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|human rights abuses in Pakistan-administered Kashmir|Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir}}

{{short description|Organized abuse and breaches of fundamental human rights in Jammu and Kashmir, India}}

{{Use British English|date=March 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}

{{Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir}}

'''[[Human rights abuse]]s in [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]]''' union territory are an ongoing issue in northern parts of [[India]]. The abuses range from mass killings, [[Missing person|enforced disappearances]], [[torture]], [[Rape in the Kashmir conflict|rape and sexual abuse]] to political repression and suppression of [[freedom of speech]]. The [[Indian Army]], [[Central Reserve Police Force]] (CRPF), [[Border Security Force|Border Security Personnel]] (BSF) and various separatist [[militant]] groups<ref>{{cite news|title=Ten Killed in Kashmir Bomb Blast|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=82930|access-date=6 April 2015|publisher=abc NEWS|date=10 August 2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Four killed in Kashmir bomb blast|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4698705.stm|access-date=6 April 2015|publisher=BBC|date=20 July 2005}}</ref> have been accused and held accountable for committing severe human rights abuses against [[Kashmiris|Kashmiri civilians]].<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=Rediff News}}</ref><ref name=Hindwan>{{cite journal|last=Hindwan|first=Sudhir|title=Policing the police|journal=Indian Defence Review|year=1998|volume=13|issue=2|editor1-first=Bharat|editor1-last=Verma|page=95|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=[https://archive.org/details/globalvictimizat00hart/page/n120 106]}}</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=Amnesty International |date=27 October 2002 |access-date=2012-10-01}}</ref>

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|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> 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>

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.<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=[[Human Rights Watch]]|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> A 2010 US state department report stated that the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir had carried out [[extrajudicial killing]]s of civilians and suspected insurgents. The report also described killings and abuse being carried out by insurgents and [[Kashmiri separatist movement|separatists]].<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 [[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.<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=[[The Times of India]]|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 in the 1990s, led by the [[Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front]] against [[Kashmiri Pandits|Kashmiri Hindu Pandits]] has led to the migration of several hundred thousands of them out of the [[Kashmir valley]], who before their exodus comprised an estimated ~5% of the 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><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 [[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" />

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.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181122053851/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/033/1995/en/ ]</ref>

[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]], citing a WikiLeaks report, quotes the [[International Committee of the Red Cross|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=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|publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited|access-date=11 March 2012|location=London}}</ref>

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]]<ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com">Siddharth Varadarajan and Manoj Joshi, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121023175044/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-04-21/india/27112716_1_bsf-men-jawan-security-force BSF record: Guilty are seldom punished] ''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. [[Amnesty International]] 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>

During the [[Amarnath land transfer controversy]] more than 40 unarmed protesters were killed by the personnels 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&nbsp;&nbsp;– 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 &#124; Top Kashmir separatists detained |work=BBC News |date=5 September 2008 |access-date=2010-09-11}}</ref> At least 300 were detained under Public Safety Act, including teenagers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://newsblaze.com/story/20080906092021kash.nb/topstory.html |title=After Uprising, 300 Protestors Arrested in Indian Kashmir |publisher=Newsblaze.com |date=6 September 2008 |access-date=2010-09-12}}</ref> The same practice was again repeated by the personnels of the Central Reserve Police Force, during the [[2010 Kashmir Unrest]], 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|title=India to free protesters in Kashmir peace move|date=30 September 2010|work=Reuters|access-date=11 September 2012}}</ref>

The [[Special Operations Group (India)|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]].<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 costodial 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 personnels, 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|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>

In September 1990 the [[Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act]] was enacted in [[Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act#The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990|Jammu and Kashmir]] after passing in the [[Parliament of India]] to handle the rise in [[Timeline of the Kashmir conflict#1987–present: Kashmir Insurgency|Kashmir Insurgency]].<ref name=afspa>[http://mha.nic.in/pdfs/Armed%20forces%20_J&K_%20Spl.%20powers%20act,%201990.pdf  “(PDF) The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990”] {{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>[http://www.cfr.org/publication/17155/crisis_in_kashmir.html "Crisis in Kashmir"] [[Council on Foreign Relations]] 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 trail 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}}</ref> United Nations [[High Commissioner for Human Rights]] [[Navanethem Pillay]] 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>

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-widow]]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 web|url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2009/india |title=India |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">[http://www.kashmirprocess.org/reports/graves/BuriedEvidenceKashmir.pdf Buried Evidence: Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass Graves in Indian-Administered Kashmir] A preliminary report; ''[[International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir]]''</ref>

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 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |date=24 August 2011 |access-date=2012-10-01}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> 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>

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 [[Medecins Sans Frontieres]], <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.{{cn|date=April 2021}}

{{Further information|Rape during the Kashmir conflict|Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir}}

Reports from [[Amnesty International]], Human Rights Watch and the [[International Commission of Jurists]] have confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by militants which claim Jammu and Kashmir to be part of Pakistan.<ref name="Forsythe" /> 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]].<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 extortion.<ref name="USgov2010" />

The Hindu [[Kashmiri Pandits]], a small but prominent group, had been a favoured section of the population during Dogra rule (1846–1947). About 20 per cent of whom 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> 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 [[1987 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election|1987 Assembly Elections]] by the ruling party, [[Jammu and Kashmir National Conference|National Conference]],<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 [[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.<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&nbsp;: "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989" |date=24 March 2010 |access-date=2012-08-03 |work=[[The Hindu]] |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]], 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.<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 [[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 massacre|Gawakadal]]. 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}}

The violence against Kashmiri Pandits was condemned and labelled as [[ethnic cleansing]] in a 2006 resolution passed by the [[United States Congress]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160113121916/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.CON.RES.344:] 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], [[United States House of Representatives]], 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 [[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.<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>

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]].<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 ''[[Kashmiriyat]]''.<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&nbsp;: 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" />

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>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101031025808/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>

* [[Syed Ali Shah Geelani]]

* [[Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir]]

*{{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}}

[[Category:Forced disappearances in India]]