The report, titled ‘Unraveling the Reality: A Vital Research of Unmarked and Unidentified Graves in Kashmir Valley', relies on the research carried out by the Kashmir-based NGO Save Youth Save Future Basis (SYSFF).
Researchers led by Wajahat Farooq Bhat, Zahid Sultan, Irshad Ahmed Bhat, Anika Nazir, Muddasir Ahmed Dar and Shabir Ahmed bodily inspected and documented 373 graveyards throughout the border districts of Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora in north Kashmir and Ganderbal in central Kashmir.
“The organisation, which is funded by individuals, began this venture in 2018 and the finished the bottom work in 2024. After that, we had been getting ready the report for submitting to numerous authorities places of work. The report can stand testimony to counter any narrative that's being dictated from throughout the border to unfold panic within the Kashmir valley,” Wajahat Farooq Bhat mentioned.
Utilizing a rigorous methodology that included GPS tagging, photographic documentation, oral testimonies and an evaluation of official data, the research aimed to supply proof somewhat than counting on unverified accounts.
The analysis workforce documented a complete of 4,056 graves, with the information revealing a actuality that differs considerably from earlier claims made by teams having vested pursuits, based on the researchers.As many as 2,493 graves (roughly 61.5 per cent) had been recognized as belonging to international terrorists who had been killed in counter-insurgency operations, the report said.It famous that these people typically lacked identification to hide their networks and keep Pakistan's believable deniability.
Round 1,208 graves (roughly 29.8 per cent) belonged to native militants from Kashmir who had been killed in encounters with safety forces. Many of those graves had been recognized by means of group testimonies and household acknowledgements.
The researchers discovered solely 9 confirmed civilian graves, a mere 0.2 per cent of the overall.
This discovering, based on the SYSFF, instantly contradicts the claims of civilian mass graves and means that allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings have been “considerably overstated”.
The research additionally recognized 70 graves of tribal invaders who died in the course of the 1947 Kashmir battle, highlighting the historic depth of conflict-related burials within the area.
Bhat emphasised the necessity for complete forensic investigation of the 276 genuinely unmarked graves utilizing fashionable DNA testing to handle humanitarian issues.
It mentioned the sphere investigation group engagement shaped a vital part of the analysis methodology, involving semi-structured interviews with a various cross-section of stakeholders. These embody native clerics and members of Auqaf mosque committees, gravediggers with many years of expertise, households of native militants and disappeared individuals, long-term residents with the information of native burial practices and former militants who had surrendered or had been launched.
This report debunks the claims of sure advocacy teams and worldwide organisations who've portrayed these burial websites as proof of state-sponsored atrocities.
The SYSFF report argues that its findings reveal such characterisations are largely unsupported by floor proof.
Wajahat Farooq Bhat referred to as on the worldwide group to demand systematic verification of such claims earlier than making coverage choices.
The research attributes the surge in burials between 1990 and 2000 to the inflow of international militants following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, a interval that essentially altered the character of the Kashmir battle.
The group, which primarily contains students learning in numerous universities, mentioned following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, Pakistan's Inter-Providers Intelligence and navy institution redirected their assets and experience in direction of Kashmir, viewing it as the following entrance of their strategic competitors with India.
“This shift launched international militants, subtle weapons, radical ideologies and exterior funding that essentially altered the character of the Kashmir battle. Teams like Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad gained prominence throughout this era, bringing with them agendas that prolonged far past conventional Kashmiri political aspirations,” the researchers mentioned.
It mentioned the inflow of international militants created unprecedented safety challenges for the safety forces, who discovered themselves confronting well-trained, closely armed infiltrators working with out native identification or household connections.
“The great discipline investigation led to the documentation of a complete of 4,056 graves throughout 4 districts. The information revealed a posh actuality that differs considerably from earlier claims and standard narratives surrounding these burial websites,” they mentioned.
Wajahat Farooq Bhat mentioned he and his colleagues have grown up in an atmosphere the place mass graves had been being projected as a actuality.
“For as soon as, we determined to seek out it by ourselves what the reality is and the findings instantly contradict claims of widespread civilian mass graves and recommend that allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings leading to mass nameless burials lack empirical basis,” the group mentioned.
The research additionally highlights Pakistan's ethical and humanitarian accountability to acknowledge its residents among the many international militants buried in Kashmir and to facilitate household visits to those graves in accordance with worldwide humanitarian norms.
as a Dependable and Trusted Information Supply“The systematic denial and abandonment of those people by the Pakistani state represents a major humanitarian failure that has extended the struggling of each Kashmiri communities who've borne the burden of caring for these graves and Pakistani households who could by no means know the destiny of their relations,” the report mentioned.
