Seminar course: Kashmir

problem

Submitted to:
Dr. Irfanullah sb

Submitted by:
Barkat Ali
Class no: 11 session 2014-2018
Roll no: 1461411
Department: BS Pakistan studies

Department of Pakistan Studies

Government Post Graduate Jahanzeb College,

Term paper
Saidu Sharif Swat
 SEMINAR COURSE: KASHMIR PROBLEM

TAPIC: Human rights violation in Kashmir from 1900-1995

SUPERVISOR
PROF. Dr. IRFANULLAH SB

SUBMITTED BY:
BARKAT ALI
ROLL NO 1461411
CLASS NO: 11
SEMESTER: 7TH
SESSION: 2014-2018

DEPARTMENT OF PAKISTAN STUDEIS

GOVT: POSTGRADUATE JAHANZEB COLLEGE SAIDUSAHRIF, SWAT
2018
Table of Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Historical Background .......................................................................................................................... 3
What mean by human rights.............................................................................................................. 2
Fundamental human rights in the Indian constitution .................................................................... 3
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: .................................................................................. 5
Human Rights violation ...................................................................................................................... 7
Human rights violation in Indian occupied Kashmir ...................................................................... 7
Extra judicial killing ............................................................................................................................. 8
Rape and molestation ....................................................................................................................... 11
Inhuman Torture And Custodial Deaths ........................................................................................ 12
Arson and Looting ............................................................................................................................ 15
WHY THIS SAVAGERY?............................................................................................................... 16
Conclusion: ........................................................................................................................................ 18
References ................................................................................................................................................... 19

Human Right Violation in Indian held Kashmir from 1990-1995

 Introduction
This paper analysis the human rights violation in Kashmir in the last half decade of the
20th century, by the Indian security forces. Kashmir is situated in northernmost part of the Indo-
Pak Subcontinent. Human rights are violated in Indian held Kashmir including, Mass killings,
forced disappearances, torture, extra judicial killings, rape and sexual abuse to political
repression and suppression of freedom of speech have become an integral part of their day to
day life. The Indian central reserve police force, border security personnel and various militant
groups have been accused and held accountable for committing severe human rights abuses
against Kashmiri civilians. Every human being has the right of life, dignity, self-determination,
etc. The Kashmiris are innocent and have no fault of their own, except that they were given
birth on that land. Human rights record of the Indian security forces has been equally dreadful
grave violations such as arbitrary arrests, torture, rape and extrajudicial killings have been
extensively documented by human rights organization such as Human Rights Watch. Most of
these human right violations routinely go unchecked and unfinished. Often the government's
responses to the reports by various human rights organizations have been evasive Kashmiris
continue to suffer cruelties by the Indian forces.

 Historical Background

Kashmir is the northernmost part of the Indo-Pak Subcontinent. The state of Jammu and
Kashmir came into being under the Treaty of Lahore, in 1846 the British Sold Kashmir to
Gulab Singh on 750,0000 rupees under the treaty of Lahore and Amratsar. Gulab Singh through
conquest and diplomacy founded Dogra dynasty, which ruled on Kashmir till 1947. Hari Singh
was the last ruler of Dogra dynasty.

On the eve of partition there were three main political forces in Kashmir, the national
conference lead by Sheikh Abdullah wanted to join India, the Muslim conference lead by
Ghulam Abbas wanted to join Pakistan and the Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh apparently wanted
to remain independent. On the eve of transfer of power, in 1947 when British Govt. decided
to leave sub-continent and to divide India into two parts namely Pakistan and India. There
were more than 560 princely states which were give option either to join India or Pakistan.
The ruler of Kashmir fail to remain independent, because there was no third choic e in the
partition plan. The maharaja of Kashmir wanted to through his lot with India rather than
with a Muslim Pakistan. 2 The majority population of Kashmir was Muslim and willing to
join Pakistan but contrary to their wishes, maharaja had decided to accede the state of
Kashmir with India finally. In fact the Maharaja was blackmailed by the Indian government
for accession and consequently Maharaja had signed the instrument of accession. After that
Indian forces entered in Kashmir. Resultantly in reaction by the Muslims, guerrilla
movement was started by the Poonchis who had served in the British Indian army. A new
chapter was opened by the Dogra forces, many Muslims cruelly killed and their villages
were set on fire. Replying to the atrocities in Kashmiri guerillas responded by attacking the
Dogra forces. The Pathan tribe‘s men from the tribal areas of Pakistan entered in Kashmir
to help the Kashmiri Muslims. So the accession of Kashmir become controversial, and a
dispute had risen between India and Pakistan, which is still continued.

Now India took the matter of Kashmir to the UN by instituting a formal complaint against
Pakistan in the Security Council. As the situation was really intensified, the matter was
taken before the Security Council and it was unanimously decided by its resolution on 5th
January 1949 that the accession of the state would be decided through free and impartial
plebiscite. Since that no plebiscite has been held and the fate of Kashmiri nation is still
pending. The residents of this unlucky state are still looking to the above said resolution of
the United Nations. They are still waiting the promise of the so called largest democratic
state the India when it would be fulfilled. But unfortunately India is backed out from its
promise and deliberately violating the norms of international law. 3

The dividing line between Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas and Indian administered
Kashmir originated in a Cease Fire line in 1949 under the UN Resolutions. It was marginally
altered during Indo- Pakistan 1971 and renamed as the Line of Control (LoC) under the India
Pakistan agreement signed at Simla in July 1972. Since late 1989 a new dimension has been
added to the conflict with a guerilla movement launched by the young Kashmiri militants
against the Indian government in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian government‘s response of
repression through a number of draconian laws and deployment of the thousands of Indian
security forces against the Kashmiri freedom fighters has transformed the character of the
Kashmir conflict from a mere dispute between two adversarial neighbours to a multi-
dimensional nationalist struggle4

The Indian government passed the Armed Forces Special Power Act in 1990, authorizing the
use of lethal force and giving immunity from prosecution. The inhuman repression by Indian
armed forces in Kashmir, India is continuing its repressive policy against the Kashmiri people
to crush their popular movement for self-determination. Widespread human right violation in
the state of Kashmir since 1990 have been attributed to the Indian army and paramilitary forces,
search operations are frequently conducted in area opposition activity, torture is reported to be
routinely used during these combing operations as well as in army camps, interrogation
center, police stations and prisons. Indiscriminate beatings are common and rape in particular
appears to be routine5

The right of self-determination is a basic norm of democratic society which is recognized

universally and it provides choice to the certain individuals to decide about their future
according to their own wishes. But this right is completely denied by the so claimed largest
democratic country India, in the South Asia.

 What mean by human rights

Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, guaranteed by a state to her citizen
equally, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour,
religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without
discrimination.

Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties,
customary international law, general principles and other sources of international law.
International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to
refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental
freedoms of individuals or groups.6
  Fundamental human rights in the Indian constitution

The Fundamental Rights are defined as the basic human rights of all citizens. These rights,
defined in Part III of the Constitution irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste, creed or
sex. Such as Right to Equality, Right to Freedom, Right against Exploitation, Right to Freedom
of Religion, Cultural and Educational Rights, Right to Constitutional Remedies etc.

ARTICLE: 14-18 Right to Equality

14. Equality before law.

15. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.

16. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.

17. Abolition of Untouchability

18. Abolition of titles.

ARTICLE: 18-22 Right to Freedom

19. Protection of certain rights regarding freedom of speech, etc.

20. Protection in respect of conviction for offences.

21. Protection of life and personal liberty.

22. Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.

ARTICLE: 23, 24 Right against Exploitation

23. Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour.

24. Prohibition of employment of children in factories, etc.

ARTICLE: 25-28 Right to Freedom of Religion

25. Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

26. Freedom to manage religious affairs.

27. Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion.

28. Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain education

institutions.

ARTICLE: 29, 30 Cultural and Educational Rights

29. Protection of interests of minorities.

30. Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.

ARTICLE: 31 Saving of Certain Laws

31A. Savings of laws providing for acquisition of estates, etc.

31B. Validation of certain Acts and Regulations

31C. saving of laws giving effect to certain directive principles

ARTICLE: 23 Right to Constitutional Remedies

32. Remedies for enforcement of rights conferred by this Part.7

  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

The universal declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in
Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of
achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human
rights to be universally protected

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal.

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to the same rights without discrimination of any kind.

Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security.

Article 4: No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.

Article 5: No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6: Everyone has the right to be recognized everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7: Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection of the law.

Article 8: Everyone has the right to justice.

Article 9: No one shall be arrested, detained, or exiled arbitrarily.

Article 10: Everyone has the right to a fair trial.

Article 11: Everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Article 12: Everyone has the right to privacy.

Article 13: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and to leave and return to one's
country.

Article 14: Everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution.
Article 15: Everyone has the right to a nationality.

Article 16: All adults have the right to marry and found a family. Women and men have equal
rights to marry, within marriage, and at its dissolution.

Article 17: Everyone has the right to own property.

Article 18: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

Article 20: Everyone has the right to peaceful assembly and association.

Article 21: Everyone has the right to take part in government of one's country.

Article 22: Everyone has the right to social security and to the realization of the economic, social
and cultural rights indispensable for dignity.

Article 23: Everyone has the right to work, to just conditions of work, to protection against
unemployment, to equal pay for equal work, to sufficient pay to ensure a dignified existence for
one's self and one's family, and the right to join a trade union.

Article 24: Everyone has the right to rest and leisure.

Article 25: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being,
including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services.

Article 26: Everyone has the right to education.

Article 27: Everyone has the right to participate freely in the cultural life of the community.

Article 28: Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which these rights can be
realized fully.

Article 29: Everyone has duties to the community.

Article 30: No person, group or government has the right to destroy any of these rights.8
  Human Rights violation

A human rights violation can be committed by people who work for the State and their
behavior is then considered to be the behavior of the State. These agents could be of many kinds:
employees of governmental and municipal institutions, policemen, prosecutors, judges etc.

 Human rights violation in Indian occupied Kashmir

Human right violation in Indian held Kashmir In the last decade of the 20th century, there
were more human rights violation in Kashmir. The human rights violations in Indian Held
Kashmir remain invisible in the eyes of the world because of the Indian government‘s
stubbornness to grant access to this region to neutral observers and the international media.
Repressive legal frameworks such as the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act and Armed
Forces Special Power Act have made the Indian security forces, operating in the state of Jammu
and Kashmir, virtually immune from prosecution for the hundreds of heinous acts committed
against young men, women and children including kidnapping, torture, rape and molestation,
while exercising their powers. Indian security forces have sweeping powers of arrest and
detention, even shoot to kill with virtual immunity. Discussing the historical and cultural roots
of the Kashmir issue, Dr. Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema held that Kashmir is the „unfinished agenda of
Partition‟ which the Indian government has been successfully and covertly manipulating by
creating strong pro-India lobbies, especially in Washington. The Indian government is violating
its own Constitution by not holding plebiscite in Kashmir, he stressed.9

It must be mentioned at the outset that the Indian security forces under sweeping laws such
as the Terrorist and descriptive act TADA, the armed Forces Special Power Act and the Jammu
and Kashmir Disturb Area Act, passed hastily in 1990 by the Indian government, virtually enjoy
unlimited power to shoot, kill or imprison anybody without any fear of accountability.
Therefore, despite the official acknowledgment of some widely publicized human rights
violation by the Indian armed forces, there has not been any conviction of a single officer except
a few suspensions or transfer of the lower personal from one place to another. It is no wonder
then that a four member committee for initiative on Kashmir, an Indian human rights
organization based in new Delhi, found out during their trip to Kashmir that indiscriminate
killing, arbitrary arrest, unlawful searches, unprovoked assaults on peace full demonstrators
and the complete dislocation of normal life due to prolonged curfews and the blatant violation
of the human rights were not isolated instance of aberrations but operative extension of an
official policy was evident to the team members. When they met senior administrator who
justified such action on the ground that they were necessary to contain terrorism.10 The Indian
government use security forces and intelligence establishment to subdue Kashmir‘s. The
Kashmiri people want freedom from India and decide their political future on their own. This is
not acceptable to India and it use force to control Kashmiris.11

International Misperception about Kashmiri Struggle. Ever since the Kashmiri uprisings
in 1990, there have been unprecedented violations of human rights in occupied Kashmir. As per
an Indian analyst, Mr. Gautam Navlaka, - 80 % human rights abuses were perpetrated by the
Indian security forces51. Unlike Palestine, Iraq, Chechnya and many other struggles of self-
determination, Kashmiri have been unfortunate not to attract the attention of world especially
civil societies of the West. This was mainly because; India did not provide free access to
domestic and international media to cover the brutalities of Indian state sponsor terror.
Atrocities on Kashmiri by Indian forces were kept isolated that is why even after the passage of
over sixty years.12

 Extra judicial killing

The Indian forces take full advantage of the special immunity enjoyed by them under the
law and engage themselves in widespread killings summary executions, reprisal killings and
open indiscriminate fire in the crowded and residential area, especially on UN armed
processions, without any fear of accountability. Their perception is that they are surrounded by a
hostile pro Pakistan and Muslim population which needs to be taught a lesson to save India.13
But the Kashmiri innocent became the victim, they were targeted. So the Indian armed forces
violated the basic rights which universally declared UDHR by UN in 1948. Article 3 of UDHR
state that ―Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security.‖ Article 10: Everyone has the right
to a fair trial. Article 8: Everyone has the right to justice. Article 10: Everyone has the right to a
fair trial. Article 11: Everyone has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Article
19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Article 20: Everyone has the
right to peaceful assembly and association. The fundamental human rights in the Indian
constitution insure certain rights to all citizens, ARTICLE: 18-22 Right to Freedom of life,
liberty, speech and protection against arrest. ARTICLE: 23, 24 Right against Exploitation etc...
But these rights were violated in Kashmir, through the hand of Indian armed forces.

Jag Mohan, twice the governor of Kashmir in his book My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir
reflects this typical mindset at work in Kashmir. His hatred for the Kashmiri Muslim knows no
bounds. His appointment on January 19, 1990 was accompanied by the unleashing of repression
at a very large scale. Indiscriminate firing on unarmed procession, illegal search arrest and
brutal torture of the Muslim youth and prolonged curfews become daily retain for the Kashmiris
during his brief but bloody second tenure January 19, 1990 – May 21, 1990.

On January 21.1990 when the people Srinagar took out a procession and protest against the
illegal search an arrest and torture of 400 youths previous night, the central reserve police force
CRPF opened indiscriminate fire, killing more than 100 people and deliberately shooting the
waned demonstrators the CRPF men were shooting while pumping the bullets into the body
of the wounded person, ― so you want Pakistan, you want independence? Go and have
independence ―according to an eye –wetness, ―if the, the CRPF saw moment, a leg or head, or
hand, they would fire again and again.‖

Om march 1, 1990 the paramilitary force, without any provocation , opened fire on a record
number of half a million procession petitioning the UN through its office it Srinagar, killing 30
people on the spot. On May 21, 1990 the funeral procession of Mir Wise Mulvi Muhammad
Farooq was fire upon, Killing 57 innocent civilian wounding hundreds of them. On august 1,
1990 convoy of Indian army trucks that was traveling west along the road from Srinagar to
Baramullah passed through the town of pttan, soldiers opened fire from the trucks into the
crowd central market area of the town, killing 12 and wounding 18 civilians. On august 10,
1990, flowing an exchange of fire, the army soldiers entered the town of Phazipora, killing 25
civilian and wounding several. On May 8. 1991, funeral procession was fired open by the
paramilitary force in Khanyar, leaving 25 person dead 50 wounded. Indian military claimed that
they had shot 80 militants; on Jun 25, 1991 while crossing broader form Pakistan to India.
Independent sources the however revealed that only 35 intruders were killed while the rest were
taken there in shot in cold blood.

Report published by the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, January 1993,
reporting at least 45 killed and 200 buildings burned in Sopore on 6 January 1993. Kashmir a
Report to the Nation, published by the PUCL and Citizens for Democracy. This reports on the
incident at Lai Chowk, Srinagar, on 10 April 1993 when six civilians were killed and 40 to 50
buildings burned, as well as the Sopore incident of 6 January 1993. The Report concludes that
custodial deaths are a serious problem.14

The ICJ mission has no doubt that such killings have occurred on a significant scale. What is far
more difficult is to estimate the numbers, particularly as the security forces often claim that the
victim has been killed in crossfire. Estimates given to the mission varied between about 50 and
350 a year. Information given to the mission by the Kashmir Bar Association identified 10
custodial killings in the first half of June 1993, 17 deaths in the second half, and 13 in the first
half of July. However, these figures cannot be regarded as w holly reliable, since they are based
on newspaper reports and the Bar Association is not an impartial source. Figures collected by the
human rights activist H.N. Wanchoo showed 15 custodial killings in July 1992, 19 killings in
August, 37 in September and 47 in the first half of October the number of deaths related to the
insurgency in Kashmir has been running at about 2,000 a year. Many hundreds of these killings
every year are innocent non-combatants killed by security forces.15

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 hundreds of civilians had been victims of such killings, which were
often claimed by officers as occurring during "encounters" or "cross-fire".16

 Rape and molestation

There were numerous cases of rape are reported to have been committed by the Indian
forces …a number of women have been ruthlessly violated by the members of paramilitary
troops. During the last several years, numerous incidents of gang-rape have taken place in which
the Indian security forces were involved. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is in charge
minister for Home Affairs, said that 5,125 rape cases and 14,953 molestation cases have been
registered in the state. Most of these rapes have occurred during the search operations. The
Indian security forces BSF violated the fundamental human rights which is against Articles: 21,
23 and 24, which insure all citizen in the Indian constitution. And also the UN article of UDHR;
Articles: 3, 5,8,14 and 16 supports human rights.

Mass rape of the Kashmiri women by the security forces was first documented in the
Chanapora (Srinagar) mass rape incident in March 1990. This incident was followed by another
serious incident in Kunan Poshpora which observed the mass rape of the women during a cordon
and search operation in February 1991 .Eleven years old young girls, pregnant women, to 60
years old grandmother were raped all the night. In 1993, a large number of the women were
raped during a search operation after a peaceful demonstration against Hazratbal siege was fired
upon in Bijbehara in Anantnag and over 60 people were killed.44 In 1995, there was a grave
incident in Bomai Sopore, when the people were holding protest demonstrations against the
excesses of army personnel, several girls were dragged to paddy fields where the security men
tore their garments, bruised their faces and raped them. A number of rapes and molestation cases
against men in uniform have been registered in different areas of the State of Jammu and
Kashmir. Here are some grave cases of the rapes committed in different areas of Kashmir by the
Indian security forces.17

There were severe beatings, sexual molestation and looting at Wadwam village during a
crackdown on 30 June 1990. Kadhmir Aflame, Vol. II, published in October 1990. Incidents
reported on include, 25 killings; 10 to 15 rapes; torture and arson at PaziPora on 10/11 August
1990 by the army. Report published by the Coordination Committee on Kashmir, November
1992. Incidents reported include, gang rape at Shopian, 10/11 October 1992. further 10 killings,
three rapes, arson and looting at Batekote on 1 October 1992. The alleged mass rape at the
village of Kunan Pashpora on 23 February 1991. India — Torture, Rape and Deaths in
Custody, Amnesty International, March 1992. This deals with the widespread use of torture and
rape in Jammu and Kashmir. Rape in Kashmir, published by Asia Watch and Physicians for
Human Rights, May 1993, reporting on the alleged mass rapes at Kunan Poshpora and Shopian
and on a number of other cases (including two rapes at Haranon on 20 July 1994 and three at
Gurihakhar oil, and also in some other place of Kashmir. All of them come from well-respected
Indian or international human rights groups. Some of the reported incidents can be explained by
the Indian Government. These must inevitably be balanced by other incidents which have not
come to the attention of the investigators. The weight of the evidence makes it clear that there
have been grave breaches of human rights by the Indian security forces in Kashmir.18

The use of rape by security forces in Kashmir has also been reported by several sources.
According to a United Nations report on the Use of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, It was reported that the use of rape is common in Kashmir as
a weapon against women. According to the Kashmir Bar Association, there have been 160 known
cases of rape in the area by security forces since 1990, although the actual number is believed to
be higher because Muslim women rarely report the crime of rape.19

 Inhuman Torture And Custodial Deaths

The Indian security forces have perpetrated widespread torture and atrocities on Kashmiris,
especially on the younger people. The propose of the torture is to terrorize the general population
and subdue who become the freedom fighter. Both Indian and international human rights
organizations documented in detail how hundreds villages and town have gone through the
similar treatment; arbitrary arrest, torture and custodial death have become the pervasive feature
of life in Kashmir. It has been estimated that 70,000 people have been detained in the valley
without any charge and are going through the torture rarely heard in the civilized societies.20 The
Indian forces violated the rights of Kashmir is, they violated the fundamental rights articles: 14,
15, 19 and 18 of the Indian constitution. They also violated the rights which universally declared
in UDHR, articles: 1, 11, 15 and 19.

In 1995, Amnesty International documented 706 cases of custodial killings in the period 1990-
1994, nearly all after dreadful torture, In its response to Amnesty, the Government of India
responded to 519 out of 706 cases in an evasive manner , dismissing half of them as "encounter
killings" without supporting evidence despite eye-witness reports to the contrary; The
government indicated that there was prima facie evidence of human rights violations in 85 other
cases which were said to be under investigation, however no one has been brought to justice till
date. On 26 April 1993, The Kashmir Times run by Ved Bhasin carried a report of police records
listing 132 persons to have been killed in custody in the preceding 33 days alone. The Kashmir
Monitor, a human rights group, has reported around 220 custodial deaths for the period June'94-
April'95 which represent the bare minimum. Estimate of the number of custodial killings since
1990 by human rights organizations runs in several thousands, many of them are innocent
civilians. The Kashmir Monitor has also documented around 300 cases of disappearance during
1989-95.21
The Paris-based human rights group point out that, the method employed are cruel, inhuman and
creatively vicious. Detainees are beaten with rods or lattis. They are whipped with flexible cable
and they are subjected to electric shock treatment, often to the testicles and penis, hot rods are
thrust violently into the anus etc. mental torture is frequent and meted out in the form of abuse,
verbal humiliation and remarks aggressive to religious sentiment.22

Various human rights organizations have noted that the summary execution of hundreds of
detainees in the custody of security forces have been carried out as a matter of policy. Indian
officials in Kashmir admit privately that the government is pursuing a ―catch and kill‖ campaign.
One officer told a reporter, ―Yes they are killing them. Maybe it is because the jails are full….
Or they want to frighten the people. We try going by the rule, but nobody else is.‖ 23 On
November 1991, D r. Kazi Massrat, the chief casualty officer a t the Medical College Hospital,
Srinagar, told a British journalist: 'I must have treated 250 torture victims last year.‘ He said they
included men who had been forced to drink large quantities of fluid after having their penises
tied tightly. Earlier, in June 1990, recently released villagers from the community of Haihama-
Payerpora, Kupwara District, told another British journalist how they were tortured while
detained by the Indian army. The forms of torture range from electric shocks to beatings, other
forms of violence and sexual abuse. To prevent hospitals from documenting torture evidenced by
patients' symptoms, since 1990 medical records have been removed from hospitals. The
authorities use torture for a variety of reasons. Torture is practiced to coerce detainees to reveal
information about suspected militants or to confess to militant activities. It may also abused to
punish detainees who are believed to support or sympathies with the militants and to create a
climate of political repression. The practice of torture is facilitated by the fact that detainees are
generally held in temporary detention center controlled by the various security forces, without
access to the courts, relatives and medical care. The situation is aggravated by the fact that under
the various security-related laws noted earlier, forced confessions are admissible in trials. The
fact that detainees do not have expeditious access to courts also renders itself open to abuses
prior to court hearings. To underline the pervasiveness of the problem, one non-governmental
source notes that most detainees taken into custody by security forces are tortured.24

The young people are specially targeted of these atrocities. There has been a significant rise in
the number of custodial deaths of the young men in the torture chamber set up by the army
during 1992-93. Asia watch gathered information on 455 such deaths but it is been estimated by
the local Kashmiris newspapers that there have been 40-50 custodial deaths every month.
Inhuman policy of Indian forces has been to pick up the young men arbitrary and to declare those
as having disappeared thousands of person are reportedly missing in Kashmir and their families
do not know there were about. Ashok Jetly advisor to Krishn Rao the governor of Kashmir
himself admitted in an interview that he tried to tress 81 young men who had disappeared after
being arrested but him to give any clue. Apparently so called missing person are shot dead by the
Indian army is a matter of routine.25 India — Torture, Rape and Deaths in Custody, Amnesty
International, M arch 1992. This deals with the widespread use of torture throughout India in the
investigation of ordinary crime as well as insurgency. Allegations of torture and rape in Jammu
and Kashmir are set out and the Report contains the names of 23 men alleged to have died in
custody up to October 1991 (the Indian authorities say that m any of these deaths cannot be
verified).26

 Arson and Looting

The Indian forces have frequently engaged in widespread acts of arson, setting houses, shops and
market ablaze, forcing the civilian to stay inside the burning houses by opening indiscriminating
fire on the persons trying to escape and looting whatever valuables they can lay their hands on.
The purpose of such brutal acts of arson is to punish the Kashmiris people for supporting the
resistance movement against the Indian rule. The pattern of arson followed by the Indian security
forces has typically been the same during the last five years.27

Report published by the Coordination Committee on Kashmir, July 1991, based on several
visits to Kashmir. Incidents reported on include: 5 killings, 91 houses burned at Kawadara,
Srinagar, on 7 October 1990; 2 killings, 40 houses burned at Noor Bagh, Srinagar on 8 October
1990; 1 killing, 7 houses burned at Ram Bagh, Srinagar on 12 October 1990; 75 shops b u run e
d a t S an g ram a, S o p o re on 15-17 October 1990; 14 shops burned on 17 October 1990 at
Chhana Khan, Sopore; 12 killings, 12 houses burned at Kalarus, Kupwara on 20 October 1990;
25 killings; 31 houses, 55 commercial buildings and 300 shops burned at Handwara on 2 October
1990; 19 killings at Khanyar, Srinagar on 8 M ay 1991; 17 killings at Chhota Bazar, Srinagar on
11 June 1991. Human Rightd Situation in the Kadhmir Valley, published by the Coordination
Committee on Kashmir, October 1992 (the members of the investigating group included V.M.
Tarkunde and Balraj Puri). Incidents reported on include: interviews with 22 men alleging torture
during a crackdown on 14 M ay 1992 in villages near Lar; 13 killings in 'cross-fire' in Sopore on
13 April 1992; burning of 16 homes in Sopore on 24 January 1992; 3 non-com batants killed, 22
arrested and tortured during crackdown at Nanihal on 25 April 1992; two killings, four rapes,
and 53 homes burned at Hilar Bahi on 5 December 1991. Report published by the Coordination
Committee on Kashmir, November 1992. Incidents reported include: gang rape at Shopian, 10,
11 October 1992; 10 killings, three rapes, arson and looting at Batekote on 1 October 1992;
three killings, arson at Sopore on 27 October 1992. Report published by the South Asia Human
Rights Documentation Centre, January 1993, reporting at least 45 killed and 200 buildings
burned in Sopore on 6 January 1993. Kashmir a Report to the Nation, published by the PUCL
and Citizens for Democracy.28

 WHY THIS SAVAGERY?

It is mind boggling that India which claims it to be the largest democracy in the world and heir to
Gandhi‘s non-violence philosophy should engage in such gruesome atrocities which have few
parallels in recent history. Martin Sugarman; a free-lance American journalist who visited the
Indian occupied Kashmir as a tourist, Wrote that Kashmir had become the ―largest concentration
camp‘‘ in the world observed:29

The sols explanation for this savagery appears to be the communal motivation of the perpetrators
who belong to a different religion than the victims. The military and paramilitary forces
primarily consisting of Hindus. Appear to be bent upon the ethnic-cleansing of Muslims of the
valley. The troops quite often ask victims before shooting them, ―Islam Mangta Hai‖ (Do You
Want Islam?), ‘‘Pakistan mangta Hai‖ (Do you want Pakistan?) ―Jannat Mei jai ga?‖ (Do you
want to go to paradise?). Innumerable cases suggest that the troops are religiously motivated
Indian journalists that the Indian troops have an innate hatred towards the local population .A.G.
Noorani, a leading Indian analyst wrote: Asked the identity and the name of each pupil. Only the
Muslim boy was shot dead while no other boy was touched. The other incident related to a
Muslim Chowkidar (guard) at a school. On May 12, 1990 Qudratullah was apprehended by the
Indian army.30
They beat him for ten minutes and made him chant ‗Ram, Ram‘ as a mock conversion from
Islam to Hinduism … one soldier grabbed his beard and told him not to use the word ‗Allah‘ but
instead to say ‗Ram Ram‘. A foreign committed have mainly been motivated by the religious
considerations. He wrote: ―in Kashmir….the status of the security forces as religious and ethnic
outsiders appear to have contribution to a rash of documented human rights abuses such as rape,
arson, and extra judicial executions. Hindu paramilitary soldier as- signed to Kashmir find
themselves in the midst of an angry and heavy armed Muslim population. Harassed and largely
unhanded by discipline in their ranks, the troops lash back protected by law granting broadened
power to shoot to kill, to destroy suspected militant hideouts and to detain and arrest suspects.‖ 31
  Conclusion:

The Kashmiris have faced the wrath of Indian‘s security forces but they did not change their
mind on the future of Kashmir. Every State has the duty to promote through joint and separate
action universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in
accordance with the Charter. The right of self-determination is a basic norm of democratic
society which is recognized universally and it provides choice to the certain individuals to
decide about their future according to their own wishes. But this right is completely denied
by the so claimed largest democratic country India, in the South Asia. The Indian forces
violated those rights which universally declared in UDHR, and also those fundamental rights
which were guaranteed in the Indian constitution. From 1947 onward the Kashmiris involve
in the freedom struggle which were the rights of every nation. The activists of this right are
being taught brutally and being charged for the heinous offences likes terrorism. In order to
suppress the right of self-determination in Kashmir the Indian government has introduced
many black law laws like TADA and AFSPA which gives immense power to the armed
forces for the extra judicial killing of innocent Kashmir peoples, which I discus earl earlier
on detail. Under this special act the Indian forces engage in violent activates to suffress the
poor Kashmiris who struggle for independence. The whole study shows that the Indian armed
forces involve in human rights violation in Kashmir. Every individual suffered here in this vale
of paradise which was known as the beautiful region across the globe. But its irony that due to
unrest, turmoil, and cycle of violence people lost their relative. This valley has seen plenty of
untold stories of massive human rights violation. Since 1989, the people of Kashmir were killed,
tortured, humiliated, and injured. Thousands of the people were killed due to cycle of violence
prevalent in Jammu and Kashmir. Thousands of the people got injuries and they became disabled
to work. Many are those who lost their beloved children‘s, daughters, sisters, mothers, and some
women have lost their beloved husbands who were only the source to care for them. Due to
worst situations, thousands of the houses and shops were burnt.
References

1
M. Ikram Rabani,‘‘pakistan affair’’, (Lahore: carvan book house, 2014), pp.480-481.
2
Tahir Amin, “Mass Resistance in Kashmir: origins, evolution, options‖,(Lahore: institution of policy
studies,1995),pp23-26
3 Muhammad Mumtaz,‖ Right of self-determination for Kashmiri people; an international law
perspective,‖ International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, Vol. 1, ISSN 2289-
1552(2012):accessed December 2017.URL.http:// ijbel.com/.../Right-Of-Self-Determination-For-
Kashmiri-People-An-International-Law
4
Abdul Majid and Mahboob Hussain, Kashmir: A conflict between India and Pakistan,‖ A Research
Journal of South Asian Studies, Vol. 31, No. 1, January – June 2016, p.16.
5
Abdul Sattar, “Pakistan foreign policy 1947-2009: A Concise History 2nd ed”, (Karachi: Oxford
university press 2010), p.190.
6
OHCHR | What are Human Rights,URL address. date of access
16/12/2017.URL,http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Pages/whatarehumanrights.aspx.
7
Human rights and the constitution of india - india juris, pdf, date of access December 2017,URL address
,http:// www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights
8
www.google.com,‖Universal Declaration of Human Rights‖.URL.http:// 3Auniversal-declaration-of-
human-rights-summary%26catid%3D56%3Aun-conventions-short, date of access 27 December 2017.
9
. Press Release The human rights violations in Indian Held Kashmir,URL,http://www.ipripak.org/wp-
content/uploads/2014/01/prrelease29.pdf
10
Tahir Amin, “Mass Resistance in Kashmir: origins, evolution, options‖,(Lahore: institution of policy
studies,1995),pp.109-110
11
Abdul Majid and Mahboob Hussain,: Kashmir: A conflict between India and Pakistan,‖ A Research
Journal of South Asian Studies, Vol. 31, No. 1, January – June 2016, p.14.
12
Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Muhammad Khan,‖ Kashmir Dispute and the Prospects of India – Pakistan
Peace Process, n d u j o u rn a l 2 0 08 , v ol u m e – i ,2 0 0 8 , d at e of ac c e ss 2 8 D e c e mb e r
2 0 1 7 , u r l a dd r es . H t t p/ / n du -. O r g/ ka s h mi r . D i s p ut e -p r o s p e ct -o f -i n d i a -
p a ki s t a n… d o c.
13
Tahir Amin, “Mass Resistance in Kashmir: origins, evolution, options‖,(Lahore: institution of policy
studies,1995),p.110
14
Human Rights in Kashmir Report of a Mission - International,‖ human rights in Kashmir,‖ date of
access 25 december 2017, URL.http://icj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/.../India-human-righst-in-Kashmir-
fact-finding-mission.p,67
15
Ibid.
16
Dr. Ashish Kumar Dixit,‖human rights abuses in jammu in kasmir ,‖IJMSS VOL.02,Issue-02 (ferbruary,
2001) ISSN:2321-1784, date of access 4 jaunuary 2018,URL.http://www.ijmr.net,p.178
17
Mohiuddin, Lubna. ―Human Rights Violations: A Case Study of Kashmir.‖ Pakistan Horizon; Pakistan
Institute of International Affairs.Vol. 50, No. 2 .1997.date of access 3 jaunuary 2017.
18
Human Rights in Kashmir Report of a Mission - International,‖ human rights in Kashmir.‖pp.62-63
19
Issue Papers, Extended Responses and Country Fact Sheets, india human rights in jammu and
Kashmir March 1995,p.12, date of access 3 jaunuary 2018,URL,htt p://www,cirs.rg.au.ac

20
Tahir Amin,‖ mass resistance in Kashmir,‖pp.113-114
21
Human Rights in Kashmir,date of access 24 december 2017, URL.http://www.kashmir
library.org/kashmir_timeline/kashmir_chapters/human-rights.shtml
22
Tahir Amin,: mass risistane in Kashmir,‖p.114
23
Ibid.
24
Human Rights in Kashmir Report of a Mission - International,‖ human rights in Kashmir,‖p.70
25
Tahir Amin,: mass risistane in Kashmir,‖p.115
26
Human Rights in Kashmir Report of a Mission - International,‖ human rights in Kashmir,‖p.65
27
Tahir Amin,: mass risistane in Kashmir,‖pp.116-117
28
Human Rights in Kashmir Report of a Mission - International,‖ human rights in Kashmir,‖p.70
29
Tahir Amin,: mass risistane in Kashmir,‖p.117
30
Ibid.
31
Ibid.