'Kashmiri body bags sell well in India for gaining votes'

Fighting in the disputed territory of Kashmir has intensified since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 amid rising attacks by Hindu hardliners against minorities in the country, further deepening frustration with New Delhi's rule in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Violence has spiked in the past 18 months as Indian troops have cracked down on local militants, prompting the militants to seek shelter among the civilian population. In response, Indian troops have destroyed many of the houses used to harbour the fighters.

Manzoor Ahmad, a 55-year-old military veteran, invested his life's savings of about US$70,000 in constructing a house after retiring in 2012. Last September, militants came to his house and sought shelter. Security forces became aware and Ahmad's family was asked to leave in the dead of the night. A fierce gunfight ensued and by morning, the three-storey house had been reduced to rubble. As a result, Ahmad's family of five were until recently living in a makeshift shelter with a tin roof, even as temperatures began to plummet below zero. Ahmad is in jail for allegedly giving shelter to the militants.

Manzoor Ahmad's house was brought down by security forces. Photo: Sameer Mushtaq

"We had been cooking and sleeping in this until recently when temperatures came down in Kashmir, after which our relatives insisted we sleep in their house," said Aadil Ahmad, Manzoor's son. "So we go during the night and return in the morning. People came after the encounter. They donated money, but that's too little to build a new house."

Kashmir has known little other than conflict since 1947, when India and Pakistan gained independence but were unable to resolve their rival claims on the mountain territory. Since then, the arch-rivals have fought two wars over those claims. On the ground, there is a common resentment of India in Kashmir as a violent occupying force.

India has long treated the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination as Islamabad's proxy war against New Delhi, responding to public protest with disproportionate force, critics say.

The United Nations has called for an independent international investigation into reports of rape, torture and extrajudicial killings in Kashmir. In a June report, the UN particularly criticised Indian troops for firing shotgun pellets at protesters, blinding and injuring hundreds of people, including children. India's Foreign Ministry dismissed the report as "fallacious".

Anti-India unrest has been on the rise since a charismatic rebel leader, Burhaan Wani, was killed in a 2016 gun battle with Indian troops in southern Kashmir. Police say since then, hundreds of young Kashmiris have joined rebel groups, leading to a surge in attacks on government troops and pro-India Kashmiri politicians in the region, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety.

Indian authorities have responded by stepping up anti-rebel operations and cracking down on civilian protests, often responding to stone-pelting with live bullets.

"Young people feel frustrated and pushed to the wall," said Khurram Parvez, a programme coordinator for the Jammu-Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society. "They feel the only way by which the government of India is going to listen to them is by coming out and joining militancy."

A Kashmiri militant shoots a machine gun in the air during the funeral procession for a slain commander. photo: AFP

The crackdown succeeded in killing many senior commanders but the militants have continued to resist, blending in with the residents and seeking shelter in their midst. It also ensured 2018 was the deadliest year in Kashmir for a decade. Conflict observers say last year's death toll was the highest since 2009, including at least 260 militants, 160 civilians and 150 government forces, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society.

"The killing of 267 militants during encounters with armed forces and police is also the highest in the last decade," the group said in its annual report. "In fact, there has been a marked uptick in militant killings since 2016."

Parvez said the crackdown by the Indian military had been disproportionate.

"The tactics used by armed forces during encounters and burning of civilian property is disproportionate and illegal and constitutes an international war crime," Parvez said. "Such acts have been frequent and are committed as an act of collective punishment against the civilian population.

"We have to understand that collective punishment as a form of war tactic has been used by the Indian armed forces right from the 1990s and it is nothing new."

Noor Ahmad Baba, a Kashmiri political scientist, said the violence appeared destined to continue.

"There seems to be no end to the violence in Kashmir especially for the past few years," he said. "People don't see empathy among the political leaders. This has worsened the situation and this will continue until any concrete solution is found."

A member of Jammu and Kashmir police interrogates local boys. Photo: AP

Sameer Patil, a security analyst with Mumbai think tank Gateway House, suggested that although the violence in Kashmir has reached a crescendo, there may be worse to come.

"India is not going to reduce the momentum of the counter-insurgency operations as it believes it is in control of the security situation," Patil said. "Moreover, New Delhi is acutely mindful of Pakistan's involvement in propping up militancy."

Indeed, Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharitya Janata Party-led government has toughened its stance against both Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists with policies that experts say are intended to project the BJP as strong and uncompromising.

"Unfortunately, Kashmiri body bags and anti-Pakistan rhetoric sells well in India for gaining votes," Parvez said. "That's exactly what Modi's party is doing."

None of that, however, will help the families left homeless " or those who have lost loved ones " by violent clashes unlikely to subside any time soon.

Additional reporting by Associated Press

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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