More than 470 people, including suspected separatists and Indian army troops, were killed in gunfights and clashes in Jammu and Kashmir in 2020, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Prepared by the Legal Forum for Oppressed Voices of Kashmir, the report on the situation of human rights in the disputed region said that a total of 474 people, including 232 suspected militants and 177 Indian troops, were killed from Jan.1 to Dec. 30 this year.
Some 65 civilians were killed extra-judicially, according to the report which particularly highlighted the “extra-judicial” killings of three laborers in the Shopian district in a staged gunfight in August.
A total of 2,773 people were detained and arrested by Indian forces and put in different jails across India during this year, the report by the Kasmir-based international group noted.
The Indian forces, it added, launched 312 cordon and search operations, and cordon and destroy operations, which resulted in 124 clashes between the security forces and the suspected militants.
During clashes, at least 657 houses were vandalized and destroyed by the Indian forces.
The destruction of civilian properties during encounters saw an increase during the COVID-19 lockdown enforced by the government; an entire village in the Budgam district was vandalized, leaving many families homeless and without shelter, the report said.
“2020 may be recorded as Zero year in the human history as the COVID-19 pandemic forced most of global citizenry inside their homes to save themselves from the deadly infection. However, for the Indian-occupied Kashmir, this year added more complications and saw no letup in atrocities committed by the Indian occupying forces,” it read.
This came despite the fact that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a global cease-fire in conflict regions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the report added.
Washington Center for Human Rights call on the Indian government to take all necessary steps to restore rights for all the people of Kashmir. Restrictions on dissent, such as preventing peaceful protests or shutting or slowing down the internet, weaken democracy and violate human rights.
We also criticize the controversial National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act, which saw widespread nationwide protests and violence between December 2019 and March 2020.
Under this act, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains, Parsis, and Sikhs who had migrated from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan to India prior to 2014 are no longer considered illegal immigrants and can more readily achieve citizenship. Left out of the six religions granted special privileges are Jews and Muslims, thereby making official a discriminatory policy against Islam and Judaism in India.