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{{about| |
{{about|human rights abuses in Indian-administered territory|human rights abuses throughout the larger region|Human rights abuses in Kashmir|human rights abuses in Pakistani-administered territory|Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir}} | ||
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{{Use British English|date=March 2013}} | {{Use British English|date=March 2013}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date= |
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} | ||
{{Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir}} | {{Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir}} | ||
]s in |
''']s in ]''' range from mass killings, ], ], ] to political repression and suppression of ]. The ], ] (CRPF), and ] (BSF) have been accused of committing severe human rights abuses against ].<ref name="Rnews">{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/kashmiri-pandits-remain-refugees-in-their-own-nation/20120119.htm|title=23 years on, Kashmiri Pandits remain refugees in their own nation|access-date=15 September 2012|newspaper=]}}</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|issn=0970-2512}}</ref><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="Amnesty International">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/022/2002/en/ |title=Document – India: Jammu/Kashmir government should implement human rights program |publisher=] |date=27 October 2002 |access-date=2012-10-01}}</ref> According to Seema Kazi, militant groups have also been held responsible for similar crimes, but the vast majority of abuses have been perpetrated by the armed forces of the Indian government.<ref name="Kazi">{{Cite book|last=Kazi|first=Seema|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t343/e0165?_hi=0&_pos=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213021611/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t343/e0165?_hi=0&_pos=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 December 2019|title=Gender and Militarization in Kashmir|work=Oxford Islamic Studies Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote=Sordid and gruesome as the militant record of violence against Kashmiri women and civilians is, it does not compare with the scale and depth of abuse by Indian State forces for which justice has yet to be done.}}</ref> | ||
A 2006 report by ] claimed that at least 20,000 civilians had died from 1990 to 2017.<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 |date=September 2006 |publisher=] |page=1}}</ref> The Indian government claims 14,000 civilians have died because of ] {{As of|2017|March|lc=y}}, with most of these deaths having taken place in the 1990s and early 2000s.<ref name="ht2017">{{Cite news |author1=Jayanth Jacob |author2=Aurangzeb Naqshbandi |title=41,000 deaths in 27 years: The anatomy of Kashmir militancy in numbers |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/the-anatomy-of-kashmir-militancy-in-numbers/story-UncrzPTGhN22Uf1HHe64JJ_amp.html |access-date=18 May 2023 |work=] |language=en-IN}}</ref> Pakistani officials say India has killed more than 100,000 Kashmiri civilians, of which 7,200 died from custodial torture.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=2015-10-02 |title=Pakistan attacks India at U.N. again over Kashmir |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/At-U.N-Pakistan-accuses-India-of-human-rights-violations-in-Kashmir/article60271819.ece |access-date=2024-01-11 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Hanan |first=Abdul |date=2022-11-04 |title=Kashmiris being faced with an unending ordeal of terror, trauma |url=https://www.app.com.pk/features/kashmiris-being-faced-with-an-unending-ordeal-of-terror-trauma/ |access-date=2024-01-11 |language=en-US}}</ref> Moreover, they also claim 162,000 Kashmiris have been ].<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /> | |||
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⚫ | India and Pakistan accuse each other of violating the ceasefire and targeting civilians at the ], the de facto border between Indian-administered Kashmir and ]. India also accuses alleged state-sponsored militants from Pakistan of committing human rights violations against Kashmiri civilians.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pakistan Violated Ceasefire in Jammu And Kashmir 685 Times in 8 Months|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/02/24/pakistan-ceasefire_n_6741672.html|access-date=6 April 2015|work=HuffPost|date=24 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Kashmir: India says eight civilians injured in Pakistan firing|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-24666123|access-date=6 April 2015|publisher=BBC|date=25 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=1 killed, 9 injured as Pakistan trains guns on civilians|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/four-civilians-injured-in-pakistan-firing/article6751022.ece|access-date=6 April 2015|work=The Hindu|date=3 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Pakistan continues to violate ceasefire, kills 5 civilians|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/jammu-5-dead-25-injured-in-one-of-the-most-serious-ceasefire-violations-by-pakistan/article1-1272092.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006041044/http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/jammu-5-dead-25-injured-in-one-of-the-most-serious-ceasefire-violations-by-pakistan/article1-1272092.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 October 2014|access-date=6 April 2015|work=Hindustan Times|date=7 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Pakistan violates ceasefire yet again; 2 civilians killed in J&K|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Pakistan-violates-ceasefire-yet-again-2-civilians-killed-in-JK/articleshow/40746643.cms|access-date=6 April 2015|work=The Times of India|date=23 August 2014}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news|title=LoC violation: Indian forces target Harpal sector in Sialkot|url=http://dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/Pakistan/239867-LoC-violation-Indian-forces-target-Harpal-sector-/articleshow/239867|access-date=10 May 2015|publisher=Dunya News|date=7 October 2014}}</ref> ] revealed that the ] had briefed US officials in Delhi in 2005 about the use of torture from 2002 to 2004 by security forces against hundreds of detainees suspected of being connected to or having information about militants.<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=16 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/30222|title=US embassy cables: Red Cross clashes with India over treatment of detainees|work=The Guardian|date=16 December 2010|access-date=6 December 2014}}</ref> | ||
⚫ | In a 1993 report, ] stated that Indian security forces "assaulted civilians during search operations, tortured and summarily executed detainees in custody and murdered civilians in reprisal attacks"; according to the report, militants had also targeted civilians, but to a lesser extent than security forces. Rape was regularly used as a means to "punish and humiliate" communities.<ref name="HRW-935">{{cite web|title=Rape in Kashmir: A Crime of War|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/INDIA935.PDF|publisher=]|year=1993| |
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⚫ | In a 1993 report, ] stated that Indian security forces "assaulted civilians during search operations, tortured and summarily executed detainees in custody and murdered civilians in reprisal attacks"; according to the report, militants had also targeted civilians, but to a lesser extent than security forces. ] was regularly used as a means to "punish and humiliate" communities.<ref name="HRW-935">{{cite web|title=Rape in Kashmir: A Crime of War|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/INDIA935.PDF|publisher=]|year=1993|access-date=21 July 2012}}</ref> Scholar Seema Kazi says it is used as a weapon of war by the state against the population.<ref>Kazi, Seema. ''Between democracy and nation: Gender and militarisation in Kashmir''. Diss. London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom), 2008.</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=unpublished dissertation|date=March 2022}} A 2010 US state department report stated that the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir had carried out ]s of civilians and suspected insurgents. The report also described killings and abuse being carried out by insurgents and ].<ref name="USgov2010">{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154480.htm |title=2010 Human Rights Reports: India |publisher=State.gov |access-date=2012-03-10}}</ref> In 2010, statistics presented to the Indian government's ] showed that for the first time since the 1980s, the number of civilian deaths attributed to the Indian forces was higher than those attributed to insurgents' actions.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-09-07/india/28239581_1_crpf-personnel-security-forces-afspa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513020250/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-09-07/india/28239581_1_crpf-personnel-security-forces-afspa|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 May 2013|title=For the first time, security men kill more civilians than terrorists in J&K|work=]|date=7 September 2010|access-date=29 June 2012}}</ref> The Indian Army claims that 97% of the reports about the human rights abuse have been found to be "fake or motivated" based on the investigation performed by the Army.<ref name="DNA">{{cite news|title=Why Kashmiris want the hated AFSPA to go|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_why-kashmiris-want-the-hated-afspa-to-go_1615040|access-date=15 September 2012|newspaper=Daily News Analysis}}</ref> However, a report by the US State Department said, "Indian authorities use Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to avoid holding its security forces responsible for the deaths of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/front-page/india-uses-afspa-to-obscure-civilian-killings-in-kashmir-us-report/214789.html|title=India uses AFSPA to obscure civilian killings in Kashmir: US Report|website=greaterkashmir.com|access-date=2016-04-15}}</ref> | ||
⚫ | Militant violence led by the ] has |
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⚫ | Militant violence in the 1990s, led by the ] against ] has led to the ] of several hundred thousands of them out of the ], who comprised an estimated ~5% of the valley's population before.<ref name="Forsythe">{{citation|last=Tolley|first=Howard B. Jr. |title=Encyclopedia of Human Rights, Volume 3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1QbX90fmCVUC&q=encyclopedia+of+human+rights+jklf&pg=RA2-PA306|year=2009|page=306|chapter=Kashmir|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor=David P Forsythe|isbn=978-0-19-533402-9|access-date=23 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="thehindu.com">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/ldquo219-Kashmiri-Pandits-killed-by-militants-since-1989rdquo/article16598851.ece|title=219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989|last=Bukhari|first=Shujaat|date=2010-03-23|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-07-10|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> According to ], the militant organisations forced the Hindus residing in the Kashmir valley to flee and become refugees in Delhi and Jammu. The chief perpetrators were the ] and the ]. Migration continued until a vast majority of the ] were evicted out of the valley after having suffered many acts of violence, including sexual assault on women, arson, torture and extortion of property.<ref name="Rnews" /><ref name="Forsythe" /> Some of the separatist leaders in Kashmir reject this, while others accept it. The Indian government is attempting to reinstate the displaced Pandits in Kashmir. According to the J & K government an amount of ₹71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in 2007–08, ₹70.33 crore in 2008-09 and ₹68.59 crore from 2009 up to January 2010.<ref name="thehindu.com"/> The remnants of Kashmiri Pandits have been living in ], but most of them believe that, until the violence ceases, returning to Kashmir is not an option.<ref name="BBCuk" /> | ||
According to a 2022 report by ], repression by Indian government has intensified in the region after the ]. Amnesty recognized at least 60 instances of human rights violations. The internet was shut down for 18 months after the revocation of special status of the region. The information coming out of the region is totally controlled by the government, with regular internet shut downs and passing policies like 2020 Revised Media Policy and 2021 Film Policy, which restrict press freedom. Indian government shut down Kashmir Press Club which led to further decline in the media coverage and freedom in the region. At least six journalists, human rights activists, and academics were denied travelling abroad despite having all the required documents, restricting freedom of movement without a court warrant or a written explanation.<ref>{{cite web|title='We are being punished by the law'|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/india-the-government-must-end-the-repression-of-rights-in-jammu-and-kashmir/|publisher=]|year=2022|access-date=2022-09-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Mir |first1=Shakir |title=In Jarring Report, Amnesty Notes 'Drastically Intensified Repression' in J&K Since 2019 |url=https://thewire.in/rights/amnesty-international-jammu-and-kashmir-report |access-date=2022-09-09 |work=] |date=2022-09-05}}</ref> | |||
==Indian Armed Forces== | ==Indian Armed Forces== | ||
{{further|Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir}} | |||
Thousands of Kashmiris have been reported to be killed by Indian security forces in custody, |
Thousands of Kashmiris have been reported to be killed by Indian security forces in custody, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances and these human right violations are said to be carried out by Indian security forces under total impunity.<ref name="Amnesty International"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Shadow report for the Universal Periodic Review of India 2012|url=http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/session13/IN/JS22_UPR_IND_S13_2012_JointSubmission22_E.pdf|access-date=2020-11-02}}</ref> Civilians including women and children have been killed in "reprisal" attacks by Indian security forces. International NGOs, as well as the US State Department, have documented human rights abuses including disappearances, torture, and arbitrary executions carried out during India's counter-terrorism operations.<ref name="Forsythe"/> | ||
⚫ | United Nations has expressed serious concerns over large number of killings by Indian security forces.<ref>Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, E/CN.4/1994/7, paragraph 327</ref> Human Rights groups have also accused the Indian security forces of using ],<ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,CSCOAL,,IND,,498805f12d,0.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416031510/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,CSCOAL,,IND,,498805f12d,0.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 April 2013 |title=Refworld | Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 – India |publisher=United Nations High Commission for Refugees |date=19 February 1997 |access-date=2013-02-23 }}</ref> although the Indian government denies this allegation.<ref name="Hartjen" /><ref group="note">The Indian Government claims that even though children can join the armed forces, they are not formally enrolled into regular service before the age of 18. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian army has armed local ] (VDC) – primarily Hindus – in Doda, Udhampur and the border districts to assist security forces in anti-insurgency operations.(HRW, Behind the Kashmir Conflict: Abuses by Indian Security Forces and Militant Groups Continue, op. cit.; Bukhari, S., "Militants kill 19 in Jammu", The Hindu, 21 July 1999.)</ref> So far more than 15,000 inhabitants, reportedly including teenagers, have joined these self-defence groups.<ref>("Jammu & Kashmir: the new vigilantes: despite lack of proper training and sophisticated arms, Village Defence Committees are proving invaluable in the fight against militancy in the state", India Today, 11 October 1999.</ref> | ||
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At the Asia-Pacific Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers in May 2000 the representative of the state government of Jammu and Kashmir denied the involvement of children in VDCs. He acknowledged that there may have been some instances of young boys taking up arms to defend themselves under attack, but that there was "no policy to encourage young boys to become members of the ]." Torture, widely used by Indian security sources, whose severity is described as beyond comprehension by Amnesty International, has been responsible for the huge number of deaths in custody.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/033/1995/en/ |title=India: Torture continues in Jammu and Kashmir | Amnesty International |website=www.amnesty.org |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122053851/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/033/1995/en/ |archive-date=22 November 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
⚫ | ], citing a WikiLeaks report, quotes the ] that Indian security forces were physically abusing detainees with beatings, electrocutions and sexual interference. These detainees weren't Islamic insurgents or Pakistani-backed insurgents but civilians, in contrast to India's continual allegations of Pakistani involvement. The detainees were "connected to or believed to have information about the insurgents". According to ICRC, 681 of the 1296 detainees whom it interviewed claimed torture. US officials have been quoted reporting "terrorism investigations and court cases tend to rely upon confessions, many of which are obtained under duress if not beatings, threats, or in some cases torture."<ref name="Telegraph-20101217">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8208084/WikiLeaks-India-systematically-torturing-civilians-in-Kashmir.html |title=WikiLeaks: India 'systematically torturing civilians in Kashmir'|last=Allen|first=Nick|date=17 December 2010 |website=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=11 March 2012|location=London}}</ref> | ||
⚫ | Amnesty International accused security forces of exploiting the ] (AFSPA) that enables them to "hold prisoners without trial". The group argues that the law, which allows security to detain individuals for as many as two years "without presenting charges, violating prisoners' human rights".<ref>{{cite web|last=Huey |first=Caitlin |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/03/28/amnesty-international-cites-human-rights-abuse-in-kashmir |title=Amnesty International Cites Human Rights Abuse in Kashmir |publisher=Usnews.com |date=28 March 2011 |access-date=2012-10-01}}</ref> The Army sources maintain that "any move to revoke AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir would be detrimental to the security of the Valley and would provide a boost to the terrorists."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Army-opposes-Omars-plans-to-revoke-AFSPA-Report/articleshow/4197012.cms|title=Army opposes Omar's plans to revoke AFSPA: Report - Times of India|work=The Times of India|access-date=2017-05-06}}</ref> | ||
⚫ | United Nations has expressed serious concerns over large number of killings by Indian security forces.<ref>Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, E/CN.4/1994/7, paragraph 327</ref> Human Rights groups have also accused the Indian security forces of using ],<ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,CSCOAL,,IND,,498805f12d,0.html |title=Refworld | Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 – India |publisher= |
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Former ] ] rejected the accusations that the action was not taken in the cases of human rights violations by Army personnel. On 24 October 2010, he has said that 104 Army personnel had been punished in Jammu and Kashmir in this regard, including 39 officers. He also said that 95% of the allegations of human rights abuses against Indian Army were proved to be false, of which he remarked, had apparently been made with the "ulterior motive of maligning the armed forces". Going into details, he said: 'since 1994, 988 allegations against the Army personnel were received in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of these, 965 cases were investigated in which 940 were found to be untrue, accounting for 95.2%, leaving only 25 genuine allegations.'<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-104-armymen-punished-for-human-rights-violations-in-jk-gen-vk-singh-1457257|title=104 armymen punished for human rights violations in JK: Gen VK Singh {{!}} Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis|date=2010-10-24|work=dna|access-date=2017-04-24}}</ref> However, according to Human Rights Watch, the military courts in India, in general, were proved to be incompetent to deal with cases of serious human rights abuses and were responsible in covering up evidence and protecting the involved officers.<ref name=":11">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/about/projects/womrep/General-42.htm|title=Rape by Security Forces: The Pattern of Impunity|date=2015-04-21|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=2017-05-01}}</ref> Amnesty International in its report in 2015, titled ''"Denied"-Failures in Accountability in Jammu and Kashmir'', says, "...with respect to investigations, an inquiry that is conducted by the same authority accused of the crime raises serious questions about the independence and impartiality of those proceedings", adding that according to the international law, an independent authority that is not involved in the alleged violations has to investigate such crimes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kashmirreader.com/2016/09/03/96-complaints-against-army-rejected-by-goi-under-colonial-afspa-amnesty/|title=96% complaints against army rejected by GoI under 'colonial' AFSPA: Amnesty|last=Correspondent|first=Reader|date=2016-09-03|website=Kashmir Reader|access-date=2017-05-01|archive-date=4 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804103846/http://kashmirreader.com/2016/09/03/96-complaints-against-army-rejected-by-goi-under-colonial-afspa-amnesty/|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
⚫ | ], citing a WikiLeaks report, quotes the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that Indian security forces were physically abusing detainees with beatings, electrocutions and sexual interference. These detainees weren't Islamic insurgents or Pakistani-backed insurgents but civilians, in contrast to India's continual allegations of Pakistani involvement. The detainees were "connected to or believed to have information about the insurgents". According to ICRC, 681 of the 1296 detainees whom it interviewed claimed torture. US officials have been quoted reporting "terrorism investigations and court cases tend to rely upon confessions, many of which are obtained under duress if not beatings, threats, or in some cases torture."<ref name="Telegraph-20101217">{{cite news |url= |
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⚫ | In the later revelations on 24 September 2013 made by General V. K. Singh, he said that the state politicians of Jammu and Kashmir are funded by an Army secret service to keep the general public at calm and this activity is there since the partition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-24/india/42359670_1_gen-vk-singh-v-k-singh-former-army-chief|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925140239/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-24/india/42359670_1_gen-vk-singh-v-k-singh-former-army-chief|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-09-25|work=]|title=Paying ministers nothing new in J&K, former Army chief Gen VK Singh|access-date=2013-10-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/news/jk-ministers-on-army-payroll-gen-singh/155853.html|title=JK ministers on Army payroll: Gen Singh|publisher=greaterkashmir.com|access-date=2013-10-09}}</ref> | ||
⚫ | Amnesty International accused security forces of exploiting the ] that enables them to "hold prisoners without trial". The group argues that the law, which allows security to detain individuals for as many as two years "without presenting charges, violating |
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===Indian Army=== | ===Indian Army=== | ||
The soldiers of the 4th ] of the ] on 23 February 1991 launched a search operation in a village ], in the ] of Jammu and Kashmir and |
The soldiers of the 4th ] of the ] on 23 February 1991 launched a search operation for the militants in a village ], in the ] of Jammu and Kashmir and after which they were accused by locals of allegedly raping 23 women.<ref name="Joshi1999">{{cite book|author=Manoj Joshi|title=The Lost Rebellion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pS5uAAAAMAAJ|date=January 1999|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-027846-0}}</ref>{{rp|490}} Later, interviews of victims and eyewitnesses were documented into a short film '']'' which was prevented from being broadcast.<ref>{{cite video | people = Billal A. Jan (Director) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foe-6ePl75I | title = Ocean of Tears (Excerpt) | medium = Youtube | publisher = PSBTIndia | location = Jammu and Kashmir |year = 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.samaylive.com/nation-news/676520296/bilal-bhat-special-correspondent-movie-srinagar-jammu-kashmir-na.html|title=A documentary movie on Kashmir lands in controversy|publisher=english.samaylive.com|access-date=2014-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230203053/http://english.samaylive.com/nation-news/676520296/bilal-bhat-special-correspondent-movie-srinagar-jammu-kashmir-na.html|archive-date=30 December 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Nevertheless, the Indian committee that led a thorough investigation concluded that the allegations were "grossly exaggerated" and the Kunan rape story was "a massive hoax orchestrated by militant groups and their sympathisers and mentors in Kashmir and abroad as a part of sustained and cleverly contrived strategy of psychological warfare and as an entry point for re-inscribing Kashmir on the International Agenda as a Human rights issue."<ref>. Lancer International. December 1991. pp. 12. {{ISBN|8170621526}}.</ref> However, Human Rights organisations including ] have reported that the number of raped women could be as high as 100.<ref>{{cite book|author=Abdul Majid Mattu|title=Kashmir issue: a historical perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjxuAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Ali Mohammad & Sons}}</ref><ref name="abdication">{{cite book|title=Abdication of Responsibility: The Commonwealth and Human Rights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_QTz5PCDvjEC|year=1991|publisher=Human Rights Watch|isbn=978-1-56432-047-6|pages=13–20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=James Goldston|author2=Patricia Gossman|title=Kashmir Under Siege: Human Rights in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrGwSsSchRUC&pg=PA88|year=1991|publisher=Human Rights Watch|isbn=978-0-300-05614-3|pages=88–91}}</ref> The Indian Army has also harmed the health care system in the valley. Major hospitals in Kashmir have experienced crackdowns and army men have even entered the operation theatres in search of insurgents.<ref name="violations in kashmir">{{cite book | others = Asia Watch Committee (U.S.), Human Rights Watch (Organization), Physicians for Human Rights (U.S.) | title=The Human Rights Crisis in Kashmir: A Pattern of Impunity |url=https://archive.org/details/humanrightscrisi00asia | url-access = registration | access-date=11 September 2012 | year=1993 | publisher=Human Rights Watch, 1993 | isbn= 9781564321046 | page=–115, 116}}</ref> | ||
===Border Security Force=== | ===Border Security Force=== | ||
On 22 October 1993, the 13th Battalion of the Border Security Forces was accused of arbitrarily firing on a crowd and killing 37 civilians in ]<ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com">Siddharth Varadarajan and Manoj Joshi, The Times of India, India, 21 April 2002</ref><ref name="Massacre: 22 October 1993">{{cite web|url=http://www.kashmiraffairs.org/bijbehara%20massacre%20all.html|title=Bijbehara Massacre: 22 October 1993|last=Shibli|first=Murtaza|publisher=Kashmir Affairs| |
On 22 October 1993, the 13th Battalion of the Border Security Forces was accused of arbitrarily firing on a crowd and killing 37 civilians in ]<ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com">Siddharth Varadarajan and Manoj Joshi, ''The Times of India'', India, 21 April 2002</ref><ref name="Massacre: 22 October 1993">{{cite web|url=http://www.kashmiraffairs.org/bijbehara%20massacre%20all.html|title=Bijbehara Massacre: 22 October 1993|last=Shibli|first=Murtaza|publisher=Kashmir Affairs|access-date=11 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001142151/http://www.kashmiraffairs.org/bijbehara%20massacre%20all.html|archive-date=1 October 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The number of reported dead and wounded vary by source. ] reported that at least 51 people died and 200 were wounded on that day.<ref name="Amnesty International Report 2004">{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6a9f56e.html|title=Amnesty International Report 1994 – India|date=1 January 1994|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=11 September 2012}}</ref> | ||
The Indian government conducted two official enquiries and the ] (NHRC) conducted a third. In March 1994 the government indicted the Border Security Force (BSF) for firing into the crowd "without provocation" and charged 13 BSF officers with murder.<ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com"/> In another incident which took place at ] on 25 January 1990, 9 protesters were killed by the same unit.<ref>{{cite book |title=Kashmir under siege: Human rights in India |last1=Goldston |first1=James |last2=Gossman |first2=Patricia |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn= |
The Indian government conducted two official enquiries and the ] (NHRC) conducted a third. In March 1994 the government indicted the Border Security Force (BSF) for firing into the crowd "without provocation" and charged 13 BSF officers with murder.<ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com"/> In another incident which took place at ] on 25 January 1990, 9 protesters were killed by the same unit.<ref>{{cite book |title=Kashmir under siege: Human rights in India |last1=Goldston |first1=James |last2=Gossman |first2=Patricia |publisher=Human Rights Watch |isbn=978-0300056143 |page=59 |access-date=11 September 2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrGwSsSchRUC&q=On+January+25%2C+1990%2C+the+security+forces+opened+fire+on+a+large+group&pg=PA59|year=1991 }}</ref> | ||
===Central Reserve Police Force=== | ===Central Reserve Police Force=== | ||
During the ] more than 40 unarmed protesters were killed by the |
During the ] more than 40 unarmed protesters were killed by the personnel of Central Reserve Police Force.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2008/10/081016_kashmir_arney_dm.shtml |title=BBC World Service – Non-violent protest in Kashmir |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=14 October 2008 |access-date=2010-09-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7600982.stm |title=South Asia | Top Kashmir separatists detained |work=BBC News |date=5 September 2008 |access-date=2010-09-11}}</ref> The same practice was again repeated by the personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force, during the ], which resulted in 112 deaths, including many teenager protesters at various incidents.<ref name="Reuters20100930">{{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-51833120100929|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101002014735/http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-51833120100929|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 October 2010|title=India to free protesters in Kashmir peace move|date=30 September 2010|work=Reuters|access-date=11 September 2012}}</ref> | ||
===Special Operations Group=== | ===Special Operations Group=== | ||
The ] was raised in 1994 for counter-terrorism. A volunteer force, mainly |
The ] was raised in 1994 for counter-terrorism. A volunteer force, mainly comprising police officers and policemen from the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uttaranchalpolice.com/ncwp/diss_5.htm|title=Special Operations Group|publisher=uttaranchalpolice.com|access-date=2012-09-11}}</ref> The group is accused of torture and custodial killings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/j&k-locals-protest-custodial-death-sopore-tense/1/146709.html|title=J&K: Sopore protests death of youth in police custody|work=India Today|access-date=2012-09-11}}</ref> A Senior Superintendent of this group and his deputy are among the 11 personnel, who were convicted for a fake encounter, which killed a local carpenter, and was labelled as a militant to get the promotions and rewards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/news/%22azad-orders-probe-into-padroos-killing%22/22251/|title=Azad orders probe into Padroo's killing|work=The Indian Express|date=13 February 2007|access-date=2012-09-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://kashmirwatch.com/humanrights.php/2011/07/16/ganderbal-fake-encounter-case.html |title=Ganderbal Fake encounter case |publisher=kashmirwatch |access-date=2012-09-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405040713/http://kashmirwatch.com/humanrights.php/2011/07/16/ganderbal-fake-encounter-case.html |archive-date=5 April 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> | ||
=== Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 === | === Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 === | ||
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 |df=dmy-all }}</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=2009-03-25}}</ref> | |||
{{main|Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act}} | |||
In July 1990 Indian Armed Forces were given special powers under an ] (AFSPA) that gives protection to Indian Armed Forces personnel from being prosecuted. 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=https://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> | |||
{{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 immunity 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"/> | |||
}} | |||
⚫ | In the |
||
{{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> {{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> | |||
*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. | |||
*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 | |||
*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. | |||
*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. | |||
*Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons. | |||
*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. | |||
*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. | |||
*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/>}} | |||
=== Massacres === | === Massacres === | ||
{{Further |
{{Further|List of massacres in Jammu and Kashmir}} | ||
The Indian |
The Indian security forces are also accused of many massacres. Some of them include: | ||
]: On 21 January 1990, 51 civilians were killed by CRPF troopers during protests against earlier raids in which wanton arrests and molestation of women were conducted by CRPF troops.<ref>Wani, Arif Shafi (20 January 2014). |
]: On 21 January 1990, 51 civilians were killed by CRPF troopers during protests against earlier raids in which wanton arrests and molestation of women were conducted by CRPF troops.<ref>Wani, Arif Shafi (20 January 2014). . ''Greater Kashmir''.</ref> | ||
]: On January |
]: On 25 January 1990, two BSF patrolling parties in Handwara indiscriminately fired at peaceful protesters and killed 25 people. Many people were injured.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kashmirreader.com/2014/01/25/january-25-1990-when-bsf-gunned-down-25-in-handwara/|title=January 25, 1990: When BSF gunned down 25 in Handwara|last=Ahmed|first=Mushtaq|date=2014-01-25|website=Kashmir Reader|access-date=2017-04-17}}</ref> | ||
]: Indian forces killed 33 protesters and injured 47 on 1 March 1990 at Zakoora Crossing and Tengpora Bypass Road in |
]: Indian forces killed 33 protesters and injured 47 on 1 March 1990 at Zakoora Crossing and Tengpora Bypass Road in Srinagar. The killers were not punished.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/news/zakura-tengpora-carnages-haunt-survivors/47916.html|title=Zakura, Tengpora carnages haunt survivors|last=Aslam|first=Faheem|date=1 March 2009|work=Greater Kashmir}}</ref> | ||
Hawal massacre: At the funeral of ] on |
]: At the funeral of ] on 21 May 1990 over 60 civilians were killed by paramilitary forces and hundreds injured in the indiscriminate firing on the funeral procession.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://m.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/hawal-massacre-anniversary-it-was-hell-saw-paramilitary-men-firing-with-machine-guns-on-civilians/186931.html|title=Hawal massacre anniversary: 'It was hell; saw paramilitary men firing with machine guns on civilians'|last=Wani|first=Arif Shafi|date=20 May 2015|work=Greater Kashmir}}</ref> | ||
]: On 6 January 1993 Indian troops killed 55 civilians in the town of Sopore and set fire to many homes and buildings.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/story/206200.html|title=23-years on, Sopore massacre still haunts survivors|last=Muhammad|first=Ghulam|date=5 January 2016|work=Greater Kashmir |
]: On 6 January 1993 Indian troops killed 55 civilians in the town of Sopore and set fire to many homes and buildings.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/story/206200.html|title=23-years on, Sopore massacre still haunts survivors|last=Muhammad|first=Ghulam|date=5 January 2016|work=Greater Kashmir}}</ref> | ||
]: On 22 October 1993 the Indian Army killed 51 civilians during protests over the siege of the Hazratbal Mosque. 25 of those killed were students None of the accused were punished.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://kashmirobserver.net/2016/local-news/23-years-bijbehara-massacreguilty-yet-be-punished-11333|title=23 years of Bijbehara Massacre: |
]: On 22 October 1993 the Indian Army killed 51 civilians during protests over the siege of the Hazratbal Mosque. 25 of those killed were students None of the accused were punished.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://kashmirobserver.net/2016/local-news/23-years-bijbehara-massacreguilty-yet-be-punished-11333|title=23 years of Bijbehara Massacre:'Guilty yet to be punished'|date=2016-10-23|work=Kashmir Observer|access-date=2017-04-17}}</ref> | ||
]: On 27 January 1994 the Indian Army fired at and killed 27 civilians, mainly traders, in Kupwara district. Survivors say that the soldiers carried out the massacre to punish people for observing shutdown on |
]: On 27 January 1994 the Indian Army fired at and killed 27 civilians, mainly traders, in Kupwara district. Survivors say that the soldiers carried out the massacre to punish people for observing shutdown on 26 January.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/kashmir/1994-kupwara-massacre-27-civilians-shot-dead-for-observing-shutdown-on-jan-26/207913.html|title=1994 Kupwara Massacre: 27 civilians shot dead for 'observing shutdown on Jan 26'|last=Rafiq|first=Shahid|date=26 January 2016|work=Greater Kashmir}}</ref> | ||
=== Fake encounters === | === Fake encounters and killings === | ||
Hundreds of civilians including women and children have reportedly been extrajudicially executed by Indian security forces and the killings are concealed as fake encounters.<ref name="amnesty.org" |
Hundreds of civilians including women and children have reportedly been extrajudicially executed by Indian security forces and the killings are concealed as fake encounters.<ref name="amnesty.org"/> Despite government denial, Indian security officials have reportedly confessed to Human Rights Watch of the widespread occurrence of fake encounters and its encouragement for awards and promotions<ref name="hrw.org">{{cite web|author=Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2007/02/14/india-investigate-all-disappearances-kashmir |title=India: Investigate All 'Disappearances' in Kashmir |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=16 February 2007 |access-date=2012-10-01}}</ref> According to a BBC interview with an anonymous security person, 'fake encounter' killings are those in which security personnel kill someone in cold blood while claiming that the casualty occurred in a gun battle. It also asserts that the security personnel are Kashmiris and "even surrendered militants".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6367917.stm |title=South Asia | Kashmir's extra-judicial killings |work=BBC News |date=8 March 2007 |access-date=2012-03-10}}</ref> | ||
In 2010 three men were reported missing proceeding these missing reports 3 men claimed to be militants were killed in a staged gun battle the army also claimed they had found Pakistani currency among the dead. The major was subsequently suspended and a senior soldier transferred from his post.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hussain |first=Altaf |url= |
In 2010 three men were reported missing proceeding these missing reports 3 men claimed to be militants were killed in a staged gun battle the army also claimed they had found Pakistani currency among the dead. The major was subsequently suspended and a senior soldier transferred from his post.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hussain |first=Altaf |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10400074 |title='Fake killings' return to Kashmir |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=28 June 2010 |access-date=2012-03-10}}</ref> In 2011, a Special Police Officer and an Indian Army ] were charged by the Kashmir police for murder of a civilian whom the duo had killed in an encounter claiming that he was a top ] militant.<ref name="deccan-Let-fake">{{cite news|title=SPO, jawan arrested for fake encounter in Kashmir, victim 'civilian' |url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/spo-jawan-arrested-fake-encounter-kashmir-victim-civilian-287 |access-date=21 July 2012 |newspaper=] |date=8 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809061202/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/spo-jawan-arrested-fake-encounter-kashmir-victim-civilian-287 |archive-date=9 August 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> | ||
===Disappearances=== | ===Disappearances=== | ||
Indian security forces have been implicated in many reports for enforced disappearances of thousands of Kashmiris whereas the security forces deny having their information and/or custody. This is often in association with torture or extrajudicial killing. The extent of male disappearances has been so large that a new term "]s" has been created for their wives who end up with no information of their husbands' whereabouts. Human right activists estimate the number of disappeared to be over eight thousand, last seen in government detention.<ref name="amnesty.org"/><ref name="hrw.org"/><ref>{{cite web| |
Indian security forces have been implicated in many reports for ] of thousands of Kashmiris whereas the security forces deny having their information and/or custody. This is often in association with torture or extrajudicial killing. The extent of male disappearances has been so large that a new term "]s" has been created for their wives who end up with no information of their husbands' whereabouts. Human right activists estimate the number of disappeared to be over eight thousand, last seen in government detention.<ref name="amnesty.org"/><ref name="hrw.org"/><ref>{{cite web |publisher=Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/print/reports/2006/09/11/everyone-lives-fear-0 |title=Everyone Lives in Fear |date=11 September 2006 |access-date=2012-10-01 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415014414/http://www.hrw.org/print/reports/2006/09/11/everyone-lives-fear-0 |archive-date=15 April 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The disappeared are believed to be dumped in thousands of mass graves across Kashmir.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2009/india |title=India |chapter=India: Events of 2008 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=2012-10-01|date=2009-01-14 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Mass-graves-found-in-North-Kashmir-containing-2900-unmarked-bodies/article16851202.ece|title=Mass graves found in North Kashmir containing 2,900 unmarked bodies|last=Bukhari|first=Shujaat|work=The Hindu|access-date=2017-04-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-14660253|title=Kashmir graves: Human Rights Watch calls for inquiry|date=2011-08-25|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-04-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/11808/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830095509/http://www.amnesty.org.au/news/comments/11808/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-08-30|title=India must investigate unidentified graves, News, Amnesty International Australia|date=2008-08-30|access-date=2017-04-22}}</ref><ref name=":5"> A preliminary report; '']''</ref> | ||
===Mass graves=== | ====Mass graves==== | ||
Mass graves have been identified all over Kashmir by human right activists believed to contain bodies of thousands of Kashmiris of enforced disappearances.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/08/24/india-investigate-unmarked-graves-jammu-and-kashmir |title=India: Investigate Unmarked Graves in Jammu and Kashmir |
] have been identified all over Kashmir by human right activists believed to contain bodies of thousands of Kashmiris of enforced disappearances.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/08/24/india-investigate-unmarked-graves-jammu-and-kashmir |title=India: Investigate Unmarked Graves in Jammu and Kashmir |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=24 August 2011 |access-date=2012-10-01}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> A ] inquiry in 2011, has confirmed there are thousands of bullet-ridden bodies buried in unmarked graves in Jammu and Kashmir. Of the 2730 bodies uncovered in 4 of the 14 districts, 574 bodies were identified as missing locals in contrast to the Indian governments insistence that all the graves belong to foreign militants<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{cite news|last=LYDIA POLGREEN|title=Mass Graves Hold Thousands, Kashmir Inquiry Finds|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/23/world/asia/23kashmir.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=22 August 2011}}</ref> According to ] submitted by ] and his field workers in 2011, the total number of unmarked graves was more than 6,000.<ref name="guardian.co.uk">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/09/mass-graves-of-kashmir | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Cathy | last=Scott-Clark | title=The mass graves of Kashmir | date=9 July 2012}}</ref> | ||
===Extrajudicial killings by security personnel=== | ===Extrajudicial killings by security personnel=== | ||
In a 1994 report, ] described summary |
In a 1994 report, ] described ]s of detainees as a "hallmark" of counter-insurgency operations by Indian security forces in Kashmir. The report further stated that such ]s were often administered within hours of arrest, and were carried out not as aberrations but as a "matter of policy".<ref name=HRW498>{{cite web|title=Continuing Repression in Kashmir|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/INDIA948.PDF|publisher=]|access-date=21 July 2012|year=1994}}</ref> In a 1995 report, ] stated that hundred of civilians had been victims of such killings, which were often claimed by officers as occurring during "encounters" or "cross-fire".<ref name=ASA1995>{{cite web|title=Summary of Human Rights Concerns in Jammu and Kashmir|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/002/1995/en/|publisher=]|access-date=21 July 2012|year=1995}}</ref> | ||
===Torture=== | ===Torture=== | ||
Indian security forces and police have been accused of the systematic use of torture. US officials first showed concern regarding the widespread use of torture in 2007 where they presented evidence to Indian diplomats.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> |
Indian security forces and police have been accused of the systematic use of torture. US officials first showed concern regarding the widespread use of torture in 2007 where they presented evidence to Indian diplomats.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/16/wikileaks-cables-indian-torture-kashmir#comments|title=WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir|last=Burke|first=Jason|date=16 December 2010|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/indian-forces-kashmir-accused-human-rights-abuses-coverup|title=Indian forces in Kashmir accused of human rights abuses cover-up|last=Burke|first=Jason|date=11 September 2015|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> | ||
In 2012, human rights lawyer ] and his field workers commenced the first statewide study of torture in Kashmir and his report concluded that torture in Kashmir is both endemic and systematic. The report suggests that one in six Kashmiris have faced torture. In Imroz's study sample of 50 villages, more than 2,000 extreme cases of torture were identified and documented, where he found that there were 50 centers run by the army and paramilitaries, where torture has been practised since 1989.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/09/mass-graves-of-kashmir|title=The mass graves of Kashmir|last=Scott-Clark|first=Cathy|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2012-07-09|access-date=2017-04-17|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> | |||
In 2023, armed forces entered the mosque in Zadoora, Jammu and Kashmir, and forced the villagers to chant pro-Hindu slogans. This event was condemned by various political leaders and was seen as assault on religious freedom.<ref>{{Cite web |title=J&K: Army Men 'Forced' Villagers to Chant 'Jai Shri Ram' in Mosque, 2 Former CMs Demand Probe |url=https://thewire.in/rights/kashmir-army-jai-shri-ram-mosque-amit-shah |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=The Wire}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Major accused of forcing worshippers to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' at Pulwama mosque |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/pulwama-major-accused-of-forcing-worshippers-at-mosque-to-chant-jai-shri-ram-in-kashmir/cid/1947613 |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=www.telegraphindia.com |language=en}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-25 |title=J&K mosque-goers forced to chant religious slogans; leaders demand probe |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/national/north-and-central/jk-mosque-goers-forced-to-chant-religious-slogans-leaders-demand-probe-1231184.html |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=Deccan Herald |language=en}}</ref> | |||
=== Sexual violence === | === Sexual violence === | ||
{{Main |
{{Main|Rape during the Kashmir conflict}} | ||
Although both security forces and militants are guilty of rape, according to scholar Seema Kazi and Jeffrey Kenney, rape by the former outstrips the latter in both scale and frequency.<ref>Kazi, Seema. . ''Oxford Islamic Studies Online''. Oxford University Press. "Sordid and gruesome as the militant record of violence against Kashmiri women and civilians is, it does not compare with the scale and depth of abuse by Indian State forces for which justice has yet to be done."</ref><ref name=":1">Kazi, Seema. " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118224034/http://www.sociolegalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Rape-Impunity-and-Justice-in-Kashmir.pdf |date=18 November 2016 }}." ''Socio-Legal Rev.'' 10 (2014): 21-23.</ref><ref name="Kenney2013">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTptAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA156|title=Islam in the Modern World|date=15 August 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-00795-9|pages=156–|quote=Studies on women's lives in contemporary Kashmir show how nationalist resistance has been heightened due to the sexual assaults, displacements and loss of life suffered by Kashmiri women, primarily at the hands of Indian security forces.|author=Jeffrey T. Kenney}}</ref> Rape is said to have been used as a weapon of war against the Kashmiri population.<ref> (PDF). ''Asia Watch & Physicians for Human Rights A Division of Human Rights Watch''. '''5''' (9): 6.</ref><ref name="Frederick2001">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gU-6CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT101|title=Rape: Weapon of Terror|publisher=World Scientific|year=2001|isbn=978-981-4350-95-2|pages=101–|author=Sharon Frederick}}</ref><ref name=":42" /> The frequent rape of Kashmiri Muslim women by Indian state security forces routinely goes unpunished.<ref name="BakshHarcourt2015">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SupcBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA683|title=The Oxford Handbook of Transnational Feminist Movements|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-19-994349-4|pages=683–|author1=Rawwida Baksh|author2=Wendy Harcourt}}</ref> According to a report by Human Rights Watch in 1993, the security forces use rape as a method of retaliation against Kashmiri civilians during reprisal attacks after militant ambushes.<ref name=":42">Inger Skjelsbæk (2001) ], International Peacekeeping, 8:2, 75-76.</ref><ref name=":12"> (PDF). ''Asia Watch & Physicians for Human Rights A Division of Human Rights Watch''. '''5''' (9): 1.</ref><ref>Littlewood, Roland. "Military Rape". '']'', vol. 13, no. 2, 1997, pp. 7–16.</ref> Professor William Baker states that rape in Kashmir was not the result of a few undisciplined soldiers but an active strategy of the security forces to humiliate and intimidate the Kashmiri population.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal | doi=10.1177/0049085715589471| title=A Gender Critique of AFSPA: Security for Whom?| journal=Social Change| volume=45| issue=3| pages=440–457| year=2015| last1=Ranjan| first1=Amit| s2cid=143176670}}</ref> Human rights groups state that 150 top officers, of the rank of major or above, have participated in torture as well as sexual violence and that the Indian government was covering up such acts.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> | |||
Though both security forces and militants are guilty of rape, rape by the former outstrips the latter in both scale and frequency.<ref name=":1" /> Human rights groups state that 150 top officers, of the rank of major or above, have participated in torture as well as sexual violence and that the Indian government was covering up such acts.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/16/wikileaks-cables-indian-torture-kashmir#comments|title=WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir|first=Jason|last=Burke|date=16 December 2010|publisher=|via=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/indian-forces-kashmir-accused-human-rights-abuses-coverup|title=Indian forces in Kashmir accused of human rights abuses cover-up|first=Jason|last=Burke|date=11 September 2015|publisher=|via=The Guardian}}</ref> According to Khurram Parvez, coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, there are 7,000 recorded cases of sexual violence since 1990.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://scroll.in/article/812010/do-you-need-700000-soldiers-to-fight-150-militants-kashmiri-rights-activist-khurram-parvez|title='Do you need 700,000 soldiers to fight 150 militants?': Kashmiri rights activist Khurram Parvez|work=]|date=21 July 2016|accessdate=28 August 2016|first=Ajaz|last=Ashraf}}</ref> ] admitted to registering more than 5000 rape cases since 1989 and the government says 1,326 rape cases have been registered since 2006.<ref name=":1">Kazi, Seema. "." ''Socio-Legal Rev.'' 10 (2014): 21-23.</ref> | |||
==Suicide== | ==Suicide and psychological problems== | ||
{{See also|Rape during the Kashmir conflict}} | |||
According to a |
Kashmiri women are reportedly said to be highly prone to suicidal tendencies due to the conflict-situations. The fear, stress, tension, and uncertainty prevailing in the state are said to be the main reasons for this. According to a survey in 2012, 17,000 people, mostly women, have committed suicide during the past 20 years in the Valley.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://kashmirwatch.com/17000-kashmiris-committed-suicide-in-two-decades/|title=17,000 Kashmiris committed suicide in two decades {{!}} KashmirWatch|date=2012-10-19|work=KashmirWatch|access-date=2017-06-05}}</ref><ref name= SIK>{{cite web|url=http://www.milligazette.com/news/3983-increasing-cases-of-suicide-in-kashmir|title=Increasing cases of suicide in Kashmir|publisher=milligazzette|access-date=2012-09-12|date=2012-07-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kashmirdispatch.com/headlines/01027890-kashmir-women-lead-suicidal-tendencies.htm|title=Kashmir women lead suicidal tendencies|publisher=kashmirdispatch|access-date=2012-09-11}}</ref> According to a study by the ], <blockquote>"Women in Kashmir have suffered enormously since the separatist struggle became violent in 1989–90. Like the women in other conflict zones, they have been raped, tortured, maimed, and killed. A few of them were even jailed for years together. Kashmiri women are among the worst sufferers of sexual violence in the world. Sexual violence has been routinely perpetrated on Kashmiri women, with 11.6% of respondents saying they were victims of sexual abuse".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws140711getting.asp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203120518/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws140711getting.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-02-03|title=Oppression driving women in Kashmir to suicide|publisher=tehelka|access-date=2012-09-11}}</ref></blockquote> Due to the impact of the conflict, a number of people in the valley suffer from various psychological problems like stress (normal or related to traumatic event), anxiety, mood, and post-traumatic disorders. At the beginning of the insurgency, there were 1200 patients in the valley's sole mental hospital.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} | ||
== International response == | == International response == | ||
{{see also|OHCHR reports on Kashmir}} | |||
A 2010 US State Department report cited extrajudicial killings by security forces in areas of conflict such as Kashmir as a major human rights problem in India.<ref name="USgov2010" /> The British parliament expressed its sadness and regret over the discovery of over 6,000 unmarked graves in Kashmir.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/early-day-motions/edm-detail1/?session=2010-12&edmnumber=2607|title=Early day motion 2607 – KASHMIR GRAVES – UK Parliament|publisher=Parliament |
A 2010 US State Department report cited extrajudicial killings by security forces in areas of conflict such as Kashmir as a major human rights problem in India.<ref name="USgov2010" /> The British parliament expressed its sadness and regret over the discovery of over 6,000 unmarked graves in Kashmir.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/early-day-motions/edm-detail1/?session=2010-12&edmnumber=2607|title=Early day motion 2607 – KASHMIR GRAVES – UK Parliament|publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom|access-date=2012-03-10}}</ref> ], a special rapporteur on ]s, has warned India that "all of these draconian laws had no place in a functioning democracy and should be scrapped".<ref name="guardian.co.uk" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wghr.org/pdf/Status%20report%2023.05%20version.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=21 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016033337/http://www.wghr.org/pdf/Status%20report%2023.05%20version.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> | ||
On 14 June 2018 for the first time ever UN human rights council released a report of 49 pages on human rights violations in Kashmir and accused both India and Pakistan on the issue. The report also urges to set up a COI to investigate the issue of human rights violations in Kashmir. Pakistan welcomed the step while India rejected, saying the report violates India's sovereignty. Further India says facts in the report are not authentic and misleading, use of term ''armed group'' instead of ''terrorist group'' and ''leaders'' instead of ''terrorists'' is not acceptable.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/report/un-releases-report-on-human-rights-violations-in-kashmir/20180614.htm |title=UN releases first of its kind report on Kashmir; India reacts sharply - Rediff.com India News |work=Rediff.com |date=2018-06-15 |access-date=2018-08-15}}</ref> | |||
⚫ | ==Kashmiri militants== | ||
⚫ | {{Further|Rape during the Kashmir conflict|Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir}} | ||
⚫ | Reports from ], Human Rights Watch and the ] have confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by militants who claim Jammu and Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan.<ref name="Forsythe" /> The ] (JKLF) has also been blamed of carrying out human rights violations, ranging from kidnapping to ] of several hundred thousand ] ].<ref name="Forsythe" /> A 2010 US state department report blamed separatist insurgents in Kashmir and other parts of the country of committing several serious abuses, including the killing of security personnel as well as civilians, and of engaging in widespread torture, rape, beheadings, kidnapping, and extortions.<ref name="USgov2010" /> | ||
⚫ | ==Kashmiri |
||
⚫ | Reports from ], Human Rights Watch and the ] have confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by militants |
||
===Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits=== | ===Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits=== | ||
{{main| |
{{main|Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus}} | ||
] had been a favoured section of the population during Dogra rule (1846–1947). About 20 per cent of them had left the Kashmir valley by 1950 after the land reforms<ref>{{Harvnb|Zutshi|2003|p=318}} Quote: "Since a majority of the landlords were Hindu, the (land) reforms (of 1950) led to a mass exodus of Hindus from the state. ... The unsettled nature of Kashmir's accession to India, coupled with the threat of economic and social decline in the face of the land reforms, led to increasing insecurity among the Hindus in Jammu, and among Kashmiri Pandits, 20 per cent of whom had emigrated from the Valley by 1950."</ref> and they began to leave in much greater numbers in the 1990s. According to a number of authors, approximately 100,000 of the total Kashmiri Pandit population of 140,000 left the valley during that decade.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bose|1997|p=71}}, {{Harvnb|Rai|2004|p=286}}, {{Harvnb|Metcalf|Metcalf|2006|p=274}} Quote: "The Hindu Pandits, a small but influential elite community who had secured a favourable position, first under the maharajas, and then under the successive Congress regimes, and proponents of a distinctive Kashmiri culture that linked them to India, felt under siege as the uprising gathered force. Of a population of some 140,000, perhaps 100,000 Pandits fled the state after 1990; their cause was quickly taken up by the Hindu right."</ref> Other authors have suggested a higher figure for the exodus, ranging from the entire population of over 150,000,<ref>{{Harvnb|Malik|2005|p=318}}</ref> to 190,000 of a total Pandit population of 200,000,<ref>{{Harvnb|Madan|2008|p=25}}</ref> to a number as high as 253,000.<ref name="CIA - The World Factbook">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/india/ |title=CIA – The World Factbook |publisher=Cia.gov |access-date=2012-08-03}}</ref> The US government has reported on the terrorist threat to Pandits still living in the Kashmir region.<ref name="USDS">{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78871.htm |title=India |publisher=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Department of State |date=6 March 2007 |access-date=8 July 2011}}</ref> | |||
The alleged rigging of the ] by the ruling party, ],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2223364.stm|title=Kashmir's flawed elections|date=14 September 2002|newspaper=BBC News|access-date=3 August 2016}}</ref> saw the rise of an armed rebellion among Kashmiris associated with the ] (MUF), a conglomerate of several Muslim political organisations opposed to National Conference. During the eruption of the armed rebellion, the insurgents are reported to have specifically targeted the Pandits, with torture and killings.<ref name="BBCuk" /> Reports by Indian government state that 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed from 1989 to 2004 and around {{formatnum:140000}} 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 |title=Front Page : "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989" |
The alleged rigging of the ] by the ruling party, ],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2223364.stm|title=Kashmir's flawed elections|date=14 September 2002|newspaper=BBC News|access-date=3 August 2016}}</ref> saw the rise of an armed rebellion among Kashmiris associated with the ] (MUF), a conglomerate of several Muslim political organisations opposed to National Conference. During the eruption of the armed rebellion, the insurgents are reported to have specifically targeted the Pandits, with torture and killings.<ref name="BBCuk" /> Reports by Indian government state that 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed from 1989 to 2004 and around {{formatnum:140000}} 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 |access-date=2012-08-03 |work=] |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 |access-date=2012-08-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430003129/http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=731448 |archive-date=30 April 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The local organisation of Pandits in ], Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti after carrying out a survey in 2008 and 2009, claimed that 399 ] were killed by insurgents from 1990 to 2011 with 75% of them being killed during the first year of the Kashmiri insurgency.<ref>{{cite web|author=Azad Essa |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/kashmirtheforgottenconflict/2011/07/201176134818984961.html |title=Kashmiri Pandits: Why we never fled Kashmir – Kashmir: The forgotten conflict |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=2012-08-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=GreaterKashmir.com (Greater Service) |url=http://www.greaterkashmir.com/mobi/news/news/399-pandits-killed-since-1990-kpss/97140.html|title=399 Pandits killed since 1990 KPSS Lastupdate:- Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT |publisher=Greaterkashmir.com |date=20 June 2011 |access-date=2012-05-24}}</ref> Motilal Bhat, the president of the Pandit Hindu Welfare Society, rejected the figure of 399 killed and said that only 219 were killed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.milligazette.com/news/11909-the-gaw-kadal-massacre-and-exodus-of-kashmiri-pandits|title=The Gaw Kadal Massacre and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits|last=Bhat|first=Bilal|date=19 March 2015|work=The Milli Gazette}}</ref> | ||
Kashmiri separatists believe that the then Governor ] encouraged the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley by deliberately creating an atmosphere of paranoia. This, they claim, was done to "facilitate the counter-insurgency" operations and suppressing the anti-Indian uprising in Kashmir. The mass migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley started on 19 January 1990 immediately preceding the first massacre of Kashmiri Muslims at ]. The Gawakadal massacre was followed by eight other major massacres and allegations of fake encounters, enforced disappearances, tortures and crackdown operations.<ref>{{ |
Kashmiri separatists believe that the then Governor ] encouraged the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley by deliberately creating an atmosphere of paranoia. This, they claim, was done to "facilitate the counter-insurgency" operations and suppressing the anti-Indian uprising in Kashmir.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Essa |first=Azad |title=Kashmir: The Pandit question |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/8/1/kashmir-the-pandit-question |access-date=2022-03-31 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=September 2, 2021 |title=How Syed Ali Shah Geelani at India Today Conclave denied role in exodus of Kashmiri Pandits |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/jammu-kashmir-syed-ali-shah-geelani-india-today-conclave-denied-role-kashmiri-pandit-exodus-1848398-2021-09-02 |access-date=2022-03-31 |magazine=India Today |language=en}}</ref> The mass migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley started on 19 January 1990 immediately preceding the first massacre of Kashmiri Muslims at ]. The Gawakadal massacre was followed by eight other major massacres and allegations of fake encounters, enforced disappearances, tortures and crackdown operations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jkccs.net/let-truth-prevail/|title=LET TRUTH PREVAIL {{!}} JKCCS {{!}} Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society|website=www.jkccs.net|access-date=2016-08-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916182451/http://www.jkccs.net/let-truth-prevail/|archive-date=16 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=August 2016}}.<ref name=":0" /> Pro-India commentators have refuted this version as a false allegation "to hide the truth".{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} | ||
{{Rquote|right|"Our people were killed. I saw a girl tortured with cigarette butts. Another man had his eyes pulled out and his body hung on a tree. The armed separatists used a chainsaw to cut our bodies into pieces. It wasn't just the killing but the way they tortured and killed."|3=A crying old Kashmiri Hindu in refugee camps of Jammu told BBC news reporter<ref name=BBCuk>, BBC World Service, undated. Retrieved August 2016.</ref>}} | {{Rquote|right|"Our people were killed. I saw a girl tortured with cigarette butts. Another man had his eyes pulled out and his body hung on a tree. The armed separatists used a chainsaw to cut our bodies into pieces. It wasn't just the killing but the way they tortured and killed."|3=A crying old Kashmiri Hindu in refugee camps of Jammu told BBC news reporter<ref name=BBCuk>, BBC World Service, undated. Retrieved August 2016.</ref>}} | ||
The violence against Kashmiri Pandits was condemned and labelled as ] in a 2006 resolution passed by the ].<ref>, ], 2006-02-15 {{dead link|date=December 2014}}</ref> It stated that insurgents infiltrated the region in 1989 and began an ethnic cleansing campaign to convert Kashmir to a Muslim state. According to the same, 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| |
The violence against Kashmiri Pandits was condemned and labelled as ] in a 2006 resolution passed by the ].<ref> Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of the Republic of India and the State Government of Jammu and Kashmir should take immediate steps to remedy the situation of the Kashmiri Pandits and should act to ensure the physical, political, and economic security of this embattled community. HR Resolution 344], ], 2006-02-15 {{dead link|date=December 2014}}</ref> It stated that insurgents infiltrated the region in 1989 and began an ethnic cleansing campaign to convert Kashmir to a Muslim state. According to the same, 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}}</ref> Historian ] says that such high numbers are not credible because the total Kashmiri Pandit population was only 160,000 to 170,000 at the time of their departure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/kashmirtheforgottenconflict/2011/07/2011724204546645823.html|title=Kashmir: The Pandit question|last=Essa|first=Azad|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=2017-04-17}}</ref> | ||
The CIA has reported nearly 506,000 people, about half of which are Pandit Hindus are displaced due to the insurgency.<ref name="CIA - The World Factbook" /><ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926215555/http://www.kaleo.org/2.13229/kashmir-the-predicament-1.1790247 |date=26 September 2011 }}</ref> The ] reports that there are roughly 1.5 |
The CIA has reported nearly 506,000 people, about half of which are Pandit Hindus are displaced due to the insurgency.<ref name="CIA - The World Factbook" /><ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926215555/http://www.kaleo.org/2.13229/kashmir-the-predicament-1.1790247 |date=26 September 2011 }}</ref> The ] reports that there are roughly 1.5 million refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir, bulk of whom arrived in ] and in Pakistan after the situation on the Indian side worsened in 1989 ].<ref name="UNHR">{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,463af2212,469f2dcf2,487ca21a2a,0.html |title=Refworld | Freedom in the World 2008 <nowiki>– Kashmir [Pakistan</nowiki>] |publisher=United Nations High Commission for Refugees |date=2 July 2008 |access-date=2010-02-02}}</ref> | ||
Post-1989, Kashmiri Pandits and other minority groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been targets of jihadi elements which India alleges and blames on the ].<ref name="Raman">{{cite news |title=Future of Kashmiri Pandits |author=B. Raman |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?279630 |newspaper=Outlook |date=19 January 2012 | |
Post-1989, Kashmiri Pandits and other minority groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been targets of jihadi elements which India alleges and blames on the ].<ref name="Raman">{{cite news |title=Future of Kashmiri Pandits |author=B. Raman |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?279630 |newspaper=Outlook |date=19 January 2012 |access-date=15 March 2012}}</ref> The Kashmiri Pandits, a community of Hindu Brahmins, then comprising 5% of the population of the state were the primary targets of Islamic militants, who also sought to also eliminate Kashmir's record of 5000 years of Hindu Sanskrit culture and scholarship as well as the tolerant indigenous multiculturalism referred to as '']''.<ref name="Knuth2006">{{cite book|last=Knuth|first=Rebecca|title=Burning books and leveling libraries: extremist violence and cultural destruction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=67CWswHay3QC&pg=PA77|access-date=15 March 2012|year=2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-99007-7|pages=77–79}}</ref> As many as 170,000 Kashmiri Pandits are estimated to have fled the state due to being targeted and threatened by militant groups.<ref name="Columbus2004">{{cite book|last=Leather|first=Kaia|editor=Columbus, Frank|title=Asian economic and political issues, Volume 10|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5XEAQLuY0sC&pg=PA156|access-date=15 March 2012|year=2004|publisher=Nova Publishers|isbn=978-1-59454-089-9|page=156|chapter=Kashmiri Separatists : Origins, Competing Ideologies and Prospects for Resolution of the Conflict}}</ref> In 1989, attacks on Pandits escalated and Muslim paramilitaries selectively raped, tortured and killed Kashmiri Pandits, burnt their temples, idols and holy books. The Pandits fled en masse from the state after which their houses were burnt by militants and their artwork and sculptures were destroyed.<ref name="Knuth2006" /> | ||
In August 2000, militant groups killed 30 Hindu pilgrims in what became known as the ].<ref name="autogenerated2000">, ], 2000-08-04</ref> The Indian government blamed the ] for the killings.<ref>{{cite web|url= |
In August 2000, militant groups killed 30 Hindu pilgrims in what became known as the ].<ref name="autogenerated2000">, ], 2000-08-04</ref> The Indian government blamed the ] for the killings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/2011/05/coll-likely-bin-laden-successor-will-struggle.html|title=Steve Coll: "Zawahiri's record suggests he will struggle" | FRONTLINE|date=2 May 2011|publisher=PBS|access-date=2011-12-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianembassy.org/new/killings_jk_august_03_2000.htm|title=Prime Minister Vajpayee's statement in Parliament regarding the recent massacre in Jammu & Kashmir|date=4 August 2000|publisher=Embassy of India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070804025219/http://www.indianembassy.org/new/killings_jk_august_03_2000.htm|archive-date=2007-08-04|url-status=dead}}</ref> The '']'' writes that "hundreds of Hindu labourers ha been leaving the Kashmir Valley" in August 2000 due to targeted killings against Hindu workers.<ref name="autogenerated2000" /> | ||
Other minorities such as Kashmiri ]s were also targeted. According to Chitkara, the killing of Sikhs near ] in 2001, by the ''Jehadis'' was aimed at ethnic cleansing. Hindus have migrated from most of the Kashmir valley, Sikhs who form a very small percentage could be forced to migrate in the wake of such killings.<ref name="Chitkara2002">{{cite book|author=M. G. Chitkara|title=Kashmir Shaivism: under siege|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CK0DFijayQC&pg=PA172| |
Other minorities such as Kashmiri ]s were also targeted. According to Chitkara, the killing of Sikhs near ] in 2001, by the ''Jehadis'' was aimed at ethnic cleansing. Hindus have migrated from most of the Kashmir valley, Sikhs who form a very small percentage could be forced to migrate in the wake of such killings.<ref name="Chitkara2002">{{cite book|author=M. G. Chitkara|title=Kashmir Shaivism: under siege|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5CK0DFijayQC&pg=PA172|access-date=11 March 2012|year=2002|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-360-5|page=172}}</ref> The ] has been blamed by Indian government for the ], which killed 36 Sikhs at the time of Clinton's visit to India.<ref>{{citation|quote=LeT has been linked to numerous terrorist attacks in India including the massacre of dozens of Sikhs in Kashmir in March 2000 during President Clinton's visit to India, bombings in New Delhi in 2005 and bombings in Varanasi and Mumbai in 2006 |url=http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2008/1130_india_terrorism_riedel.aspx |publisher=] |title=Terrorism in India and the Global Jihad |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111111191820/https://www.brookings.edu/articles/2008/1130_india_terrorism_riedel.aspx |archive-date=11 November 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In 2010, the ] (LeT) associate ], who was arrested in connection with the ], confessed to the ] that the LeT carried out the Chittisinghpura massacre.<ref>. ''Hindustan Times''. 25 October 2010.</ref> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
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==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
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*{{Citation|last=Bose|first=Sumantra|title=The challenge in Kashmir: democracy, self-determination, and a just peace|publisher=Sage Publications, in association with The Book Review Literary Trust|location=New Delhi|year=1997|isbn=978-0-8039-9350-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EhuAAAAMAAJ}} | *{{Citation|last=Bose|first=Sumantra|title=The challenge in Kashmir: democracy, self-determination, and a just peace|publisher=Sage Publications, in association with The Book Review Literary Trust|location=New Delhi|year=1997|isbn=978-0-8039-9350-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EhuAAAAMAAJ}} | ||
*{{Citation|last=Bose|first=Sumantra|title=Kashmir: roots of conflict, paths to peace|publisher=Harvard University Press. |
*{{Citation|last=Bose|first=Sumantra|title=Kashmir: roots of conflict, paths to peace|publisher=Harvard University Press. Pp. 307|year=2005|isbn=978-0-674-01817-4}} | ||
*{{Citation|last=Madan|first=T. N.| |
*{{Citation|last=Madan|first=T. N.|author-link=Triloki Nath Madan|chapter=Kashmir, Kashmiris, Kashmiriyat: An Introductory Essay|pages=1–36|editor-last=Rao|editor-first=Aparna|title=The Valley of Kashmir: The Making and Unmaking of a Composite Culture?|publisher=Delhi: Manohar. Pp. xviii, 758|year=2008|isbn=978-81-7304-751-0}} | ||
*{{Citation|last=Malik|first=Iffat|title=Kashmir: Ethnic Conflict, International Dispute|publisher= Karachi and Oxford: Oxford University Press. |
*{{Citation|last=Malik|first=Iffat|title=Kashmir: Ethnic Conflict, International Dispute|publisher= Karachi and Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xxvi, 392|isbn=978-0-19-579622-3|year=2005}} | ||
* {{Citation| last1=Metcalf| first1=Barbara| |
* {{Citation| last1=Metcalf| first1=Barbara|author-link1=Barbara Metcalf| last2=Metcalf| first2=Thomas R.| author-link2=Thomas R. Metcalf| year=2006| title=A Concise History of Modern India (Cambridge Concise Histories) | publisher=Cambridge and New York: ]. Pp. xxxiii, 372 | isbn=978-0-521-68225-1}}. | ||
*{{Citation|last=Rai|first=Mridu|title=Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir|year=2004|publisher=Princeton University Press/Permanent Black. |
*{{Citation|last=Rai|first=Mridu|author-link=Mridu Rai |title=Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, Rights, and the History of Kashmir|year=2004|publisher=Princeton University Press/Permanent Black. Pp. xii, 335.|isbn=978-81-7824-202-6}} | ||
*{{Citation|last=Zutshi|first=Chitralekha|title=Language of belonging: Islam, regional identity, and the making of Kashmir|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press/Permanent Black. |
*{{Citation|last=Zutshi|first=Chitralekha|title=Language of belonging: Islam, regional identity, and the making of Kashmir|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press/Permanent Black. Pp. 359|isbn=978-0-19-521939-5}} | ||
*{{Citation|last=Zutshi|first=Chitraleka|chapter=Shrines, Political Authority, and Religious Identities in Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth-century Kashmir|pages=235–258|editor-last=Rao|editor-first=Aparna|title=The Valley of Kashmir: The Making and Unmaking of a Composite Culture?|publisher=Delhi: Manohar. |
*{{Citation|last=Zutshi|first=Chitraleka|chapter=Shrines, Political Authority, and Religious Identities in Late-Nineteenth and Early-Twentieth-century Kashmir|pages=235–258|editor-last=Rao|editor-first=Aparna|title=The Valley of Kashmir: The Making and Unmaking of a Composite Culture?|publisher=Delhi: Manohar. Pp. xviii, 758|year=2008|isbn=978-81-7304-751-0}} | ||
{{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
{{Jammu and Kashmir}} | {{Jammu and Kashmir}} | ||
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{{Indo-Pakistani relations}} | {{Indo-Pakistani relations}} | ||
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Latest revision as of 12:42, 24 September 2024
This article is about human rights abuses in Indian-administered territory. For human rights abuses throughout the larger region, see Human rights abuses in Kashmir. For human rights abuses in Pakistani-administered territory, see Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir.
Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir |
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Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Border Security Personnel (BSF) have been accused of committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians. According to Seema Kazi, militant groups have also been held responsible for similar crimes, but the vast majority of abuses have been perpetrated by the armed forces of the Indian government.
A 2006 report by Human Rights Watch claimed that at least 20,000 civilians had died from 1990 to 2017. The Indian government claims 14,000 civilians have died because of the insurgency against Indian rule as of March 2017, with most of these deaths having taken place in the 1990s and early 2000s. Pakistani officials say India has killed more than 100,000 Kashmiri civilians, of which 7,200 died from custodial torture. Moreover, they also claim 162,000 Kashmiris have been tortured.
India and Pakistan accuse each other of violating the ceasefire and targeting civilians at the Line of Control, the de facto border between Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India also accuses alleged state-sponsored militants from Pakistan of committing human rights violations against Kashmiri civilians. Leaked diplomatic cables revealed that the Red Cross had briefed US officials in Delhi in 2005 about the use of torture from 2002 to 2004 by security forces against hundreds of detainees suspected of being connected to or having information about militants.
In a 1993 report, Human Rights Watch stated that Indian security forces "assaulted civilians during search operations, tortured and summarily executed detainees in custody and murdered civilians in reprisal attacks"; according to the report, militants had also targeted civilians, but to a lesser extent than security forces. Rape was regularly used as a means to "punish and humiliate" communities. Scholar Seema Kazi says it is used as a weapon of war by the state against the population. A 2010 US state department report stated that the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir had carried out extrajudicial killings of civilians and suspected insurgents. The report also described killings and abuse being carried out by insurgents and separatists. In 2010, statistics presented to the Indian government's Cabinet Committee on Security showed that for the first time since the 1980s, the number of civilian deaths attributed to the Indian forces was higher than those attributed to insurgents' actions. The Indian Army claims that 97% of the reports about the human rights abuse have been found to be "fake or motivated" based on the investigation performed by the Army. However, a report by the US State Department said, "Indian authorities use Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to avoid holding its security forces responsible for the deaths of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir."
Militant violence in the 1990s, led by the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front against Kashmiri Hindu Pandits has led to the exodus of several hundred thousands of them out of the Kashmir valley, who comprised an estimated ~5% of the valley's population before. According to Asia Watch, the militant organisations forced the Hindus residing in the Kashmir valley to flee and become refugees in Delhi and Jammu. The chief perpetrators were the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front and the Hizbul Mujahideen. Migration continued until a vast majority of the Kashmiri Pandits were evicted out of the valley after having suffered many acts of violence, including sexual assault on women, arson, torture and extortion of property. Some of the separatist leaders in Kashmir reject this, while others accept it. The Indian government is attempting to reinstate the displaced Pandits in Kashmir. According to the J & K government an amount of ₹71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in 2007–08, ₹70.33 crore in 2008-09 and ₹68.59 crore from 2009 up to January 2010. The remnants of Kashmiri Pandits have been living in Jammu, but most of them believe that, until the violence ceases, returning to Kashmir is not an option.
According to a 2022 report by Amnesty International, repression by Indian government has intensified in the region after the abrogation of article 370 in 2019. Amnesty recognized at least 60 instances of human rights violations. The internet was shut down for 18 months after the revocation of special status of the region. The information coming out of the region is totally controlled by the government, with regular internet shut downs and passing policies like 2020 Revised Media Policy and 2021 Film Policy, which restrict press freedom. Indian government shut down Kashmir Press Club which led to further decline in the media coverage and freedom in the region. At least six journalists, human rights activists, and academics were denied travelling abroad despite having all the required documents, restricting freedom of movement without a court warrant or a written explanation.
Indian Armed Forces
Further information: Indian Army operations in Jammu and KashmirThousands of Kashmiris have been reported to be killed by Indian security forces in custody, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances and these human right violations are said to be carried out by Indian security forces under total impunity. Civilians including women and children have been killed in "reprisal" attacks by Indian security forces. International NGOs, as well as the US State Department, have documented human rights abuses including disappearances, torture, and arbitrary executions carried out during India's counter-terrorism operations.
United Nations has expressed serious concerns over large number of killings by Indian security forces. Human Rights groups have also accused the Indian security forces of using child soldiers, although the Indian government denies this allegation. So far more than 15,000 inhabitants, reportedly including teenagers, have joined these self-defence groups.
At the Asia-Pacific Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers in May 2000 the representative of the state government of Jammu and Kashmir denied the involvement of children in VDCs. He acknowledged that there may have been some instances of young boys taking up arms to defend themselves under attack, but that there was "no policy to encourage young boys to become members of the Village Defence Committees." Torture, widely used by Indian security sources, whose severity is described as beyond comprehension by Amnesty International, has been responsible for the huge number of deaths in custody.
The Telegraph, citing a WikiLeaks report, quotes the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that Indian security forces were physically abusing detainees with beatings, electrocutions and sexual interference. These detainees weren't Islamic insurgents or Pakistani-backed insurgents but civilians, in contrast to India's continual allegations of Pakistani involvement. The detainees were "connected to or believed to have information about the insurgents". According to ICRC, 681 of the 1296 detainees whom it interviewed claimed torture. US officials have been quoted reporting "terrorism investigations and court cases tend to rely upon confessions, many of which are obtained under duress if not beatings, threats, or in some cases torture."
Amnesty International accused security forces of exploiting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that enables them to "hold prisoners without trial". The group argues that the law, which allows security to detain individuals for as many as two years "without presenting charges, violating prisoners' human rights". The Army sources maintain that "any move to revoke AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir would be detrimental to the security of the Valley and would provide a boost to the terrorists."
Former Indian Army Chief General V. K. Singh rejected the accusations that the action was not taken in the cases of human rights violations by Army personnel. On 24 October 2010, he has said that 104 Army personnel had been punished in Jammu and Kashmir in this regard, including 39 officers. He also said that 95% of the allegations of human rights abuses against Indian Army were proved to be false, of which he remarked, had apparently been made with the "ulterior motive of maligning the armed forces". Going into details, he said: 'since 1994, 988 allegations against the Army personnel were received in Jammu and Kashmir. Out of these, 965 cases were investigated in which 940 were found to be untrue, accounting for 95.2%, leaving only 25 genuine allegations.' However, according to Human Rights Watch, the military courts in India, in general, were proved to be incompetent to deal with cases of serious human rights abuses and were responsible in covering up evidence and protecting the involved officers. Amnesty International in its report in 2015, titled "Denied"-Failures in Accountability in Jammu and Kashmir, says, "...with respect to investigations, an inquiry that is conducted by the same authority accused of the crime raises serious questions about the independence and impartiality of those proceedings", adding that according to the international law, an independent authority that is not involved in the alleged violations has to investigate such crimes.
In the later revelations on 24 September 2013 made by General V. K. Singh, he said that the state politicians of Jammu and Kashmir are funded by an Army secret service to keep the general public at calm and this activity is there since the partition.
Indian Army
The soldiers of the 4th Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army on 23 February 1991 launched a search operation for the militants in a village Kunan Poshpora, in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir and after which they were accused by locals of allegedly raping 23 women. Later, interviews of victims and eyewitnesses were documented into a short film Ocean of Tears which was prevented from being broadcast. Nevertheless, the Indian committee that led a thorough investigation concluded that the allegations were "grossly exaggerated" and the Kunan rape story was "a massive hoax orchestrated by militant groups and their sympathisers and mentors in Kashmir and abroad as a part of sustained and cleverly contrived strategy of psychological warfare and as an entry point for re-inscribing Kashmir on the International Agenda as a Human rights issue." However, Human Rights organisations including Human Rights Watch have reported that the number of raped women could be as high as 100. The Indian Army has also harmed the health care system in the valley. Major hospitals in Kashmir have experienced crackdowns and army men have even entered the operation theatres in search of insurgents.
Border Security Force
On 22 October 1993, the 13th Battalion of the Border Security Forces was accused of arbitrarily firing on a crowd and killing 37 civilians in Bijbehara The number of reported dead and wounded vary by source. Amnesty International reported that at least 51 people died and 200 were wounded on that day.
The Indian government conducted two official enquiries and the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) conducted a third. In March 1994 the government indicted the Border Security Force (BSF) for firing into the crowd "without provocation" and charged 13 BSF officers with murder. In another incident which took place at Handwara on 25 January 1990, 9 protesters were killed by the same unit.
Central Reserve Police Force
During the Amarnath land transfer controversy more than 40 unarmed protesters were killed by the personnel of Central Reserve Police Force. The same practice was again repeated by the personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force, during the 2010 Kashmir Unrest, which resulted in 112 deaths, including many teenager protesters at various incidents.
Special Operations Group
The Special Operations Group was raised in 1994 for counter-terrorism. A volunteer force, mainly comprising police officers and policemen from the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The group is accused of torture and custodial killings. A Senior Superintendent of this group and his deputy are among the 11 personnel, who were convicted for a fake encounter, which killed a local carpenter, and was labelled as a militant to get the promotions and rewards.
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958
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.
Massacres
Further information: List of massacres in Jammu and KashmirThe Indian security forces are also accused of many massacres. Some of them include:
Gawakadal massacre: On 21 January 1990, 51 civilians were killed by CRPF troopers during protests against earlier raids in which wanton arrests and molestation of women were conducted by CRPF troops.
Handwara massacre: On 25 January 1990, two BSF patrolling parties in Handwara indiscriminately fired at peaceful protesters and killed 25 people. Many people were injured.
Zakoora and Tengpora massacre: Indian forces killed 33 protesters and injured 47 on 1 March 1990 at Zakoora Crossing and Tengpora Bypass Road in Srinagar. The killers were not punished.
Hawal massacre: At the funeral of Mirwaiz Muhammad Farooq on 21 May 1990 over 60 civilians were killed by paramilitary forces and hundreds injured in the indiscriminate firing on the funeral procession.
Sopore massacre: On 6 January 1993 Indian troops killed 55 civilians in the town of Sopore and set fire to many homes and buildings.
Bijbehara Massacre: On 22 October 1993 the Indian Army killed 51 civilians during protests over the siege of the Hazratbal Mosque. 25 of those killed were students None of the accused were punished.
Kupwara massacre: On 27 January 1994 the Indian Army fired at and killed 27 civilians, mainly traders, in Kupwara district. Survivors say that the soldiers carried out the massacre to punish people for observing shutdown on 26 January.
Fake encounters and killings
Hundreds of civilians including women and children have reportedly been extrajudicially executed by Indian security forces and the killings are concealed as fake encounters. Despite government denial, Indian security officials have reportedly confessed to Human Rights Watch of the widespread occurrence of fake encounters and its encouragement for awards and promotions According to a BBC interview with an anonymous security person, 'fake encounter' killings are those in which security personnel kill someone in cold blood while claiming that the casualty occurred in a gun battle. It also asserts that the security personnel are Kashmiris and "even surrendered militants".
In 2010 three men were reported missing proceeding these missing reports 3 men claimed to be militants were killed in a staged gun battle the army also claimed they had found Pakistani currency among the dead. The major was subsequently suspended and a senior soldier transferred from his post. In 2011, a Special Police Officer and an Indian Army Jawan were charged by the Kashmir police for murder of a civilian whom the duo had killed in an encounter claiming that he was a top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant.
Disappearances
Indian security forces have been implicated in many reports for enforced disappearances of thousands of Kashmiris whereas the security forces deny having their information and/or custody. This is often in association with torture or extrajudicial killing. The extent of male disappearances has been so large that a new term "half-widows" has been created for their wives who end up with no information of their husbands' whereabouts. Human right activists estimate the number of disappeared to be over eight thousand, last seen in government detention. The disappeared are believed to be dumped in thousands of mass graves across Kashmir.
Mass graves
Mass graves have been identified all over Kashmir by human right activists believed to contain bodies of thousands of Kashmiris of enforced disappearances. A State Human Rights Commission inquiry in 2011, has confirmed there are thousands of bullet-ridden bodies buried in unmarked graves in Jammu and Kashmir. Of the 2730 bodies uncovered in 4 of the 14 districts, 574 bodies were identified as missing locals in contrast to the Indian governments insistence that all the graves belong to foreign militants According to deposition submitted by Parvez Imroz and his field workers in 2011, the total number of unmarked graves was more than 6,000.
Extrajudicial killings by security personnel
In a 1994 report, Human Rights Watch described summary executions of detainees as a "hallmark" of counter-insurgency operations by Indian security forces in Kashmir. The report further stated that such extrajudicial killings were often administered within hours of arrest, and were carried out not as aberrations but as a "matter of policy". In a 1995 report, Amnesty International stated that hundred of civilians had been victims of such killings, which were often claimed by officers as occurring during "encounters" or "cross-fire".
Torture
Indian security forces and police have been accused of the systematic use of torture. US officials first showed concern regarding the widespread use of torture in 2007 where they presented evidence to Indian diplomats.
In 2012, human rights lawyer Parvez Imroz and his field workers commenced the first statewide study of torture in Kashmir and his report concluded that torture in Kashmir is both endemic and systematic. The report suggests that one in six Kashmiris have faced torture. In Imroz's study sample of 50 villages, more than 2,000 extreme cases of torture were identified and documented, where he found that there were 50 centers run by the army and paramilitaries, where torture has been practised since 1989.
In 2023, armed forces entered the mosque in Zadoora, Jammu and Kashmir, and forced the villagers to chant pro-Hindu slogans. This event was condemned by various political leaders and was seen as assault on religious freedom.
Sexual violence
Main article: Rape during the Kashmir conflictAlthough both security forces and militants are guilty of rape, according to scholar Seema Kazi and Jeffrey Kenney, rape by the former outstrips the latter in both scale and frequency. Rape is said to have been used as a weapon of war against the Kashmiri population. The frequent rape of Kashmiri Muslim women by Indian state security forces routinely goes unpunished. According to a report by Human Rights Watch in 1993, the security forces use rape as a method of retaliation against Kashmiri civilians during reprisal attacks after militant ambushes. Professor William Baker states that rape in Kashmir was not the result of a few undisciplined soldiers but an active strategy of the security forces to humiliate and intimidate the Kashmiri population. Human rights groups state that 150 top officers, of the rank of major or above, have participated in torture as well as sexual violence and that the Indian government was covering up such acts.
Suicide and psychological problems
See also: Rape during the Kashmir conflictKashmiri women are reportedly said to be highly prone to suicidal tendencies due to the conflict-situations. The fear, stress, tension, and uncertainty prevailing in the state are said to be the main reasons for this. According to a survey in 2012, 17,000 people, mostly women, have committed suicide during the past 20 years in the Valley. According to a study by the Medecins Sans Frontieres,
"Women in Kashmir have suffered enormously since the separatist struggle became violent in 1989–90. Like the women in other conflict zones, they have been raped, tortured, maimed, and killed. A few of them were even jailed for years together. Kashmiri women are among the worst sufferers of sexual violence in the world. Sexual violence has been routinely perpetrated on Kashmiri women, with 11.6% of respondents saying they were victims of sexual abuse".
Due to the impact of the conflict, a number of people in the valley suffer from various psychological problems like stress (normal or related to traumatic event), anxiety, mood, and post-traumatic disorders. At the beginning of the insurgency, there were 1200 patients in the valley's sole mental hospital.
International response
See also: OHCHR reports on KashmirA 2010 US State Department report cited extrajudicial killings by security forces in areas of conflict such as Kashmir as a major human rights problem in India. The British parliament expressed its sadness and regret over the discovery of over 6,000 unmarked graves in Kashmir. Christof Heyns, a special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, has warned India that "all of these draconian laws had no place in a functioning democracy and should be scrapped".
On 14 June 2018 for the first time ever UN human rights council released a report of 49 pages on human rights violations in Kashmir and accused both India and Pakistan on the issue. The report also urges to set up a COI to investigate the issue of human rights violations in Kashmir. Pakistan welcomed the step while India rejected, saying the report violates India's sovereignty. Further India says facts in the report are not authentic and misleading, use of term armed group instead of terrorist group and leaders instead of terrorists is not acceptable.
Kashmiri militants
Further information: Rape during the Kashmir conflict and Insurgency in Jammu and KashmirReports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists have confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by militants who claim Jammu and Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan. The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has also been blamed of carrying out human rights violations, ranging from kidnapping to ethnic cleansing of several hundred thousand Hindu Kashmiri Pandits. A 2010 US state department report blamed separatist insurgents in Kashmir and other parts of the country of committing several serious abuses, including the killing of security personnel as well as civilians, and of engaging in widespread torture, rape, beheadings, kidnapping, and extortions.
Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits
Main article: Exodus of Kashmiri HindusKashmiri Pandits had been a favoured section of the population during Dogra rule (1846–1947). About 20 per cent of them had left the Kashmir valley by 1950 after the land reforms and they began to leave in much greater numbers in the 1990s. According to a number of authors, approximately 100,000 of the total Kashmiri Pandit population of 140,000 left the valley during that decade. Other authors have suggested a higher figure for the exodus, ranging from the entire population of over 150,000, to 190,000 of a total Pandit population of 200,000, to a number as high as 253,000. The US government has reported on the terrorist threat to Pandits still living in the Kashmir region.
The alleged rigging of the 1987 Assembly Elections by the ruling party, National Conference, saw the rise of an armed rebellion among Kashmiris associated with the Muslim United Front (MUF), a conglomerate of several Muslim political organisations opposed to National Conference. During the eruption of the armed rebellion, the insurgents are reported to have specifically targeted the Pandits, with torture and killings. Reports by Indian government state that 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed from 1989 to 2004 and around 140,000 migrated due to militancy while over 3000 stayed in the valley The local organisation of Pandits in Kashmir, Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti after carrying out a survey in 2008 and 2009, claimed that 399 Kashmiri Pandits were killed by insurgents from 1990 to 2011 with 75% of them being killed during the first year of the Kashmiri insurgency. Motilal Bhat, the president of the Pandit Hindu Welfare Society, rejected the figure of 399 killed and said that only 219 were killed.
Kashmiri separatists believe that the then Governor Jagmohan encouraged the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley by deliberately creating an atmosphere of paranoia. This, they claim, was done to "facilitate the counter-insurgency" operations and suppressing the anti-Indian uprising in Kashmir. The mass migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley started on 19 January 1990 immediately preceding the first massacre of Kashmiri Muslims at Gawakadal. The Gawakadal massacre was followed by eight other major massacres and allegations of fake encounters, enforced disappearances, tortures and crackdown operations.. Pro-India commentators have refuted this version as a false allegation "to hide the truth".
Our people were killed. I saw a girl tortured with cigarette butts. Another man had his eyes pulled out and his body hung on a tree. The armed separatists used a chainsaw to cut our bodies into pieces. It wasn't just the killing but the way they tortured and killed.
— A crying old Kashmiri Hindu in refugee camps of Jammu told BBC news reporter
The violence against Kashmiri Pandits was condemned and labelled as ethnic cleansing in a 2006 resolution passed by the United States Congress. It stated that insurgents infiltrated the region in 1989 and began an ethnic cleansing campaign to convert Kashmir to a Muslim state. According to the same, the population of Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir had declined from 400,000 in 1989 to 4,000 in 2011. Historian Mridu Rai says that such high numbers are not credible because the total Kashmiri Pandit population was only 160,000 to 170,000 at the time of their departure.
The CIA has reported nearly 506,000 people, about half of which are Pandit Hindus are displaced due to the insurgency. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights reports that there are roughly 1.5 million refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir, bulk of whom arrived in Pakistan administered Kashmir and in Pakistan after the situation on the Indian side worsened in 1989 insurgency.
Post-1989, Kashmiri Pandits and other minority groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been targets of jihadi elements which India alleges and blames on the Inter-Services Intelligence. The Kashmiri Pandits, a community of Hindu Brahmins, then comprising 5% of the population of the state were the primary targets of Islamic militants, who also sought to also eliminate Kashmir's record of 5000 years of Hindu Sanskrit culture and scholarship as well as the tolerant indigenous multiculturalism referred to as Kashmiriyat. As many as 170,000 Kashmiri Pandits are estimated to have fled the state due to being targeted and threatened by militant groups. In 1989, attacks on Pandits escalated and Muslim paramilitaries selectively raped, tortured and killed Kashmiri Pandits, burnt their temples, idols and holy books. The Pandits fled en masse from the state after which their houses were burnt by militants and their artwork and sculptures were destroyed.
In August 2000, militant groups killed 30 Hindu pilgrims in what became known as the 2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre. The Indian government blamed the Lashkar-e-Taiba for the killings. The BBC writes that "hundreds of Hindu labourers ha been leaving the Kashmir Valley" in August 2000 due to targeted killings against Hindu workers.
Other minorities such as Kashmiri Sikhs were also targeted. According to Chitkara, the killing of Sikhs near Anantnag in 2001, by the Jehadis was aimed at ethnic cleansing. Hindus have migrated from most of the Kashmir valley, Sikhs who form a very small percentage could be forced to migrate in the wake of such killings. The Lashkar-e-Taiba has been blamed by Indian government for the Chittisinghpura massacre, which killed 36 Sikhs at the time of Clinton's visit to India. In 2010, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) associate David Headley, who was arrested in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, confessed to the National Investigation Agency that the LeT carried out the Chittisinghpura massacre.
See also
- Jaish-e-Mohammed
- Hizbul Mujahideen
- Lashkar-e-Taiba
- Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir
- Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism
- Human rights in India
- Papa II
- Women's rights in Jammu and Kashmir
Notes
- The Indian Government claims that even though children can join the armed forces, they are not formally enrolled into regular service before the age of 18. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian army has armed local Village Defence Committees (VDC) – primarily Hindus – in Doda, Udhampur and the border districts to assist security forces in anti-insurgency operations.(HRW, Behind the Kashmir Conflict: Abuses by Indian Security Forces and Militant Groups Continue, op. cit.; Bukhari, S., "Militants kill 19 in Jammu", The Hindu, 21 July 1999.)
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