Indian forces’ personnel in their continued acts of state terrorism have martyred 2,062 Kashmiris, including 337 in fake encounters and custody, since the extrajudicial killing of popular Kashmiri youth leader, Burhan Muzaffar Wani on July 8, 2016, in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).According to the data issued by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service, today, these killings have rendered 166 women widowed and 413 children orphaned. 

Additionally, the report said, at least 41,242 Kashmiris including Hurriyat leaders, youth, journalists, ulema and human rights activists were arrested while 30,112 people injured due to the use of lethal and non-lethal force including bullets, pellets, and teargas shells by Indian military, paramilitary and police against peaceful demonstrators and mourners in the occupied territory.

Burhan Wani was martyred along with his two associates by Indian troops in a fake encounter in the Kokernag area of Islamabad district on this day in 2016. His extrajudicial killing sparked a mass uprising across the occupied territory, during which Indian troops martyred over 150 innocent Kashmiris in the ensuing few months by Indian forces. 

Several international organizations, including the United Nations, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, have raised alarms over excessive use of force, communication blackouts, and legal impunity for Indian forces in the disputed territory.The August 2019 revocation of Articles 370 and 35A further intensified the situation, ending occupied Jammu & Kashmir’s special status and sparking further detentions and unrest in the territory.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)