Pro-Independence Alliance: 350 Killed in Kashmir in 2021

Date: 01 January 2022 - 21:41

News ID: ۹۸۴۱۴

ISLAMABAD (Anadolu) – In 2021, over 350 people, including civilians, militants and Indian forces personnel, were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir, while 1,600 Kashmiris were arrested, a top Kashmiri pro-independence alliance said in a report.
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an alliance of 26 political, social and religious organizations formed in 1993 that has led political resistance to Indian rule, said Indian forces this year also destroyed homes of 134 Kashmiris.
“This year total 355 people were killed, among them 49 were civilians, 178 armed fighters, and 128 Indian occupying forces,” the APHC stated in its annual report, adding that 484 people were injured.
Syed Ali Geelani, the conference’s lifetime chief before stepping down earlier this year, was one of the deceased. Geelani died in September while under house arrest at his home in Hyderpora.
According to the report, the death of Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai, the slain chief of the pro-independence party Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, who died in police custody this May, was an “extrajudicial killing”.
During the same period, Indian forces conducted 467 cordon and search operations, 87 gunfights, and arrested 1,686 Kashmiris.
According to the report, 29 Indian soldiers committed suicide in various parts of Indian-administered Kashmir in 2021.
India is attempting to change the demographics of Kashmir by issuing fake domiciles to non-Kashmiris, said Abdul Majeed Mir, the group’s secretary general, based in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.
India blocked internet access in Jammu and Kashmir 122 times, the report added.
Amnesty International has criticized India for its widespread use of the two laws against Kashmiris, including journalists.
In a separate report, the Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK), a global Kashmir advocacy group, claimed that over the last two years “Indian forces buried 388 freedom fighters in unmarked graves in remote areas and denied their families the right to participate in their burial rites.”

Dozen Killed in Stampede

In a new development, at least 12 people died and 13 were injured in a stampede at a religious shrine in India during Saturday’s early hours as pilgrims gathered to offer new-year prayers, officials said.
The disaster happened at the Mata Vaishno Devi in Indian-administered Kashmir, one of the most revered Hindu shrines in northern India.
Before the pandemic, about 100,000 devotees would visit the site every day, but authorities have capped the daily number at 25,000.
“At least 12 people lost their lives and 13 are injured,” one senior government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“The toll could be higher as the route to the hilltop shrine was packed with devotees trying to do the customary new-year visit and prayers,” he said.