Kashmir: The graveyard of Indian Army has seen over 5,000 soldiers death, reveals official data
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NEW DELHI - Militancy in Jammu and Kashmir has claimed a total of 41,000 lives in the past 27 years which means an average of 4 deaths per day in the state or 1519 casualties every year, according to the latest available government data, Hindustan Times has reported.
The casualties include 14,000 civilians, 5,000 Indian Armed Forces security personnel and 22,000 militants between 1990 and March 2017.
These are the figures of the Indian government however the Kashmiri sources and the independent sources reveal figure at least crossing 10,000 soldiers death with temperory and permanent disablities double than this.
In all, there have been 69,820 militancy-related incidents during the period; that’s like the state witnessing 2586 militancy incidents every year, for which India blames cross border terror from Pakistan.
Addressing the UN general assembly on Saturday, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj called Pakistan a “pre-eminent exporter of terror”. Last week, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in his address had accused India of supporting terrorism and human rights violations in Kashmir. Swaraj had hit back, saying while India was giving the world top-notch doctors and engineers Pakistan was producing terrorists.
Militancy in Kashmir has constantly derailed ties between India and Pakistan. HT looked at the latest available government data to anyalse the deaths and patterns of violence in Kashmir in the past 27 years.
Although not on the same scale as in the 1990s or early 2000s, militancy-related incidents have been increasing after 2014. From 2014 to March this year, there have been 795 militancy-related incidents in which 397 militants were killed while 64 civilians and 178 security personnel lost their lives. Compared to 222 incidents in 2014, there were 322 incidents in 2016. In 2014, 28 civilians and 47 security personnel and 110 militants were killed in these incidents. In 2016, these numbers were 15, 82 and 150.
Strategic affairs expert Commodore C Uday Bhaskar warns that a fertile ecosystem is now fueling militancy.“The elimination of Burhan Wani has increased the sense of alienation among a section of Kashmiri youth. This has created a fertile ecosystem for the anti-India sentiment and ideology to gain strength. Concurrently the inability of the ruling alliance in Srinagar to provide a credible and empathetic political intervention is palpable,” Uday Bhaskar told HT.As per the data, 2001 has been the most volatile year and saw the killing of highest number of militants and security forces. While 2020 militants were gunned down, 536 security personnel 996 civilians were also killed in the year that registered the highest number of 4522 militancy related incidents as well.
But in terms of civilian casualties, 2002 has been the worst with 1008 deaths. Besides 1707 militants, 453 security personnel were also killed that year.
