Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir: Difference between revisions

{{about|Human rights abuses in an Indian-administered territory|human rights abuses in the whole of Kashmir|Human rights abuses in Kashmir}}

 

Some rights groups say more than 100,000 people have died since 1989<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/228506/40000-people-killed-in-kashmir-india/|title=40,000 people killed in Kashmir: India|work=The Express Tribune}}</ref> while the official figures from Indian sources state the estimates of number of civilians killed due to the insurgency as above 50,000.<ref name="fact">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/06/14/india-act-un-rights-report-kashmir|title=India: Act on UN Rights Report on Kashmir}}</ref> According to scholar Seema Kazi, the crimes by militants are incomparable to the larger scale abuse by Indian state forces.<ref name="Kazi">{{Cite book|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t343/e0165?_hi=0&_pos=1|title=Gender and Militarization in Kashmir|last=Kazi|first=Seema|work=Oxford Islamic Studies Online|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote=Sordid and gruesome as the millitant 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> India accuses the [[Pakistan Army]] and its state sponsored terrorist outfits for abusing human rights in Jammu and Kashmir by violating the ceasefire and continuing to kill 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|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> a claim rejected by Pakistan which blames the Indian Army for the violation of [[Line of Control]].<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> Diplomatic cables obtained by [[WikiLeaks]] revealed that the [[International Committee of the Red Cross|Red Cross]] had briefed US officials in Delhi in 2005 about the use of torture from 2002–2004 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>

Militant violence led by the [[Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front]] against 219 pandits according Jammu and Kashmir government sources<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> has led to the migration of several hundred thousands of [[Kashmiri Pandits|Kashmiri Hindu Pandits]], who before their exodus comprised an estimated ~5% of [[Kashmir valley]]'s population.<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> According to [[Human rights watch|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|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.<ref name="Rnews" /><ref name="Forsythe" /> Some of the separatist leaders in Kashmir reject these allegations. The Indian government is attempting to reinstate the displaced Pandits in Kashmir. According to the J & K government an amount of Rs. 71.95 crore was spent in providing relief and other facilities to the Kashmiri migrants living in Jammu and other parts in 2007–08, Rs. 70.33 crore in 2008-09 and Rs. 68.59 crore from 2009 up to January 2010.<ref name="thehindu.com"/> 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.<ref name="BBCuk" />

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=":5" /><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> A [[Jammu & Kashmir Human Rights Commission|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<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 [[deposition (law)|deposition]] submitted by [[Parvez Imroz]] 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>

Other minorities such as Kashmiri [[Sikh]]s 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.<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 [[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.<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=[[Brookings Institution]] |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 [[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.<ref>[http://www.hindustantimes.com/Lashkar-behind-Sikh-massacre-in-Kashmir-in-2000-says-Headley/Article1-617459.aspx Lashkar behind Sikh massacre in Kashmir in 2000, says Headley]. ''Hindustan Times''. 25 October 2010.</ref>