Numerous unnamed graves have been discovered scattered across 18 villages of Kashmir’s Baramulla district. The gravesites largely discovered by the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, a constituent of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society are believed to be the remains of victims of unlawful killing by the security forces of Jammu and Kashmir. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have expressed their concern over human rights violation in Jammu and Kashmir on the issue of the countless nameless graves scattered across the state. Political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, despite their ideological differences, have welcomed the statements made by the international human rights watchdog organizations.

The concern of human rights groups has risen after the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons published the report – Facts Under Ground, the first extensive survey conducted by the association in search for their missing children in the past 18 years. The Association had documented 1,000 nameless graves in three pockets of Kashmir’s Baramulla district. An additional 2000 graves have been discovered carrying nameplates describing the dead as foreign mercenaries killed in encounters with security forces. However, the association claims that concealed behind these graves of foreign militants might be the remains of missing youths of Kashmir.

The association claims that around 8,000 to 10,000 Kashmiri youths are victims of forced disappearance. Many police officers including a senior superintendent of police, H. R. Parihar, have been arrested for killing innocent Kashmiris and passing them off as militants for awards and promotions.

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Via: etalaat