Away from media glamour the truth is somewhat different

1. Kashmir
The scared and beautiful
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2. INTRODUCTION TO THE
CONFLICT 2

3. • 1947 – End of British rule
• Indian Independence act 1947
• Maharaja HariSingh.
• Instrument of Accession.
• Governor general of India – Lord Mountbatten
– “It is my Government's wish that as soon as law and order have been
restored in Jammu and Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader the
question of the State's accession should be settled by a reference to the
people.”
• Plebiscite 3

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5. • First Kashmir War (1947-1948)
• UN Security Council (Resolution 47)
• 1965 and 1971 wars
• 1989 – armed insurgency
• India’s View
• Pakistan’s View
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6. • Executions of detainees and indiscriminate attacks on
civilians escalated during the operation, and during
another which followed, called “Operation Shiva”.
• By mid-1993,human rights groups and journalists in
Kashmir reported figures of several hundred
executions of detainees since Operation Tiger began.
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7. Applicable international law
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8. International human rights law and
standards
• International human rights law prohibits the
arbitrary deprivation of life under any
circumstances.
• The Government of India is a signatory to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR).
• Article 6 of the ICCPR expressly prohibits
derogation from the right to life. Thus, even
during time of emergency.
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9. • The International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) also prohibits torture
and other forms of cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment.
• Articles 4 and 7 of the ICCPR explicitly ban
torture, even in times of national emergency or
when the security of the state is threatened.
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10. International humanitarian law
• Also called the law of armed conflict applicable in non-
international (internal) armed conflicts.
• The applicable law is found in Article 3 common to the
four Geneva Conventions of August 12,
• India has ratified the four Geneva Conventions of
1949, and is thus obliged to uphold Common Article 3.
• It defines the conduct and responsibilities
of belligerent nations, neutral nations and individuals
engaged in warfare, in relation to each other and
to protected persons, usually meaning civilians.
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11. Impunity laws
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12. Armed forces special powers act(AFSPA)
• Arrest individuals at will without any arrest
warrants
• Raise residential houses to ground without any
prior notification
• Shoot at will on any suspicious individual
• And above all enjoy full impunity from the law
and court
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14. Disturbed areas act
• Enacted by the President of India An Act to provide for
better provision for the suppression of disorder and for the
restoration and maintenance of public order in disturbed
areas in Jammu and Kashmir .
• In a "disturbed area", any Magistrate or Police Officer of
the Police may, if he is of opinion that it is necessary so to
do for the maintenance of public order, after giving such
due warning, as he may consider necessary, fire upon, or
otherwise use force, even to the causing of death, against
any person who is indulging in any act which may result in
serious breach of public order
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15. Public safety act
• Projected for the safe guard of civilians.
• A person can be arrested and put in jail for 7 days
and then presented in court of law.
• If the court squashes PSA an individual is
rearrested under the same PSA and the process
can continue for years all together.
• Thousands of Kashmiri youth are currently
detained under this draconian law 15

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17. POTA
• Prevention of terrorism act…2002
• The act replaced the Prevention of Terrorism
Ordinance (POTO) of 2001 and the Terrorist
and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)
Act (TADA) (1985–95).
• The act was repealed in 2004 by the United
Progressive Alliance coalition.
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18. • The act provided the legal framework to strengthen
administrative rights to fight terrorism, and was to be
applied against any persons and acts covered by the
provisions within the act.
• Special powers were granted to the investigating
authorities.
• Under the new law, a suspect could be detained for up
to 180 days without the filing of charge sheet in court.
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19. • Once the Act became law, many reports surfaced
of the law being grossly abused.
• Claims emerged that POTA legislation
contributed to corruption within the Indian police
and judicial system, and human rights and civil
liberty groups fought against it.
• However it continues to be implemented In the
valley in contrary to other states.
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21. Enforced disappearances
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22. Enforced disappearances
• Enforced Disappearance is abduction or kidnapping,
carried out by State agents, or organized groups and
individuals who act with State support or tolerance, in
which the victim "disappears".
• Authorities neither accept responsibility for the dead,
nor account for the whereabouts of the victim
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23. • Youth are randomly arrested and taken to
unknown locations by the security agencies.
• They are either killed in encounters or torture in
jails and later buried or thrown in rivers and lakes.
• Legal recourse including petitions of habeas
corpus, remain ineffective.
• Enforced Disappearance is a serious violation of
fundamental human rights.
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24. Mass graves
• Large scale mass graves have been recently
found in the valley after Wikileaks revelations
• An estimate of 371 graves were found at a
single location containing approx 400 bodies
• Eyewitnesses and grave diggers say that army
and State police used to come and bury bodies
after dark.
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25. • In another location 2156 unidentified graves
were found in 38 sites in North Kashmir
district .
• At two separate location around 3500(208
sites) and 2500 graves have been found.
• Govt promised DNA tests to reveal the bodies
however no tests were conducted till now
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26. MASS
GRAVES
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27. EXCESSIVE USE OF
FORCE 27

28. Kunan posh pora mass rape
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29. Kunan posh pora mass rape
• Occurred on February 23, 1991,
• Units of the Indian army launched a search and
interrogation operation in the village of Kunan
Poshpora, located in Kashmir's remote Kupwara
District.
• At least 53 women were allegedly gang raped by
soldiers that night.
• However, Human Rights organizations
including Human Rights Watch have reported that
the number of raped women could be as high as
100
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30. Sopore town massacre
• The "Sopore Massacre" refers to the alleged
killing of 55 Kashmiri civilians by
the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) after
militants ambushed a BSF patrol, in the town
of Sopore in Kashmir on 6 January 1993.
• Forces fired at local residents and set fire to local
homes and businesses.
• Witnesses claim that BSF soldiers attacked a
public coach killing the driver and at least 15
passengers as well as attacking and burning three
other cars.
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31. Papa 2
• Formed in the year 1988
• Operated by the Border Security Force
(BSF), it was reportedly "the most infamous
torture center in Kashmir“.
• Both militants and civilians were tortured
using extreme methods.
• Death toll in 9 years of its operation reached to
10000( exact count not known )
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33. THE
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34. Thank you
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