KL Report
SRINAGAR
Reacting to what it called an impression that the Argentinean government had secretly probed the mass graves in Kashmir, the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) Parvez Imroz group has clarified that the Argentinean government has never directly, or indirectly, probed the mass graves of Kashmir.
In a statement issued to KNS, a spokesperson of the APDP has said that in 2008, the European parliament through its resolution expressed support for the investigations on mass graves and enforced disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir. “It was followed by the statements of support by Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC). Now, in a similar manner we urge the Latin American countries to also publicly offer their support to pressurize Government of India to investigate the phenomenon of enforced disappearances and mass and unmarked graves in Jammu and Kashmir.”
It added: “On 20th December, the Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Ashok Prasad while responding to media queries on the issue of ‘secret probe’ of the Argentinean government on mass graves in Jammu and Kashmir, reiterated the lies trumpeted by the government. Previously Omar Abdullah also had stated that there are no mass graves and that the phenomenon of unmarked graves in rural areas of Kashmir is normal.”
This misinformation is a part of the ongoing State attempts to obfuscate the truth and confuse the public opinion, locally and internationally. DGP Prasad and other government functionaries audaciously want the people of Jammu and Kashmir to forget the tyranny they have suffered and witnessed, besides of course the inquiry conducted by the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) followed by a judgment in 2011 which vindicated the research of APDP regarding mass graves and unmarked graves.
The APDP spokesperson has said that the reality is that the Indian State is criminally culpable under international law for the existence of 7000 unmarked graves across 5 districts (Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Poonch and Rajouri) of Jammu and Kashmir. In our December 2009 report, “Buried Evidence” we asserted that besides unmarked graves there are several mass graves as well.
“As no defense or justification exists, the government has chosen to not respond to facts but rather confuse the issue by talking in abstractions. DGP Prasad and other apologists of State atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir should visit and probe the mass grave at Kanenaar Kalarus, Kupwara where 17 unidentified persons are buried in one grave. They must also probe the mass grave at the main Kalaroos town graveyard where 5 bodies are buried in one grave, the mass grave at Nullah Nigley, Leyan Marg Gulmarg, Baramulla where 12 unidentified persons are buried, the mass grave at Gharkote, Baramulla where 16 persons are buried in one grave, the mass grave at Wilgam Kupwara where 5 skulls of unidentified persons are buried in one grave, the mass graves at Kichama graveyard where many graves contain more than one body and many more places, but clearly the will to do so does not exist. One of the unmarked graves at Bimyar, Chahal in Uri contains a bullet ridden dead body of a six month old baby girl.”
The statement has added that unmarked graves, as per APDP and SHRC, are those graves where bullet ridden unidentified bodies were buried by locals after being brought by armed forces or police.
“The police in many cases filed FIRs, as for receiving the monetary incentives for killing the ‘militants’ it would be a requirement. The information acquired by APDP through RTI further corroborates the fact that most of the people killed in the alleged encounters are still unidentified and police have never carried out any investigations to identity the bodies and the actual circumstances of the deaths. According to RTI information, in Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts there are 2683 FIRs filed where unidentified people being killed in alleged encounters have been buried in unmarked graves without maintaining any identification profile of these unidentified dead persons, and neither conducting any investigations after filing of these 2683 FIRs.”
