Kashmir is a region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Kashmir historically described the valley just to the south of the westernmost end of the Hamalayan range. Politically, however, the term 'Kashmir' describes a much larger area which includes the regions of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The main "Vale of Kashmir" is relatively low and very fertile, surrounded by magnificent mountains and fed by many mountain streams flowing from adjoining valleys. It is renowned as one of the most spectacularly beautiful places in the world.
Srinagar, the ancient capital, lies alongside Dal Lake (which is itself connected to a number of other lakes) and is famous for its canals and houseboats. Srinigar (alt. 1,600 m. or 5,200 ft.) acted as a favoured summer capital for many foreign conquerors who found the heat of the north Indian plains in summer oppressive. Just outside the city are found the beautiful Shalimar gardens created by Jehangir, the Mughal emperor, in 1619.
The region is currently divided amongst three countries: Pakistan controls the northwest portion (Northern Areas and Azad Kshmir) (India calls these areas "Pakistan occupied Kashmir” (PoK)), India controls the central and southern portion Jammu and Kashmir.
Disputed state in the north of India, area 139,000 SqKm (53,700 SqMi), population 6 million (1981). The state is bounded to the west by Pakistan and the 1971-72 Line-of-Control which separates it from Azad Kashmir; in the east by Ladakh, Tibet and Aksian Chin. Numerous rivers including Indus, Zanskar, Suru, Nubra and Shyok drain the state.
The state was governed by a bicameral state government of 36 member Legislative Council and 76 member Legislative Assembly. Dr Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference party led the last government. However, in 1990, the government was dissolved and the state placed in the direct control of the state governor. There were no elections since 1990 and the state remained in the control of the governor under the Indian regime. However, election were held in 1996 when through rigging and paramilitary pressure, India was able to implement a puppet state government headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah of the National Coneference. All Pro-Freedom parties were banned from these elections and their leaders placed under custody during the polling.
And the People’s Republic of China has occupied the northeastern portion (Aksai Chin). Though these regions are in practice administered by their respective claimants, India has never formally recognized the accession of the areas claimed by Pakistan and China. Pakistan views the entire Kashmir region as disputed territory, and does not consider India's claim to it to be valid.
Kashmir is one of the world's most well-known territorial disputes, and most Western made maps use a dotted-line to indicate the territory's uncertain boundaries.
Crimes of the Indian occupation forces
The Crimes of the Indian occupation forces, numbering more than half a million, against the people of Kashmir have now reached genocidal proportions, presenting the worst example of state-sponsored terrorism. Because, the people of Jammu and Kashmir were pledged by no less an authority than the UN Security Council to exercise their right to decide their future under conditions free from coercion and intimidation. However, the peaceful movement of the Kashmiri people for the realization of this right and the respect for their fundamental human rights has been crushed with brute force.
Since October 1989, some 38,000 Kashmiris have been killed by the Indian occupation forces, over 5000 women (young and old) have been raped, thousands have been maimed and thousands have been thrown in jail without any recourse to legal action. Torture, extrajudicial executions, disappearances, willful destruction of property and forced displacement are the order of the day. Kashmiris, despite a virtual media blackout, have been trying to bring these horrors to the attention of the international community.
Security forces have also repeatedly raided hospitals and other medical facilities, even pediatric and obstetric hospitals. During these raids, the security personnel have forced doctors at a gunpoint to identify recent trauma patients. Because of their injuries, the security forces have suspected these patients of militant activity. Injured patients have been arrested from hospitals, in some cases after being disconnected from life-sustaining treatments.
Methods of torture include severe beatings, electric shock, suspension by the feet or hands, stretching the legs apart, burning with heated objects and sexual molestation. One common form of torture involves crushing the leg muscles with a heavy wooden roller. [a] This practice results in the release of toxins from the damaged muscles that may cause acute renal (kidney) failure. This report documents a number of such cases which required dialysis. Since 1990, doctors in Kashmir have documented 37 cases of torture-related acute renal failure; in three cases the victims died.
Rapes: On 23 February 1991, a particularly serious incident occurred in the mountain village of Kunan Poshpura. More that 800 soldiers of the 4th Rajput Regiment surrounded the village. They rounded up the men outside and then broke into houses in search of arms. between 23 and 60 women were raped in the course of that night.
We were able to identify seven cases of rape and one case of sexual molestation, where no sexual act occurred. The victims come from several villages in the Kashmir valley. One of these cases took place very recently (in 1993), while the others occurred in 1991-2.
It cannot be said that the rape of Muslim women is a systematic or generalised practice. It is only carried out by the Indian security forces (there is no case of rape committed by either the police or by non-Muslim civilians). Rape is sometimes linked to pure acts of vengeance for colleagues killed or wounded by the militants.
Human rights violations : Human rights violations have risen dramatically in Jammu and Kashmir since late 1989, the start of the campaign for secession or for the state to join Pakistan. Many thousands of Kashmiris are arbitrarily detained under special laws that lack vital legal safeguards and provide the security forces with sweeping powers to arrest and detain. They are held for months or years without charge or trial. Torture by the security forces is a daily routine and so brutal that hundreds have died in custody as a result. Scores of women claim that they have been raped. Efforts by relatives to use legal avenues to obtain redress have been persistently frustrated: court orders to protect detainees are routinely flouted and the legal machinery in the state has broken down. A judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court said in October 1994 that the rule of law in the state had ceased to exist. 7
Initially, the authorities made hardly any efforts to disguise deaths in custody. The disfigured bodies of the victims were simply dumped on roads or in rivers, or were returned to the police or relatives. More recently, the government has sought to cover up such killings by attributing them to "encounters" between militants and the security forces, or claiming that the victims died in cross-fire. However, the government has consistently failed to provide any evidence to support its version of events, and in many cases there is incontrovertible evidence -- including from medical reports and the police -- that the victims died in the custody of the security forces.
Kashmir’s demand : The Kashmir’s' demand is very simple. They want to be free of military occupation and to decide their future by a democratic vote, impartially supervised. A mechanism for the exercise of this right has already been defined by the United Nations Security Council, which was not only supported by Canada but co-sponsored, too. This mechanism needs to be activated and implemented.
Panchaltan-Pathribal killings : Coming on the heels of the Chattisinghpora killings, the Panchaltan-Pathribal killings drove another nail in the coffin of Indian Government’s credibility. On 25 March 2000, the Special Task Force (STF) apprehended Yaqoob Wagey, a young milkman who lived in neary Muslim enclave of the Chattisinghpora, and a day later, allegedly on his tip-off, killed five ‘militants’ responsible of the Chattisinghpora massacre. It was a joint operation by the Army and the Special Operations Group. The bodies were mutilated and burnt, and the dead were declared as ‘Pakistanis’.
Human Rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir
Murder of Jalil Andrabi : On 27 March 1996, Jalil Andrabi, a prominent Kashmiri lawyer and human rights activist was found tortured and shot to death in Srinagar. Members of the Rashtriya Rifles had earlier taken him into detention. Andrabi’s murders are still at large.
Chattisinghpora killings of March 2000 : On March 20, 2002 on the eve of US President Clinton’s visit to India, 36 Sikh men were shot dead in Chattisinghpora (Anantnag district) in IOK by unidentified gunmen reportedly dressed in army uniforms. The Government of India was quick to point fingers at Pakistan at that time but later vehemently resisted judicial inquiry into the killings.
After persistent protests by the locals, and after the killings of several demonstrator in Brakpora on 3 April, the state government agreed to the exhumation of the bodies. The exhumation was carried out on 6 April and confirmed the worst fears of the relatives of those killed: all the dead were innocent civilians, kidnapped by Indian security forces and murdered in cold blood. This was confirmed not only by the Indian authorities but also by the US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices – 2000 (country Report on India).
Fudging of DNA Results : The Indian newspapers reported that the government of J&K fudged DNA samples taken from relatives of five alleged terrorists killed in a joint police-Army operation in March 2000 (the Chittisinghpora massacre) to avoid allegations of having murdered innocent civilians in a fake encounter.
Brakpora killings : On 3 April 2000, nine days after the Pathribal-Panchaltan killings, a procession of several thousand Kashmiri demonstrators marched on Anantnag, intending to submit a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner demanding the exhumation of the bodies of the five men killed on 25 March. At Brakpora, three kilometers from Anantnag the Special Operations Group (SOG) forces opened fire on them, killing seven and injuring fifteen. The puppet Chief Minister of Occupied Kashmir Farooq Abdullah was forced to admit that the firing was unprovoked.
Charar Sharif shrine Incident of 8 June 2001 : On 8 June 2001, an unidentified attacker threw a hand grenade at a group of women gathered around the Charar Sharif shrine, killing six and injuring scores of others. According to eyewitness accounts published by a large number of Indian dailies the J&K police was responsible for the blast.
On 8 August 2001 the Government of India decided to extend to the Jammu region its so-called Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1990). The black law, which has been applied to the Kashmir Valley for over a decade gives license to the Indian Security Forces to arrest detain shoot and kill people at will, International human rights organizations have condemned the Indian government’s decision.
Promulgation of POTA : India has promulgated a more stringent version of the infamous “Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) in order to invest its Security Forces and law enforcement agencies with draconian powers, especially targeted at the Indian Held Kashmir.
There has been a marked increase in custodial killings and deaths in fake encounters in IOK in recent months. The promulgation of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), a stronger version of the infamous Terrorism And Disruptive Activities (Preventive)Act (TADA), has further emboldened the Indian security forces to continue their ruthless suppression of the innocent Kashmiri people.
During the year 2001 alone, 4,677 Kashmiris were killed: 519 women were molested 871 widowed and 2,395 children were orphaned. 1,988 shops and houses were burnt by Indian Security Forces.
