North Kashmir’s unmarked graves
Srinagar: A new field study has challenged the long-standing “mass grave” narrative in north Kashmir, concluding that more than 90 per cent of the 4,056 unmarked graves investigated belong to foreign and local terrorists.
The report, titled ‘Unravelling the Truth: A Critical Study of Unmarked and Unidentified Graves in Kashmir Valley’, is based on the study conducted by the Kashmir-based NGO Save Youth Save Future Foundation (SYSFF).
Researchers led by Wajahat Farooq Bhat, Zahid Sultan, Irshad Ahmed Bhat, Anika Nazir, Muddasir Ahmed Dar and Shabir Ahmed physically inspected and documented 373 graveyards across the border districts of Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora in north Kashmir and Ganderbal in central Kashmir.
“The organisation, which is funded by people, started this project in 2018 and completed the groundwork in 2024. After that, we were preparing the report for submitting to various government offices. The report can stand testimony to counter any narrative that is being dictated from across the border to spread panic in the Kashmir valley,” Wajahat Farooq Bhat said.
Using a rigorous methodology that included GPS tagging, photographic documentation, oral testimonies and an analysis of official records, the study aimed to provide evidence rather than relying on unverified accounts.
The research team documented a total of 4,056 graves, with the data revealing a reality that differs significantly from previous claims made by groups having vested interests, according to the researchers.
As many as 2,493 graves (approximately 61.5 per cent) were identified as belonging to foreign terrorists who were killed in counter-insurgency operations, the report stated.
It noted that these individuals often lacked identification to conceal their networks and maintain Pakistan’s plausible deniability.
Around 1,208 graves (approximately 29.8 per cent) belonged to local militants from Kashmir who were killed in encounters with security forces. Many of these graves were identified through community testimonies and family acknowledgements.
The researchers found only nine confirmed civilian graves, a mere 0.2 per cent of the total.
This finding, according to the SYSFF, directly contradicts the claims of civilian mass graves and suggests that allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings have been “significantly overstated”.
The study also identified 70 graves of tribal invaders who died during the 1947 Kashmir war, highlighting the historical depth of conflict-related burials in the region.
Bhat emphasised the need for a comprehensive forensic investigation of the 276 genuinely unmarked graves using modern DNA testing to address humanitarian concerns.
It said the field investigation community engagement formed a crucial component of the research methodology, involving semi-structured interviews with a diverse cross-section of stakeholders. These include local clerics and members of Auqaf mosque committees, gravediggers with decades of experience, families of local militants and disappeared persons, long-term residents with knowledge of local burial practices and former militants who had surrendered or were released.
This report debunks the claims of certain advocacy groups and international organisations that have portrayed these burial sites as evidence of state-sponsored atrocities.
The SYSFF report argues that its findings reveal such characterisations are largely unsupported by ground evidence.
Wajahat Farooq Bhat called on the international community to demand systematic verification of such claims before making policy decisions.
The study attributes the surge in burials between 1990 and 2000 to the influx of foreign militants following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, a period that fundamentally altered the nature of the Kashmir conflict.
The group, which mainly comprises scholars studying in various universities, said that following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and military establishment redirected their resources and expertise towards Kashmir, viewing it as the next front in their strategic competition with India.
“This shift introduced foreign militants, sophisticated weapons, radical ideologies and external funding that fundamentally altered the character of the Kashmir conflict. Groups like Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad gained prominence during this period, bringing with them agendas that extended far beyond traditional Kashmiri political aspirations,” the researchers said.
It said the influx of foreign militants created unprecedented security challenges for the security forces, who found themselves confronting well-trained, heavily armed infiltrators operating without local identification or family connections.
“The comprehensive field investigation led to the documentation of a total of 4,056 graves across four districts. The data revealed a complex reality that differs substantially from earlier claims and popular narratives surrounding these burial sites,” they said.
Wajahat Farooq Bhat said he and his colleagues grew up in an environment where mass graves were being projected as a reality.
“For once, we decided to find it by ourselves what the truth is and the findings directly contradict claims of widespread civilian mass graves and suggest that allegations of systematic extrajudicial killings resulting in mass anonymous burials lack empirical foundation,” the group said.
The study also highlights Pakistan’s moral and humanitarian responsibility to acknowledge its citizens among the foreign militants buried in Kashmir and to facilitate family visits to these graves in accordance with international humanitarian norms.
“The systematic denial and abandonment of these individuals by the Pakistani state represents a significant humanitarian failure that has prolonged the suffering of both Kashmiri communities who have borne the burden of caring for these graves and Pakistani families who may never know the fate of their relatives,” the report said.
Srinagar: Internal fissures are growing in the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) outfit in Jammu and Kashmir as a group headed by old guard stalwart Ghulam Mohammed Bhat is trying to capture the organisation, according to officials here.
Bhat, once responsible for marginalising hardliners such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani, is once again coming forward with the support of 35 members of the influential 40-member ‘Shoora’ (advisory council) of the organisation.
The move is being interpreted by analysts as a strategic effort by the proscribed outfit, which is operating covertly, to enter into serious negotiations with the government to lift the five-year ban, which was recently extended.
The entry of Bhat in the scene has been disturbing for vested interests across the border, as he has in the past also distanced the Jamaat from the banned terror group Hizbul Mujahideen, an outfit used by Pakistan’s ISI to project that terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is indigenous.
The government accuses the Jamaat of engaging in activities against “the security, integrity, and sovereignty of the nation” and of having ties to militant groups and separatist activities.
Bhat came into the limelight for the first time in 1999 when, as the head of JeI, he distanced the organisation officially from terrorism.
This move, however, created a deep divide in the organisation, resulting in the emergence of Tehreek-i-Hurriyat (TeH) in 2003 by hardliners such as Syed Ali Geelani and Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai who quit the JeI.
The present internal struggle is understood to have started when a group headed by Ghulam Qadir Wani and Ghulam Qadir War made the decision to contest the parliamentary elections on the Justice and Development Front (JDF) ticket.
After their loss, pressure was brought upon them to step down, and most of the Shoora opposed them.
This led to Bhat, along with Mohammed Abdullah Wani and Sheikh Hasan, publicly distancing themselves from the JDF faction and forming an interim setup with the support of the majority of the Shoora, dismissing the ten district chiefs who had supported the Wani-led faction.
The faction has established a new centre of power within the proscribed organisation, which is eager to negotiate with authorities to have the ban lifted, according to sources.
The People’s Alliance for Change (PAC), created in June by People Conference leader and MLA Sajad Lone with PDF and JDF, seems to be anchored on a weak foundation, with critics doubting its efficacy in inflicting a meaningful dent on the political landscape.
The coalition, comprising Lone’s People’s Conference, Hakim Yasin’s People’s Democratic Front (PDF) and JDF, was initiated with the agenda to present a consolidated front to “drive change” among the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Yet, the legitimacy of the PAC is under threat because of the seeming frailty of the JDF. As sources indicate, the JDF was compelled to change its name following opposition from the core Jamaat cadre, a sign of profound internal divisions and absence of broad-based support that it would need to be an effective ally in a new political coalition.
The decision of some of the Jamaat members to fight the 2024 assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir was seen as a major milestone in the ideological journey of the socio-politico-religious organisation, which was seen as a contributor to past destruction in the state.
However, political analysts believe that the expression of electoral ambitions mirrors the crisis that the outfit has been facing since 2019, when the Union government tightened the strings on separatist groups and their sympathisers, including Jamaat.
Some in Kashmir believed that after remaining in political wilderness for more than three decades, the decision of some of the Jamaat members to contest could change the contours of the conflict but they could not make any dent in the electoral game and many of them lost their deposits.
With the change in guard, it is expected that a comprehensive road map would be adopted in case the Jamaat decides to test the electoral waters yet again in the Union territory.
In the past, Jamaat got some political space when People’s Democratic Party (PDP) founder Mufti Mohammad Sayeed formed a coalition government with the Congress in 2002.
Under Sayeed’s rule, the outfit reopened its offices, schools, libraries and charity organisations which continued till February 2019 when it was banned by the Centre under the stringent UAPA.
