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southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/143578/1/2314-17k
41,000 killed in J&K since 1989
India said that the death toll from 17 years of separatist fighting in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) stands at just over 41,000, while separatists and human rights groups claimed the figure was far higher.
According to police records: 16,231 civilians; 4,984 members of Indian security forces; and 19,966 militants have died since the insurgency began in the disputed territory in 1989.
One senior Indian police officer, who did not wish to be identified, said that the death toll of 41,181 had been tallied up to Oct 31 of this year. ââ¬ÅThe figure does not include those who died on inaccessible snow-clad mountains while crossing over to Azad Kashmir or while returning after receiving arms training,ââ¬Â he told Reuters. The figure also does not include missing people. In 2004, then chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti Mohammad Syed, had put the number of people missing as a direct result of the conflict at 3,700. Local human rights group, the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS), put the death toll much higher, estimating that more than 50,000 people had died and more than 10,000 had disappeared since the armed insurgency against Indian rule.
ââ¬ÅThese figures are based on daily newspaper reports ââ¬â we completely disagree with the government figures,ââ¬Â said JKCCS coordinator, Khuram Parvez. ââ¬ÅWe have already started a door-to-door survey in (Indian-held) Kashmir to compile the list of total deaths. Thousands of Kashmiris remain unaccounted for,ââ¬Â he added.
The leading separatist group in IHK, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), said that more than 100,000 people have died in the region in insurgency-related violence.
Meanwhile, leader of the hardline Hurriyat faction, and former APHC chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani said: ââ¬ÅWhen one of our study groups started work to compile the death toll, they were jailed.ââ¬Â
He said that ââ¬ÅKashmirââ¬â¢s death toll will remain a big unanswered question as long as India does not allow our workers, human rights groups to work freely.ââ¬Â
International human rights groups have accused the Indian army of systematic abuses in IHK over the years, but the military insists that it punishes anyone found guilty of abuse.
Officials say that violence involving Indian security forces and separatist militants has been falling since India and Pakistan launched a peace process in 2004.
But an average of between four and six people a day are still being killed in regular gun battles and occasional bomb blasts across the mountainous region.
