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The insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, also known as the Kashmir insurgency, is an ongoing separatist militant insurgency against the Indian administration in Jammu and Kashmir, a territory constituting the southwestern portion of the larger geographical region of Kashmir, which has been the subject of a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947.
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, and also between China and India in the northeastern portion of the region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claimed the entirety of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a dispute over the region that escalated into three wars between India and Pakistan and several other armed skirmishes. India controls approximately 55% of the land area of the region that includes Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, most of Ladakh, the Siachen Glacier, and 70% of its population; Pakistan controls approximately 30% of the land area that includes Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan; and China controls the remaining 15% of the land area that includes the Aksai Chin region, the mostly uninhabited Trans-Karakoram Tract, and part of the Demchok sector.
The Gawkadal massacre was named after the Gawkadal bridge in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, where, on 21 January 1990, the Indian paramilitary troops of the Central Reserve Police Force opened fire on a group of Kashmiri protesters in what has been described by some authors as "the worst massacre in Kashmiri history". Between 50 and 100 people were killed, some from being shot and others from drowning. The massacre happened two days after the Government of India appointed Jagmohan as the Governor for a second time in a bid to control the mass protests by Kashmiris.
The Chattisinghpora, Pathribal, and Barakpora massacres refer to a series of three closely related incidents that took place in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir between 20 March 2000 and 3 April 2000 that left up to 49 Kashmiri civilians dead.
The 1993 Lal Chowk fire refers to the arson attack on the main commercial centre of downtown Srinagar, Kashmir, that took place on 10 April 1993. The fire is alleged by government officials to have been started by a crowd incited by militants, while civilians and police officials interviewed by Human Rights Watch and other organisations allege that the Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) set fire to the locality in retaliation for the burning of an abandoned BSF building by local residents. Over 125 civilians were killed in the conflagration and the ensuing shooting by BSF troops.
Lal Chowk is a city square in Srinagar, in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Bijbehara Massacre took place when 74th Battalion Border Security Force (BSF) fired upon protesters in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, India on 22 October 1993, killing 51 civilians. In the official version of events, BSF had only acted in self-defense when fired upon by militants; however, this narrative was rejected by Human Rights Watch citing the 1993 U.S. Department of State country report on human rights in India which said, "Despite government claims that the security forces were ambushed by militants, only one BSF sub inspector was injured."
The 2010 Kashmir unrest was a series of violent protests and riots in the Kashmir Division and Northern Jammu Division of Jammu and Kashmir, India which started in June 2010 after the Indian Army claimed to have killed three Pakistani infiltrators in which a soldier of the Territorial Army, a counter-insurgent and a former special police officer had found three young men from their Nadihal village in Baramulla district and killed them in a "staged" encounter at Sona Pindi. The protests occurred in a movement launched by Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in June 2010, who called for the complete demilitarisation of Jammu and Kashmir. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference made this call to a strike, citing human rights abuses by security forces. Rioters shouting pro-independence slogans, defied curfew, attacked riot police with stones and burnt vehicles and buildings. The protests started out as anti India protests but later were also targeted against the United States following the 2010 Qur'an-burning controversy. The riot police consisting of Jammu and Kashmir Police and Indian Para-military forces fired teargas shells rubber bullets and also live ammunition on the protesters, resulting in 112 deaths, including many teenagers and an 11-year-old boy. The protests subsided after the Indian government announced a package of measures aimed at defusing the tensions in September 2010.
Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Border Security Personnel (BSF) have been accused of committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians. According to Seema Kazi, militant groups have also been held responsible for similar crimes, but the vast majority of abuses have been perpetrated by the armed forces of the Indian government.
Human rights abuses in Kashmir have been perpetrated by various belligerents in the territories controlled by both India and Pakistan since the two countries' conflict over the region began with their first war in 1947–1948, shortly after the partition of British India. The organized breaches of fundamental human rights in Kashmir are tied to the contested territorial status of the region, over which India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars. More specifically, the issue pertains to abuses committed in Indian-administered Kashmir and in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
The 2013 India–Pakistan border incidents was a series of armed skirmishes along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir area. Starting from the mid-January 2013, they have been described as the "worst bout of fighting in the region in nearly 10 years". It began on 6 January 2013, when according to Pakistani reports Indian forces attacked a Pakistani border post, killing one soldier. Indian authorities claimed the incident as a retaliation against preceding Pakistani ceasefire violations, but denied having crossed the demarcation line. In a second skirmish on 8 January, Indian authorities said that Pakistani forces crossed the LoC, killing two Indian soldiers. The incident sparked outrage in India and harsh reactions by the Indian army and government over the news that the body of one of the soldiers had been beheaded. Pakistan denied these reports. On 15 January, a third skirmish reportedly led to the death of another Pakistani soldier.
The 2014–2015 India–Pakistan border skirmishes were a series of armed clashes and exchanges of gunfire between the Indian Border Security Force and the Pakistan Rangers: the paramilitary gendarmerie forces of both nations, responsible for patrolling the India-Pakistan border) along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Kashmir region and the borders of the Punjab. Tensions began in mid-July 2014, with both countries' military officials and media reports giving different accounts of the incidents and accusing each other of initiating the hostilities. The incident sparked outrage in both countries and harsh reactions by the Indian and Pakistani militaries and the Indian and Pakistani governments.
Deaths along the Bangladesh–India border occur many times a year as result of people attempting to illegally cross into India from Bangladesh, for walking along the border, cross border firing and cattle smuggling. Bangladesh and India share a 4,096 kilometer border. To prevent smuggling and illegal migration from Bangladesh, the Indian Border Security Force exercises its controversial "Shoot-on-sight" policy. Under this policy, the BSF can shoot any person on site with or without cause. A large portion of the victims are cattle traders and farmers with land near the border. Brad Adams, stated that, "Routinely shooting poor, unarmed villagers is not how the world's largest democracy should behave."
The 2016–2017 unrest in Kashmir, also known as the Burhan aftermath, refers to protests in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, chiefly in the Kashmir Valley. It started after the killing of militan leader Burhan Wani by Indian security forces on 8 July 2016. Wani was a commander of the Kashmir-based Islamist militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen.
The 2016–2018 India–Pakistan border skirmishes were a series of armed clashes between India and Pakistan, mostly consisting of heavy exchanges of gunfire between Indian and Pakistani forces across the de facto border, known as the Line of Control (LoC), between the two states in the disputed region of Kashmir. The skirmishes began after India claimed to have conducted surgical strikes against militant launch pads within the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on 29 September 2016.
The Kashmir conflict has been beset by large scale usage of sexual violence by multiple belligerents since its inception.
Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir include security operations such as Operation Rakshak, which began in 1990, Operation Sarp Vinash in 2003 and Operation Randori Behak in 2020. Other operations include humanitarian missions such as Operation Megh Rahat and operations with a social aim such as Operation Goodwill and Operation Calm Down. The Indian Army works in tandem with the other arms of the Indian Armed Forces and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir such as during Mission Sahayata or joint operations.
Crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir is a public security practice to prevent and manage violent riots. It is enforced by police forces through laws preventing unlawful assembly, as well as using riot control agents such as tear gas, chili grenades, and pellet guns.
Machil fake encounter, also known as Machil encounter case, refers to a extrajudicial killing which was carried out by the Indian Army on 29 April 2010 by killing the three Kashmiri civilians Shazad Ahmad Khan (27), Shafi Ahmad Lone (19) and Riyaz Ahmad Lone (20) and labelled them as Pakistani militants. Considered as one of the biggest human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir since insurgency began in 1947 between India, Pakistan and China, the trio were killed in Machil area of Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir at the Line of Control (LoC).
The Resistance Front or TRF is a separatist militant organization involved in the ongoing insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. The organization has positioned itself as a secular organization fighting against the Indian government for Kashmiri freedom, in contrast to past Kashmiri insurgents which have been Islamist. The Indian government has accused the TRF of being an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, a claim that TRF has denied. TRF operates primarily in the Kashmir region, with a main base in Srinagar.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "India – Human Rights Developments". Human Rights Watch.
- ↑ "The Human Rights Crisis in Kashmir". Human rights watch. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ↑ MUHAMMAD, GHULAM (6 January 2019). "SOPORE MASSACRE: When 57 civilians were killed, 400 shops and 75 houses burnt down". Greater Kashmir. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- 1 2 "Blood Tide Rising". Time . 18 January 1993. Archived from the original on 10 December 2008.
- 1 2 3 4 5 McGirk, Tim (8 January 1993). "Outcry in Delhi over Kashmir massacre" . The Independent. UK. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2009.