kashmir (comprising the territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan).
Indian-administered Kashmir
Incidents near the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan
The Line of Control (LOC) is a military control line between Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. The line does not constitute a legally international boundary but it is a de facto border, designated in 1948 as a cease-fire line, it divided Kashmir into two parts and closed the Jehlum valley route, the only entrance of the Kashmir Valley. This territorial division which, to this day still exists severed many villages and separated family members from each other. The landmines planted by the Army alongsides of the line have killed scores of innocent people and left thousands as disabled. Without compensation, these disabled persons in the Indian Kashmir are fighting for the survival.
During 2008 Kashmir unrest, the Hindu extremist groups and the supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party blocked the Srinagar-Jammu National highway (NH 1A). The only national highway which connects Kashmir Valley to the rest of India remained closed for several days and stopped the supply of essential commodities. In response to the blockade, on 11 August 2008, under the leadership of Sheikh Abdul Aziz, 50,000 to 2,50,000 Kashmiri protesters attempted to cross the Line of Control to Muzaffarabad. The protesters were stopped at Uri which resulted in killing of fifteen people and hundreds injured when police and Indian paramilitary forces fired on them. A slogan raised by the protesters was, Khooni lakir tod do aar paar jod do (Break down the blood-soaked Line of Control let Kashmir be united again).
Jammu and Kashmir
Main article: Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir Further information: Rape in Kashmir Conflict and List of massacres in Jammu and KashmirHuman rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory administered by India, are an ongoing issue. The allegations range from mass killings, forced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to suppression of freedom of speech and bans on religious gatherings. Several massacres have taken place in the region since 1990. The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security personnel and various militant groups have been accused of committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians.
Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir |
---|
Notes |
1990 |
1991 |
1993 |
1995 |
1995 kidnapping of Western tourists in Kashmir |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2006 |
2009 |
According to official figures released in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly around 47,000 people—including 7,000 police personnel and 20,000 militants—have died because of the insurgency as of July 2009, and 3,400 have disappeared. According to a 2006 report by Human Rights Watch, at least 20,000 civilians have died in the conflict. A WikiLeaks issue accused India of systemic human rights abuses, it stated that US diplomats possessed evidence of the apparent widespread use of torture by Indian police and security forces. The Intercept in 2019 also reported of "systematic" torture perpetrated by Indian authorities without punishment or accountability.
India rejected a UN panel in April 2019 asking about steps taken by New Delhi to address alleged abuses listed in their OHCHR report. Amnesty International halted its operation in India in September 2020 after alleged government freezing of its bank accounts, which the rights group partly attributed to its calls for Indian authorities to account for "grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu & Kashmir." India's National Investigation Agency raided several NGOs in October 2020 for alleged funding to terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the action was criticized by a spokesman for activist Parveena Ahanger as a case of "crackdown on the human rights defenders in Kashmir".
Indian security forces
In September 1990 the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was enacted in Jammu and Kashmir after passing in the Parliament of India to handle the rise in Kashmir Insurgency. Human rights group Amnesty claim that the special powers under (AFSPA) gives the security force immunity from alleged violations committed, and condemn it. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay has urged India to repeal AFSPA and to investigate the disappearances in Kashmir.
On 26 February 2009 the Chief Minister stated the act should be repealed, the security forces however said that revoking the act would be detrimental to security and help terrorist moral, though the militancy has declined the act is still in force International NGO's as well as the US state department have documented excesses such as disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions carried out during India's counter terrorism operations.
Human rights watch has also accused the Indian Security Forces of using children as spies and messengers, India army have targeted reporters and human rights activists, they have also been accused of committing over 200 rapes in an attempt to intimidate the local population. Wikileaks cables are reported to contain material stating that the International Committee of the Red Cross briefed US officials in India, alleging that India "condoned" torture and that "sexual penetration" formed part of the maltreatment of victims. The ICRC alleged that of the 1296 detainees interviewed, 681 had reported of being tortured. Of those, 304 individuals complained of sexual torture/abuse.
In 2005 Médecins Sans Frontières conducted a survey in Kashmir which found that the number of people who had witnessed a rape in Kashmir since 1989 was comparably far higher than the number of people who had witnessed a rape in other conflict zones such as Chechnya and Sri Lanka. The survey found that 13% of respondents had witnessed rape and 11.6% of the interviewees had themselves been victims of sexual abuse since 1989. Dr Seema Kazi states that rapes committed by Indian security forces outstrips the rapes committed by militants in both scale and frequency. Professor William Baker stated at the 52nd United Nations Commission on Human Rights that rape in Kashmir was an active strategy of the Indian forces to humiliate Kashmiri people.
In April 2002, authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir arrested three Indian paramilitary soldiers following the gang rape of 17-year-old girl. In July 2011, there were anti-India protests in Srinagar against the alleged rape of a 25-year-old village woman in the village of Manzgam.
In October 2011, the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir apologised for the release of names, parentages and addresses of 1400 rape victims. However, no details were revealed as to whether the rapes were by security forces, militants or part of crime. Liaquat Ali Khan, an academic writer considers that these excesses in Kashmir do not have official sanction but are easy to commit because of the powers, to cordon and search villages and suburbs, that are vested to security forces by the law. The authorities use association with terrorists to discredit the testimony of the victims, in case the association is established. The security forces have carried out extrajudicial killings, assaults and other human rights violations. An investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir state human rights commission has found 2730 bodies in unmarked graves at 38 sites in northern Kashmir. At least 574 of these were identified as being local people.
On April 9, 2017, in the Kashmir human shield incident a 26-year-old man captured by the Indian Army, was tied to the front of a Jeep belonging to Indian Army as a column of Indian troops was moving through a locality. The man was reportedly tied to the vehicle to dissuade other Kashmiri insurgents from hurling stones at the Indian troops. The man was accused of being involved in throwing stones at Indian troops. The Government of India stated that it would stand by the officer who took the decision to use the insurgent as a human shield. J&K Human Rights Commission ordered the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to pay 10 Lakh Rupees as compensation to man used as human shield. Jammu and Kashmir government refused to pay. Major Leetul Gogoi was awarded a Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card by General Bipin Rawat for counter-insurgency operations, which included tying a Kashmiri protester to a jeep as a human shield.
Reports of torture emerged in 2019 during the Jammu and Kashmir lockdown, with 3,000 Kashmir residents purportedly detained on 29 August. Activists on 25 September of the same year found that roughly 13,000 boys had been detained since 5 August, claiming that Indian authorities used excessive force during arrest and torture on some of the boys while imprisoned.
A joint 2020 survey from New York's Skidmore College and a Kashmiri university found that 91% of polled college students wanted a complete withdrawal of Indian forces from the region. According to the Associated Press in August 2019, most Kashmiris wanted independence from India or a merger with Pakistan.
Muslim militants
The rapes by Islamic militants have been reported since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. On 22 October 1947, Pashtun militants invaded Baramulla in a Pakistan army truck, and raped women including European nuns. In March 1990, the wife of a BSF inspector was kidnapped, tortured and gang-raped for many days. Then her body with broken limbs was abandoned on a road. On 14 April 1990, a Kashmiri Pandit nurse from the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar was gang-raped and then beaten to death by terrorists. Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) took responsibility for the crime, accusing Bhat of informing the police about the presence of militants in the hospital. On 6 June 1990, a lab assistant at the Government Girls High School Trehgam, was kidnapped and gang raped for many days. Then she was sliced at a sawmill.
Prana Ganjoo was abducted with her husband in Sopore. She was gang-raped for a number of days before they were both killed in November 1990.
From 1993, reports of rape by Islamic militants had increased, and there were many cases of the militants threatening to kill the family unless a woman was handed over to the militants. According to the HRW, the rape victims of militants suffered ostracism and there was a "code of silence and fear" that prevented people from reporting such abuse. According to the HRW, the investigation of case of rape by militants was difficult because many Kashmiris were reluctant to discuss it for the fear of violent reprisals. The increase in number of rape cases resulted in an increased number of abortions, leading to one case of murder of doctor. The doctor was accused of being an informer by the Islamic groups Hezb-ul Mujahidin and Al Jehad. In January 1991, a woman was forcibly asked to "marry" a militant. Her brother was killed when the family refused, and the girl was taken away. On 30 March 1992, armed militants demanded food and shelter from the family of a retired truck driver in Nai Sadak, Kralkhud. The family complied, but the militants killed the owner and raped his daughter and wife. Then both the women were also shot dead. Another women was forced to marry the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Farooq Ansari in Kishtwar in 2000. In 2005, a 14-year-old Gujjar girl was abducted from Lurkoti village by the Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, and forced to marry one of them. She was gang-raped by her "husband" and his militant friends. In December 2005, 15-year-old of Bajoni (Doda district) was forced to marry a Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militant, after her family was threatened with death. Periodic reports by Amnesty, International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch and the US state department had documented massive human rights violations by militant groups supported by Pakistan.
Violence against Hindus
Main article: Exodus of Kashmiri HindusDuring the eruption of militancy in Kashmir valley, terrorism by majority sect specifically targeted the Hindu Kashmiri Pandits minority and violated their human rights. Reports by Indian government state 219 Kashmiri pandits were killed and around 140,000 migrated due to militancy while over 3000 stayed in the valley. Reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by Pakistan-backed militants.
According to a report published by Asia Watch:
In Kashmir, the militant forces do not control territory and their military operations are generally characterised by ambushes of government forces and hit-and-run attacks for which they rely on weapons such as AK-47s, grenades, mines and other small arms. However, the guerrillas command considerable support throughout the valley and may take refuge among local civilians following these operations. Unable to locate or identify the militants, government forces routinely respond to the attacks by retaliating against entire villages, killing and assaulting civilians and destroying their property.
According to a resolution passed by the United States Congress in 2006, Islamic terrorists infiltrated the region in 1989 and forced most of the Kashmiri Pandits to flee Kashmir. According to the report, the population of Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir had declined from 400,000 in 1989 to 4,000 in 2011. These groups targeted the Hindus in the Kashmir valley forcing an estimated 100,000 to flee.
From 1994 to 1998, the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front were accused of ethnic cleansing by using murder, arson and rape as a weapon of war to drive out hundreds of thousands of Pandits from the region. On 25 January 1998, 23 Kashmiri Pandits, including nine women and four young children living in the village of Wandhama, were killed by unknown persons wearing the uniforms of Indian Army soldiers, who had tea with them, waiting for a radio message indicating that all Pandit families in the village had been covered. Thereafter, they rounded up all the members of the Hindu households and then summarily gunned them down with Kalashnikov rifles.
Hindu civilians were reported in 2005 to have been subject to rape and murder perpetrated by members of terrorist organisations like the JKLF and the Hizbul Mujahideen. Muslim civilians who were considered political opponents of terrorists or those who were believed to be informers had also been raped or murdered.
Pakistani-administered Kashmir
Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Main article: Human rights abuses in Azad KashmirPakistan, an Islamic Republic, imposes multiple restrictions on peoples' religious freedom. Religious minorities also face unofficial economic and societal discrimination and have been targets of sectarian violence.
The constitution of Azad Kashmir specifically prohibits activities that may be prejudicial to the state's accession to Pakistan, and as such regularly suppresses demonstrations against the government. A number of Islamist militant groups operate in this area including Al-Qaeda, with tacit permission from Pakistan's intelligence.
There have been allegations of human rights abuse. A report titled "Kashmir: Present Situation and Future Prospects", which was submitted to the European Parliament by Emma Nicholson, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, was critical of the lack of human rights, justice, democracy, and Kashmiri representation in the Pakistan National Assembly. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence operates in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and is involved in extensive surveillance, arbitrary arrests, torture, and murder. Generally this is done with impunity and perpetrators go unpunished. The 2008 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determined that Pakistan-administered Kashmir was 'Not free'. According to Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, chairman of the International Kashmir Alliance, "On one hand Pakistan claims to be the champion of the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people, but she has denied the same rights under its controlled parts of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan".
In December 2009, activists of nationalist Kashmiri groups staged a protest in Muzaffarabad to condemn the alleged rigging of elections and killing of an 18-year-old student during the elections. The killing had led to widespread protests in the district.
Large protests erupted during the February 2012 Kohistan Killings where 18 people were ordered off from a bus and killed by gunmen on the Islamabad-Gilgit route. The act drew condemnation from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
In October 2019, the protesters were demanding that Azad Kashmir's existing legislative assembly be converted into a constitutional assembly and the area's unification with the Gilgit-Baltistan region. As a result of the police trying to stop the rally, 100 people were injured.
Gilgit–Baltistan
The main demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan is a constitutional status to the region as a fifth province of Pakistan. However, Pakistan claims that Gilgit-Baltistan cannot be given constitutional status due to Pakistan's commitment to the 1948 UN resolution. In 2007, International Crisis Group stated that "Almost six decades after Pakistan's independence, the constitutional status of the Federally Administered Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan), once part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and now under Pakistani control, remains undetermined, with political autonomy a distant dream. The region's inhabitants are embittered by Islamabad's unwillingness to devolve powers in real terms to its elected representatives. The rise of sectarian extremism is an alarming consequence of this denial of basic political rights".
In 2009, the Pakistan government implemented an autonomy package for Gilgit-Baltistan which entails rights similar to those of Pakistan's other provinces. Gilgit-Baltistan thus gains province-like status without actually being conferred such a status constitutionally. The direct rule by Islamabad is replaced by an elected legislative assembly and its chief minister.
There has been criticism and opposition to this move in Pakistan, India, and Pakistan administrated Kashmir. The move has been dubbed as an eyewash to hide the real mechanics of power, which allegedly are under the direct control of the Pakistani federal government. The package was opposed by Pakistani Kashmiri politicians who claimed that the integration of Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan would undermine their case for the independence of Kashmir from India. 300 activists from Kashmiri groups protested during the first Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly elections, with some carrying banners reading "Pakistan's expansionist designs in Gilgit-Baltistan are unacceptable". However, many people of Gilgit-Baltistan oppose integration into Kashmir. They want their region to be merged into Pakistan as a separate province.
See also
- Kashmir conflict, a territorial conflict between India and Pakistan over the region of Kashmir
- Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir, an overview of organized abuses in Indian-administered territory
- Human rights abuses in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, an overview of organized abuses in Pakistani-administered territory
- Human rights in India, an overview of the state of human rights throughout India
- Human rights in Pakistan, an overview of the state of human rights throughout Pakistan
- Peacebuilding in Jammu and Kashmir, confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan in the region
- Tika Lal Taploo
Bibliography
- Bansal, Alok (2018). Gilgit-Baltistan and Its Saga of Unending Human Rights Violations. Asian Eurasian Human Rights Forum. Pentagon Press LLP. New Delhi. ISBN 9789386618610
References
- Ranjan Kumar Singh, Sarhad: Zero Mile, (Hindi), Parijat Prakashan, ISBN 81-903561-0-0
- Women in Security, Conflict Management, a Peace (Program) (2008). Closer to ourselves: stories from the journ towards peace in South Asia. WISCOMP, Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama 2008. p. 75. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - "Mines of war maim innocents". tehelka.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
- Masoodi, Nazir; Razdan, Nidhi (24 June 2008). "J&K tense over land transfer to Amarnath shrine". NDTV. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- "It's not Jammu or Kashmir". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
- "Protests in Delhi over Amarnath land transfer row". thaindia.com. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
- Naqvi, Jawed (12 August 2008). "Troops open fire as 250,000 'march to Muzaffarabad': APHC leader Sheikh Aziz killed". DAWN.COM.
- "Amarnath row: 5 killed in firing at march to PoK | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. 11 August 2008.
- Tensions rise as Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz shot dead
- Arundhati Roy (2008). Aazadi for Kashmir. Outlook publishing. p. 23. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
- Binish Ahmed (8 August 2019). "Call the crime in Kashmir by its name: Ongoing genocide". The Conversation.
- "Kashmir: Indian Army accused of torture". BBC News (via Youtube). August 2019.
- ^ Hartjen, Clayton; S. Priyadarsini (2011). The Global Victimization of Children: Problems and Solutions (2012 ed.). Springer. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-4614-2178-8.
- "Indian forces clash with Kashmir Muslims marking holy month", AFP News Agency, 31 August 2020
- "23 years on, Kashmiri Pandits remain refugees in their own nation". Rediff News. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
- Hindwan, Sudhir (1998). Verma, Bharat (ed.). "Policing the police". Indian Defence Review. 13 (2). Lancer: 95. ISSN 0970-2512.
- Reuters Editorial. "India revises Kashmir death toll to 47,000". Reuters India. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
{{cite news}}
:|author=
has generic name (help) - "40,000 people killed in Kashmir: India". The Express Tribune.
- "India: Act on UN Rights Report on Kashmir". 14 June 2018.
- Everyone Lives in Fear: Patterns of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir (PDF) (Report). Human Rights Watch. September 2006. p. 1.
- Burke, Jason (25 December 2012). "WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir". The Guardian. London.
- "The Indian Government Has Systematically Used Torture to Crush Opposition in Kashmir, New Report Finds". The Intercept. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
- Suhasini Haidar (21 May 2019). "India cuts off UN panel after Jammu & Kashmir report". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X.
- "Amnesty International's claims of 'witch-hunt' a ploy to divert attention from illegalities: Govt". The Indian Express. 29 September 2020.
- "Russia, China, Israel and Now India: Countries where Amnesty Has Had Rough Time with Govts". News18. 30 September 2020.
- "NIA raids NGOs, trusts in Kashmir, Delhi in connection with terror funding case". The Hindu. 29 October 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
- “(PDF) The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990” Archived 1 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine Indian Ministry of Law and Justice Published by the Authority of New Delhi
- Egyesült, Államok (2008). Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007. House, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations. p. 2195. ISBN 9780160813993.
- "Crisis in Kashmir" Archived 11 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine Council on Foreign Relations retrieved 11 September 2012
- INDIA: Summary of human rights concerns in Jammu and Kashmir, Amnesty International, 20 February 1995
- "India: Security forces cannot claim immunity under AFSPA, must face trial for violations". Amnesty International. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
- Global Press Institute (7 March 2012). "Mass Rape Survivors Still Wait for Justice in Kashmir". Thomson Reuters Foundation. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
- "India has duty to use global influence to speak out on human rights". United Nations News Service. 25 March 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
- Chatterji, Angana P. (2012). Ania Loomba, Ritty A. Lukose (ed.). South Asian Feminisms. Duke University Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-0822351795.
- ^ Forsythe, David P. (2009). Encyclopedia of human rights, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. p. 306. ISBN 978-0195334029.
- ^ Catherwood, Christopher; Leslie Alan Horvitz (2007). Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide (1st ed.). Infobase. p. 260. ISBN 978-8130903637.
- ^ Karatnycky, Adrian (2001). Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties. Transaction. p. 616. ISBN 978-0765801012.
- Allen, Nick (17 December 2010). "WikiLeaks: India 'systematically torturing civilians in Kashmir'". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ Kazi, Seema (2014). "Rape, Impunity And Justice In Kashmir" (PDF). Socio-Legal Review. 10: 22. doi:10.55496/ZCWJ8096. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- "Médecins Sans Frontières – Kashmir: Violence and Health" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 November 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- Wailing Woes, Combat Law, 10 October 2007
- Kazi, Seema (2014). "Rape, Impunity And Justice In Kashmir" (PDF). Socio-Legal Review. 10: 23. doi:10.55496/ZCWJ8096. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- Kazi, Seema (2014). "Rape, Impunity And Justice In Kashmir" (PDF). Socio-Legal Review. 10: 28. doi:10.55496/ZCWJ8096. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
- "SOUTH ASIA | Kashmir troops held after rape". BBC News. 19 April 2002. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- correspondents in Srinagar (23 July 2011). "Kashmir protests alleged rape by soldiers". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
{{cite web}}
:|author=
has generic name (help) - "Kashmir leader apologises for rape victims list". The Straits Times. 1 October 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- L. Ali Khan (2006). A theory of international terrorism: understanding Islamic militancy. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 33–. ISBN 978-90-04-15207-6. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- Anuradha Kumar (1 January 2002). Human Rights. Sarup & Sons. p. 102. ISBN 978-81-7625-322-2. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- Watch, Human Rights (2012). World Report 2012: Events of 2011. Seven Stories. p. 329. ISBN 978-1-60980-389-6.
- Ashiq, Peerzada. "Army uses civilian as shield, sparks outrage". The Hindu. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
- Halder, Debarati (3 May 2021). Advancement of Human Rights in India: Contemporary and Emerging Challenges. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-93-5388-788-9. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- Datta, Saurav. "10 Lakh Compensation to man used as Human Shield – J&K Human Rights Commission". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- "J&K Govt Refuses Rs 10 Lakh Compensation to 'Human Shield' Farooq Ahmed Dar". News18. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- "Officer Who Tied Protester To Jeep As 'Human Shield' In Kashmir Honoured By Army", NDTV, 2017
- "Bollywood glorifying use of human shields", TRT World, April 2018
- "With meticulous planning, mass arrests and 'torture', Kashmir's autonomy was lost". The Independent. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
- "Young boys tortured in Kashmir clampdown as new figures show 13,000 teenagers arrested". The Daily Telegraph. 2019.
- Umar Lateef Misgar (12 March 2020). "Young Kashmiris want Indian forces to leave: Survey". Al Jazeera.
- TIM SULLIVAN (15 August 2019). "Modi clamps down on Kashmir, and India loves him for it". Associated Press.
- Wilhelm von Pochhammer (1981). India's road to nationhood: a political history of the subcontinent. Allied Publishers. pp. 512–. ISBN 978-81-7764-715-0. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- ^ Manoj Joshi (January 1999). The lost rebellion. Penguin Books. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-14-027846-0.
- ^ The Human Rights Crisis in Kashmir. Asia Watch, a division of Human Rights Watch. Lat accessed on 10 March 2012. Also published as a book: Asia Watch Committee (U.S.); Human Rights Watch (Organization); Physicians for Human Rights (U.S.) (1993). The Human rights crisis in Kashmir: a pattern of impunity. Human Rights Watch. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-56432-104-6. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- "19/01/90: When Kashmiri Pandits fled Islamic terror". rediff. 19 January 2005. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- Urvashi Butalia (2002). Speaking peace: women's voices from Kashmir. Zed Books. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-84277-209-6.
- Ved Marwah (1997). Uncivil wars: pathology of terrorism in India. HarperCollins. p. 381. ISBN 978-81-7223-251-1.
- ^ "Married to brutality". Deccan Herald. 25 February 2006. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- Paradise lost. BBC news.
- "Front Page : "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989"". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 March 2010. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- "219 Pandits Killed in J&K Since 1989". news.outlookindia.com. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
- James Goldston; Patricia Gossman (2000). Human Rights in India: Kashmir Under Siege. Asia Watch Committee (U.S.), Human Rights Watch (Organization). p. 19. ISBN 9780300056143. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
- "Resolution on Kashmiri Pandits in US House". Rediff.com. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- Azad Essa (1 August 2011). "Kashmir: The Pandit question | India News". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
- Flint, Colin (2011). Introduction to Geopolitics (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 192. ISBN 978-0415667739.
- IBTL. "The Massacre at Wandhama, Kashmir : 25 January 1998". Ibtl.in. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
- "23 Kashmiri Hindus Gunned Down on Republic Day Eve". Retrieved 25 November 2009.
- "'I heard the cries of my mother and sisters',rediff.com". Rediff.com. 27 January 1998. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
- PRADEEP DUTTA Posted: 28 July 2002 at 0000 hrs IST JAMMU (28 July 2002). "I saw them kill my entire family IndianExpress.com". The Indian Express. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - "19/01/90: When Kashmiri Pandits fled Islamic terro". Rediff.com. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
- Rape in Kashmir: A Crime of War, Asia Watch, 1993 (A Division of Human Rights Watch) & Physicians for Human Rights.
- ^ Freedom in the World 2008 – Kashmir (Pakistan), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2 July 2008, archived from the original on 8 October 2012
- EU Report Rattles Pakistan, Outlook (magazine), 8 December 2006
- European Parliamentarians express concern for Gilgit-Baltistan Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, German Information Center, New Delhi, 12 April 2008
- Killing of youth in GB by-polls condemned, Dawn, 27 December 2009
- "Tension prevails in GB after Kohistan killings". The News International. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
- Shams, Shamil (23 October 2019). "Why calls for independence are getting louder in Pakistani Kashmir". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
- ^ Nadeem (21 September 2009). "Gilgit-Baltistan: A question of autonomy". The Indian Express. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
- ^ Shigri, Manzar. "Pakistan's disputed Northern Areas go to polls". Reuters. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
- ^ "DAWN: Gilgit-Baltistan autonomy". Dawn. Pakistan. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
- Political unrest in Gilgit-Baltistan, Dawn, 26 July 2009
- Gilgit-Baltistan package termed an eyewash, Dawn, 30 August 2009
- Discontents in Gilgit-Baltistan, Daily Times (Pakistan), 21 April 2010
Kashmir conflict | |
---|---|
Wars and conflicts | |
Border skirmishes | |
Operations | |
Negotiations | |
Bombings and massacres |
|
Militant organisations | |
Observances |
|
Related |