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of Indian Atrocities |
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| Introduction |  |
Identity Parade |
| Massacre | Custodial Killings | |
| Extra Judicial Execution | Torture | |
| The Agony of Crack Down | Arson | |
Whoever has found his way to the forbidden land of occupied Kashmir, in the past four and a half years, with a clear conscience to probe the ground realities there, has returned with horrifying tales of Indian torture, torment and tyranny. The latest bearers of such hair - raising sadistic episodes was a four - member group of the Indian Women Institute - two from New Delhi, Mrs. Gauri Chowdhry and Miss Sheeba Chhachi and two from Bombay, Dr. Ritu Dewan and Mrs Mani Mal. The Group went to various places during their visit from May 2 to May 12, 1994. They partly unburdened their hearts of what they saw and heard in places, ravaged by the rampaging Indian armed forces, at a news conference in Srinagar on completion of their visit. The group told newsmen that:MASSACRE"Every house we visited in the valley of Kashmir, rich or poor, the inhabitants told us stories of humiliation, loss, pain and death. We were horrified at the violence and terror amid which people of Kashmir, especially women have been living for the last five years. After visiting several areas and villages across the violence - Torn Kashmir, we were horrified to learn about atrocities committed by the Indian forces on unarmed and innocent people. The Indian forces have been committing grave and unpardonable crimes in Kashmir against women including rape in Molangam, in North-west Kashmir, we met several widows whose husbands were killed by Border security forces (BSF) including a grey-haired lady whose husband was burnt alive. She has no means of living and is surviving by begging. A woman told us tragic story of how her minor son was taken away by the BSF. We was arrested because his friends had jokingly called him an ‘area commander’. Whosoever we met during our 10-day tour of the valley, he expressed strong desire for peace but at the same time, no one was ready to barter peace for freedom. We believe that people of Kashmir should be provided with an opportunity to decide their own future. Our visit was mainly aimed at Rebuilding the image of humanity whiten has been tarnished by the Indian security forces all over Kashmir since the eruption of ‘Insurgency - related’ violence five years ago."
The following pages give some glimpses, of that "tarnished image of humanity" which in fact is a sanguinary saga of the agonising and ceaseless sallies of Indian savagery.
ON FRIDAY, 22 Oct 1993, THE PORTALS OF HAZRATBAL SHRINE WERE BARRED AS THE INDIAN ARMY LAID SIEGE OF THE MOSQUE COMPLEX ‘IN PURSUIT OF KASHMIRI MILITANTS’. TO PROTEST AGAINST THIS SIEGE OF THE HOLIEST OF HOLY SHRINES FOR EVERY KASHMIRI MUSLIM,. COMMON FOLK IN THE SMALL TOWN OF BIJBERARA TOOK OUT A PROCESSION WHICH WAS ANGRY IN ITS MOOD BUT INDULGED IN NO ACTS OF VIOLENCE. BUT THE DEFIANCE OF THE CURFEW BY THE MARCHERS ENRAGED THE BORDER SECURITY FORCE (BSF) WHICH WENT BERSERK AND MOWED DOWN TO DEATH MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE AND WOUNDED ANOTHER 100 OR MORE.
Nikhil Chakravartty(The Pioneer, Oct. 27, 1993).
Bilal Ahmad S/O Nisar Ahmad,Bashir Ahmad
S/O Nazir Butt R/O Nishat Bagh, Srinagar were
Shot dead in front of their family members during
a crackdown in Feb. 94.
Muddasar Ahmad S/O Abdul Ahed, Ghulam Haider
S/O Rasheed Ahmad both R/O Bhagwan Pura,
Hal bazar, Srinagar were shot dead while traveling
on a scooter in a street in Hal bazar by
Security Forces in Jan. 94.
The inquiry has shown that on the fateful day of Oct. 22, 93, the men and officers of 74 Battalion of BSF indiscriminately rained bullets on the peaceful, unarmed, innocent and unsuspecting demonstrators estimated between 10,000 and 15,000 on the National Highway touching Bijbehara and did not show consideration towards the un-involved and public spirited persons who ventured to come forward to perform the humanitarian task of removing the dead bodies and providing succour to the injured persons and, so acting, left behind 37 persons mostly young dead and 92 persons injured, some of them disabled for life, besides causing incalculable misery to the affected families.Report of the People’s Commission of Inquiry on the Bijbehara massacre by Mufti Bahauddin Farooqi, ex chief justice J&K High Court - Page-1
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPEATEDLY EXPRESSED GRAVE CONCERN ABOUT CONTINUING REPORTS OF DEATHS IN CUSTODY AND OF EXTRA JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS. IN APRIL IT PUBLISHED INDIA: SOPORE - A CASE STUDY OF EXTRA JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR, WHICH APPEALED TO THE AUTHORITIES TO STOP HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. IN OCTOBER AMNESTY INTERNATIONALS CALLED FOR AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE KILLINGS BY THE BSF OF 51 PEOPLE IN SRINAGAR AND BIJBEHARA.
Amnesty International, Annual report 1994 (Page 159)
Victim of Sensless and in-excusable Killings of Indian Security Forces |
Mohammad Asad R/O Krememeswar Distt Badgam, Killed during Interrogation |
Amnesty International says at least 53 men and women were killed by the BSF which went on a rampage setting fire to houses and looting shops. The killings were part of a consistent pattern of extra judicial executions, often involving innocent civilians which has developed since early 1990. Amnesty must collect its data from other agencies because it is banned from entering the state.
Shyam Bhatia, The Indonesian Observer Jakarta, 15 Jul. 93.
Extra judicial executions in Jammu and Kashmir continued throughout the year. Fifty one people were arbitrarily shot dead in Srinagar and Bijbehara on 22 October, most by the BSF, during an apparently peaceful protest against an army siege of the Hazratbal shrine.
Amnesty International Report 1994, Page 159.
In a pattern that is repeated every day in Kashmir, the security forces detain young men during crackdown - cardon and search operations during which all the men of a neighborhood or village are called to assemble for an identification parade in front of hooded informers.
Asia Watch and Physicians for Human rights 30 Jun. 93, Page-2
Military Crackdown |
a regular feature in Indian Occupied |
Jammu and Kashmir |
‘Crackdown’ can last for several hours, often for an entire day, and are instituted without any prior warning. the citizens in the area targeted for a crackdown are effectively, held hostage. Everyone is made to assemble out of doors, in an open space, irrespective of age, gender, infirmity or inclement weather.
Federation Internationale, DES Ligues Des Droits DE L’Homme Rapport Jan. 93 (Page-6)
According to representatives of human rights organistaions and national Conference leaders, cases of innocents being tortured by the security agencies continue. Senior security officials also admit this. One of them told Frontline that approximately 25 percent of the people being rounded up by the forces during "crackdown operations are innocents. But human rights organistionas say this is a very low estimate" It is not only in rounding up and detention that innocents are vicxtimised.
Venkitesh Ramakrishnan (Frontline, Madras, 11.2.94)
"MANY OF THOSE ARRESTED ARE IDENTIFIED BY ‘CATS’, INFORMERS WHOSE FACES ARE HIDDEN UNDER BLACK COTTON HOODS. IN SOME CASES, HUNDREDS OF MEN ARE PULLED FROM THEIR HOMES OR VEHICLES AND MARCHED BEFORE SUCH SECRET ACCUSERS. EACH TIME A ‘CAT’ POINTS, THE SOLDIERS GRAB ANOTHER MAN OUT OF LINE. MAY ARE NEVER SEEN ALIVE AGAIN.
Amnesty International Report, December, 1993, ‘An unnatural Fate’ (Page-4)
All men assembled and |
Identification prade in progress |
Delhi’s rule is replete with such examples. the pattern is the same in Srinagar or elsewhere. On the basis of mere suspicion, a neighborhood is cordoned off and unarmed civilians frisked and made to walk single file before informers.Shyam Bhatia, The Indonesian Observer, Jakarta 15, Jul 93.
The modus operandi is that a neighborhood is cordoned off. Unarmed civilians are searched and forced to file past a posse of hooded ‘Cats’ or informers. None is exempt, not even a former chief Justice who was required to wait in the open for two days. Around 10,000 are still in detention.
Kuldip Nayar, ‘The Sentinel’ Guwahati, 9 Jun. 1993.
"disappearances" is one of several forms of gross human rights violations of concern to Amnesty International. Human rights violations persistently perpetrated in Jammu and Kashmir include, reportedly, hundreds of extra judicial executions, sometimes in the form of staged "encounters’, routine and brutal torture, including, rape, and the detention of many thousands of political prisoners held for months or years without being brought to trial while they are denied the minimum legal safeguards provided in internationals human rights standards. many have died in custody after torture and numbers of custodial deaths in Jammu and Kashmir has reached alarming proportions.
Amnesty Internationals reportDec., 1993, "An unnatural Fate" (Page - 4)
Zahoor Ahmad Dar R/O of Noti pur
was taken into a custody in Jan. 94
and next day his dead body was
thrown on the road side.
Nazir Ahmad Babar R/O Pasith Chowk
Srinagar, was killed by Indian security
forces in Shalimar ground
on 3 Dec. 93.
The Jammu and Kashmir High Court has investigated several alleged ‘disappearances’ and has been presented with strong prima facie evidence that security forces kept the victims in secret detention.
Amnesty InternationalReport Dec. 93 "An Unnatural Fate" page 17.
Hundreds of people are alleged to have died in custody in recent years in Jammu and Kashmir and often their bodies were dumped in the open. Some times with visible injuries.
Amnesty InternationalReport Dec. 93 An unnatural fate, Page-5
Dead body of Abu Zar who
was killed by
Indian Security
Forces in
Badgam on
21 Nov. 93.
Dead body of Abdul Kadoos
Khan alias Zubair
R/O Alochi Bagh
Srinagar was killed
by Indian
Security Forces
on 22 Nov. 93.
Torture methods most frequently cited were beatings often with lathis (canes), and, less frequently, suspension by the wrists or ankles, electric shocks and rape.Amnesty International Report 1994
Page 157-158
A middle aged woman with fractured
hands and ribs in Srinagar
Naseer Ahmed S/O Ehasan Ahamed
R/O Bandipura shot in arm and abdomin
but survived in critical condition
"NUMEROUS PEOPLE - PROFESSORS, DOCTORS, LAWYERS AND STUDENTS, HAVE BEEN PICKED UP BY THE SECURITY FORCES ON MERE SUSPICION AND GIVEN THIRD DEGREE PUNISHMENTS AT VARIOUS INTERROGATION CENTRES BEFORE RELEASE. MANY HAVE DIED IN THE PROCESS".
Kuldip NayarThe Sentinel, Guwahati,
June 9, 1993
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.
Physicians for Human Rights
and Asia Watch Mar 93 - page 3
A 6 year old child, severely Kicked and injured by Security Forces in Srinagar. |
A 14 years old boy shot by Indiand Security Forces in Bandi Pura. |
Every Security force has its own interrogation Centres in Kashmir, which include temporary detention centres at BSF, CRPF and Army Camps, hotels and other buildings that have been taken over by security forces.
Physicians for Human Rightsand Asia Watch Mar 93-Page 29
Detainees arrested by the Army and para - military forces in Jammu and Kashmir are usually taken to special interrogation centres, where torture is reportedly routine. Their relatives are not told where they are and do not know where to look for them.
ARSONAmnesty International Report - 93An Unnatural Fate, Page 4
IN 1993 A KEY INCIDENT CONCERNING THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT FORCES WAS THE BURNING OF LAL CHOWK, WHERE HUNDREDS OF SHOPS WERE DESTROYED AND MANY CIVILIANS WERE KILLED AND INJURED.
Preliminary Report of Internationals Commission of Jurists(Geneva, Switzerland, April 1994) (Page 56)
LAL CHOWK, THE COMMERCIAL CENTRE OF THE CAPITAL OF SRINAGAR, IS A BURNED OUT ZONE OF ROOFLESS SKELETONS: 260 BUILDINGS AND SHOPS OF THE ANCIENT PLAZA HAVE BEEN DESTROYED. SINCE APRIL 10, MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE HAVE DIED.
(Time Magazine, April 26, 1993)
THE BEST REPEATED IN SRINAGAR ON APRIL 10, WHAT IT DID IN THE MARKET TOWN OF SOPORE ON JANUARY 6 WITHIN A SPAN OF THREE MONTHS. THE ‘ERRING’ LOCALITIES AT BOTH PLACES WERE SET ON FIRE, FOLLOWED BY SHOTS AT RANDOM AT THE ESCAPEES. THE DEATH TOLL WAS FIVE IN SRINAGAR AND 44 IN SOPORE.
Kuldip NayarThe sentinel 4 Wahati, June 9, 1993.
Sopore, 26 Nov. 93, more than 100 shops and houses were torched by Indian Forces. |
16 Jan. 1994, Elahi Bagh Distt. Srinagar |
Buildings reduced to rubble in Sopore by using gunpowder |
On Jan 6, 1993, at least 43 persons were killed, and a one - and - a -held KM long block in central Sopore burned to the ground in the largest reprisal attack by the security forces in the history of the conflict. The BSF unit involved was the 94th BSF Battalion.
Asia Watch and Physicians for human Rights Report30 Jun. 93, page - 6.
The SSP of Baralmula district is reported to have observed that the security forces ran a muck in Sopore on Wednesday, killing people by dozens and destroying property with the use of gun powder. This has to be taken as the most reliable proof, if at all any of its was still needed of the carnage having been committed by the BSF.
Editorial ‘Kashmir Times" JammuDated 9 Jun. 1993.
Buildings reduced to
rubble in Sopore
by using gunpowder.
Hearts and homes are arosned
by Indian Forces, the inmates of
houses have no place of shelter.
Debris of Gujrat hotel
at Lall Chowk, Srinagar
burnt by Indian Forces.
Lal Chowk was burned to the ground by Indian paramilitary troops on 10 Apr. 93. The incident which was one of the largest such arson attack by Indian forces since the beginning of the conflict, left at least, four civilians dead in the immediate area and more in attacks in nearly neighborhoods.
Asia Watch & Physicians For Human Rights Report30 June 93, Page - 4
