Kashmir: The democracy that never was

“Comment: Indian violence in Kashmir is not only authorised, but also incentivised by the state, writes Umar Lateef Misgar.”

A common refrain in Indian-controlled Kashmir is that peace in the region only amounts to a fragile pause between two deaths. In the past three decades, more than 70,000 people have been killed in Kashmir, most of them due to a multi-pronged crackdown by Indian forces on all kinds of dissent.

These forces have repeatedly been accused of carrying out systematic human rights violations, including rape, torture, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings.

In the past week alone, Indian forces killed 18 Kashmiris in three separate gun battles. Most of the victims were armed rebels in their twenties. Three Indian forces personnel also lost their lives during these battles, which are regularly fought in heavily-populated residential areas.

The very nature of these gun battles — both indiscriminate and disproportionate — is clear from the civilian injuries and deaths they also caused. Owing to the use of IEDs, bodies of dead rebels are often charred beyond recognition.

Indian officials fully embrace these disproportionate tactics, with one official recently suggesting that the use of IEDs in gun battles prevents soldiers from any harm.

Amid gunfire, the residents, including women and children, often remain trapped inside homes for hours.

Indian forces often resort to arson in the aftermath of gun battles, as a form of collective punishment against villagers for sheltering the rebels. In a recent battle in Shopian district’s Kachdora village, locals claim Indian forces ransacked their homes and looted valuables such as gold and cash.

Civilians have also become the target of indiscriminate gunfire by Indian forces. In the latest instance, five civilians were killed, some of them miles away from the site of they actual gunfight.

“ Indian authorities, as a ritual, continue to dismiss all expressions of the rejection of Indian rule by Kashmiris as mindless terrorism sponsored by Pakistan”

Mohammad Iqbal Bhat, a 27-year-old labourer from Shopian’s Khasipora village was shot dead while returning from his in-laws house. “He was at least a mile away from the site of gunfight in Kachdora,” Bhat’s family lamented.

A family in nearby Gopalpora village was also devastated when their 19-year-old son Zubair Ahmad Bhat was shot in the chest on the morning of 1 April in Kachdora, and died almost instantly. “Zubair’s dream of inaugurating his new soap factory later in the day was shattered,” said his father.

Even children face the brunt of this indiscriminate violence. A few yards away from Zubair’s house, another family mourns as their 15-year-old son Muneeb Ahmad dangles between life and death at a tertiary care hospital.

Muneeb became unconscious when Indian forces shot him twice in the gut and the liver, while playing cricket near Kachdora.

According to independent monitors, over a 15-year-period from 2003 to 2017, at least 318 children in the age group of 1–17 were killed due to conflict in Kashmir. Indian forces have also subjected children to torture, enforced disappearance and sexual abuse.

The use of human shields during military operations also continues unabated.

In Draagad village of Shopian district, where seven armed rebels were gunned down by Indian forces on 1 April, Raqeeba Akhter’s life was turned upside down when her husband, Mushtaq Ahmad Thoker was forcibly taken away by Indian forces, who led them to the nearby compound where the rebels were sheltering.

While the gunfight ensued, Akhter hid — along with her 11-year-old twins — under the kitchen counter. In the morning, Thoker’s bullet-ridden body was found in the compound.

This total contravention of international norms in Kashmir is not only condoned but also incentivised by the Indian state. In May last year, Farooq Ahmad Dar, an artisan was tied to the bonnet of his vehicle by an Indian army major to prevent “stone pelters from attacking the cavalcade.”

Although various human rights bodies condemned this act, the Indian army chief later awarded the accused major with a “Commendation Card” for “sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations” in Kashmir. Later, a nascent garment company whose owner has close ties with India’s ruling party, printed an image of Dar tied to the bonnet, on one of its T-shirt lines, and continues to sell it online.

Hospitals and medical personnel are also in the line of fire.

Continuing the horrific trend from 2016, a year of mass-uprising in Kashmir, hospitals and ambulances are deliberately attacked. The Indian forces recently opened gunfire inside the A&E and blood bank sections of Shopian district’s main hospital.

Birdshot pellets, uncontrolled use of which in 2016 led to what many called a willful, state-sponsored mass-blinding, also continue to be employed against civilians in Kashmir. In the past week, 33 civilians have been shot by these inherently indiscriminate pellet guns, mostly in the eyes.

As I write this, life remains crippled in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Internet access has been suspended in many areas and the dissident leadership remains incarcerated. College and university students are pouring into the streets to protest the continued killings and repression.

“Hospitals and ambulances are deliberately attacked”

The Indian authorities, as a ritual, continue to dismiss all expressions of the rejection of Indian rule by Kashmiris as mindless terrorism sponsored by Pakistan.

Meanwhile, under deadly systematic repression, a handful of Kashmiris are embracing global jihadist groups. Last year, a rebel commander pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, although operational and tactical linkages appear to be mostly superficial.

In a powerful video, one dissident leader ordered the Indian police personnel stationed outside his house to let him leave so he could “attend the funeral of Indian democracy in Kashmir”.

Perhaps, that democracy in Kashmir was never even born.

Umar Lateef Misgar is a political analyst focusing on Kashmir and the Middle East. His work has appeared in The Independent, Truthout.org, London School of Economics Human Rights Centre blog, and elsewhere.

Follow him on Twitter: @Kaashur

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.

Umar Lateef Misgar

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