Human rights violations

Sandwiched between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, Kashmir is one of the world’s most politically sensitive regions. Kashmiri activists have sought independence for decades but India and Pakistan appear unlikely to give up their respective claims to the region celebrated for its picturesque snowy mountains and lakes. In 1989, after the separatist-led insurgency peaked in Kashmir, there were reports of people being seized by security forces as terrorist suspects. Many of these people were never seen alive again.

The State Human Right Commission's (SHRC) report - just leaked to the media- contains a list of the corpses found in Indian Kashmir. The news has shocked public opinion there and human rights activists around the world. The report says that the organization has surveyed North Kashmir and found a large number of unmarked graves. Some 2,370 unidentified bodies are buried at 57 locations. In many instances, according to the report, witnesses refused to give statements fearing persecution from state agencies.

No new revelations

Meenakshi Ganguly of Human Rights Watch says that these graves have existed for a long time. In the past, when she visited the area, villagers would tell her about them. Previously, the authorities had played the matter down claiming the dead were unidentified militant insurgents. For Parvaiz Bukhari, an independent journalist working in Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, what makes the report relevant is the fact that for the first time, a state body has confirmed the allegations by other human rights organizations working in the area against the Indian security forces.

Organizations such as the International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-Administered Kashmir (IPTK) reported their findings to the state government even before the State Human Rights Commission took on the investigation in 2008. They spoke of the unlawful killing of innocent civilians. Khurram Pervez from the IPTK says, the findings are an indictment of the state adding that from his research team’s findings, many of those buried in the unmarked graves will turn out to be civilians reported missing at the time of the unrest in the late 80s.

Hope for peace

While the SHRC report indicates that the Indian government is trying to clarify what happened and bring closure to relatives, Bukhari remains critical. He warns that, "Nothing has changed in the system to stop these abuses."

After more violence last year, New Delhi appointed a group of three "interlocutors" or peace brokers, who toured through Kashmir and spoke to locals about their grievances against the Indian administration, including human rights violations by the Indian forces and cases of missing people. The three interlocutors are prominent academician Radha Kumar, former senior government official M.M. Ansari and Dileep Padgaonkar, a well-known journalist. The group is expected to present its findings soon.

Bukhari, however, believes that neither this peace group nor the SHRC report will be able to bring about reconciliation or make a peace settlement more likely. The government of India has never met the conditions of the separatist leaders, he says, which is why "the interlocutors do not enjoy a lot of credibility inside Kashmir." For him, official confirmation of the unlawful killings by the Indian government would mean that the peace group comprising Indian experts will be taken even less seriously as a broker.

However for Meenakshi Ganguly of Human Rights Watch, the future is not that grim: "As far as we are concerned, the next step has to be an independent investigation." Kashmiris could give then details about their relatives who disappeared, when they vanished and who they thought might have abducted them. "These were people who were taken away in front of witnesses" she says, adding that people need results and if an independent commission or enquiry is carried out, then this would be the biggest confidence building measure the Indian government could possibly undertake.

Author: Manasi Gopalakrishnan
Editor: Grahame Lucas