60% of Kashmir’s ‘unmarked graves’ belong to foreign terrorists: Study

A new study on Kashmir’s “unmarked graves” has revealed that a majority of these are of foreign terrorists killed in counter-insurgency operations, and not of disappeared civilians, as was alleged by certain sections.

The study was conducted by Kashmiri NGO Save Youth Save Future Foundation (SYSFF) over six years and its findings were released in New Delhi. The survey claimed to have covered four conflict-ridden districts of north Kashmir and documented 4,056 graves across 373 graveyards. It found that 2,493 (over 61 per cent) of the graves were of foreign terrorists, mostly Pakistanis, who infiltrated across the border in the 1990s and 2000s. In contrast, only nine graves (0.2 per cent) were confirmed as those of civilians.

“Our report exposes separatists, international advocacy groups and a section of the global media, which have projected the unmarked graves as proof of “mass killing” of innocents by security forces. The study is a step towards transparency and aims to promote peace,” said SYSFF chairman Wajahat Farooq Bhat.