A Timeline of Oppression and Resistance
March 28, 2024
On 28th March, prominent Kashmiri socio-religious leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was placed under illegal house arrest by India. Mirwaiz was put under house arrest by the police ahead of his sermon that he was scheduled to deliver at a prominent mosque in Srinagar, known as Aali Masjid. Mirwaiz was released from prolonged illegal house arrest…
March 27, 2024
On 27th March, a man was arrested and booked for uploading posts on social media in Pulwama district of Kashmir valley. A Kashmiri social media user, namely Sameer Ahmed, was detained for a post he made on Facebook. In the post, he had stated that a Kashmiri boy from his area had decided to join…
March 16, 2024
On March 16th, the Hindu-nationalist Modi Government declared Kashmiri pro-freedom leader Yasin Malik’s nonviolent and political group, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), as an ‘Unlawful Association’ for a further period of five years. “The banned outfit continues to engage in activities that foment terror and secessionism in Jammu and Kashmir. Anyone found challenging the…
March 13, 2024
On 13th March, the BJP-led Indian government banned a non-violent pro-freedom political party, Jammu Kashmir National Front (JKNF), led by incarcerated pro-freedom leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan. The government declared Jammu and Kashmir National Front as an “Unlawful Association”, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), thereby criminalizing its activities and legitimizing the detention of its…
March 9, 2024
On 9th March, an elderly man was killed after being crushed to death by an Indian armed forces’ vehicle in Gulshan Chowk area of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. According to locals, the vehicle deliberately trampled the elderly man. The vehicle was not moving when the elderly man began crossing the road, at which point the…
March 7, 2024
On March 7th, Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kashmir on his first visit to the valley after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Ahead of his arrival, the Hindu nationalist administration installed Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) flags throughout the valley. Srinagar was transformed virtually into a military colony, with an army…
February 29, 2024
On 29th February, the Home Ministry of India declared both factions of Muslim Conference, a nonviolent pro-freedom political organization in the Kashmir valley, headed by activists Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat and Ghulam Nabi Sumji respectively, as unlawful associations under the infamous Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. According to the notification of the Home Ministry, the Muslim…
February 29, 2024
A Kashmiri Journalist Asif Sultan was released on 29th February from a district jail in Uttar Pradesh, after spending more than five years in detention. Around 78 days after the Jammu and Kashmir High Court quashed the detention order under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA), the journalist had finally walked out of the jail. …
February 12, 2024
Jammu and Kashmir Police announced rewards to the persons for sharing information regarding pro-Kashmiri self-determination activities on February 12th. The police issued a long list of monetary rewards for “informants” whose information leads to the arrest of pro-freedom Kashmiris. For example, a reward of 100,000 rupees has been announced for an individual who gives information…
February 9, 2024
On February 9th, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief Muslim preacher of Kashmir, was placed under house detention in order to prevent him from leading prayers at the prominent Jamia mosque in Srinagar. The detention was deeply hurtful for the Muslim population of Srinagar as Mirwaiz was supposed to give a special sermon on the occasion…
February 7, 2024
The State Investigation Agency carried out a raid at the residence of religious preacher and cleric Sarjan Barkati in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on February 7th. Barkati is a religious preacher who has been incarcerated for his involvement in Kashmiri right to self-determination movement. In September, 2022, India arrested Barkati and he has been under…
January 30, 2024
On January 30th, the Hindu-nationalist administration of Jammu and Kashmir ordered renaming of 33 educational institutions, including schools and colleges, and roads after the names of members of Indian occupying forces and and other pro-India personalities of Jammu and Kashmir. The same occupying forces have persistently violated the human rights of Kashmiris and committed war…
January 29, 2024
On January 29th, police seized the residential house of a Kashmiri civilian who allegedly provided shelter to a Kashmiri freedom fighter in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district. In a statement, the police stated that it seized the residential house of a Kashmiri civilian, Mohammad Ramzan Mir, a resident of Budgam district. He was accused of supporting…
January 29, 2024
On January 29th, two Kashmiri civilians were booked under stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) and incarcerated in Central Jail Kot-Bhalwal jail Jammu for so-called ‘anti-India’ activities. The two civilians, named Fayaz Ahmed and Safeer Ahmed, have been sent to a prison miles away from their home. Speaking to us on the condition of anonymity, one…
January 26, 2024
A student hailing from the Poonch area of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and pursuing bachelors of Pharmacy at Mewar University, Rajasthan, was arrested by the Rajasthan police for commenting on the demolished Babri Masjid and the construction of the Ram temple on the mosque site. The arrest took place on January 26, following official sources’…
January 25, 2024
On January 25th, Jammu and Kashmir Police in the Reasi area of occupied Jammu and Kashmir registered two cases and booked three persons, who were arrested for allegedly posting “objectionable” posts on social media platforms. India has consistently detained and intimidated Kashmiris for their social media use. In June 2023, State Investigation Agency of India…
January 15, 2024
On January 15th, Jammu and Kashmir’s Hindu-nationalist Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha stated that the Jammu and Kashmir administration has allocated land in Kashmir for the construction of Sainik Colonies (Army Colonies) to accommodate families of Indian occupying armed forces personnel. With the recent changes to provide “domicile” to Indians in Kashmir, India is systematically attempting…
January 7, 2024
On January 7th, the Jammu and Kashmir Hindu-nationalist administration, led by Manoj Sinha, decided to enter a 40-year power deal with Rajasthan, further depleting the occupied region’s resources despite its chronic power deficiency. India has always eyed Kashmir’s water resources and its capabilities to generate electricity for the rest of India, while intentionally depriving Kashmir…
January 1, 2024
On 1st January, India banned a pro-freedom amalgam of organizations, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat (TeH), for its advocacy and struggle for Kashmiri right to self-determination. The amalgam was banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, which has been systematically used by India to repress Kashmiri calls for self-determination and human rights. The leaders of the amalgam are already…
December 22, 2023
On 22nd December, Indian army illegally detained at least eight Kashmiri civilians for questioning and interrogation, a day after pro-freedom rebels fighting against Indian rule ambushed two army vehicles in the southern Poonch district, killing four soldiers and wounding three others. Locals state that the army personnel tortured three of the detainees to death in…
December 15, 2023
On December 15th, Friday prayers in Kashmir’s main mosque, Jamia mosque in Srinagar, were disallowed for the 10th consecutive week in a row. The leader of the mosque and Kashmir’s prominent cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was also placed under house-detention on Friday. He was not allowed to leave his home to lead the prayers. Hundreds…
December 11, 2023
On December 11th, India’s right-wing extremist Home Minister, Amit Shah, stated that those in Kashmir who have a history of pro-freedom activism and any sorts of links with the self-determination movement will not be allowed any jobs or employment. India has systematically removed, and continues to, all those Kashmiri employees who are found to have…
December 9, 2023
On 9th December, India arrested around 12 Kashmiris for allegedly uploading provocative content on social media. Around 4 Kashmiris were arrested from Kashmir’s Islamabad district, 2 from Budgam district, 2 from Ganderbal district, 1 from Baramulla district, and about 3 civilians from Shopian, Kulgam, and Pulwama districts. The families of 3 of the detainees, speaking…
December 6, 2023
On December 6th, Jammu and Kashmir police seized a residential land belonging to a Kashmiri family in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. The land belonged to the family of a Kashmiri pro-freedom activist, Irfan Ahmad Bhat. The land was seized under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and identified as “proceeds of militancy”. India has used…
November 25, 2023
On 25th November, India’s State Investigation Agency (SIA) arrested Shabroza Bano, wife of Sarjan Ahmad Barkati, under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Barkati is a religious preacher who has been incarcerated for his involvement in Kashmiri right to self-determination movement. In September, last year, India arrested Barkati and he has been under arbitrary detention…
November 22, 2023
On November 22nd, India ordered termination of four Kashmiri Muslim employees for their “anti-India” and pro self-determination views. The employees have been terminated from work by India by invoking 311 (2) (c) of the Constitution of India – which empowers it to do so without an inquiry. Among the terminated employees include Dr. Nissar-ul-Hassan, a…
November 14, 2023
On November 14th, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India confiscated two apple orchards and a residential house along with a property of land in two villages of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The properties were seized under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), as the owners were accused of providing support to and being sympathetic…
November 7, 2023
On November 7th, India suspended the internet in parts of Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir for “security reasons”. The Telecom Service Providers were instructed to shut down internet services in areas of south Kashmir by Vijay Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Kashmir Zone. The ADGP, justifying the ban on the internet, stated…
November 6, 2023
On November 6th, in a report by Hindustan Times, it was revealed that the Indian government in Kashmir, led by lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, has expelled 55 Kashmiri Muslim employees from their employment for allegedly espousing pro-freedom views and promoting the right to self-determination movement. The expulsions were undertaken after the abrogation of occupied Jammu…
November 4, 2023
On November 4th, Jammu and Kashmir Police introduced GPS tracker anklets to monitor and surveil people who have been granted bail. This is the first time the anklet has been used by India in any case. The first person who this technology has been used against is a Kashmiri political prisoner, Ghulam Muhammad Bhat, who…
October 27, 2023
On October 27th, Friday prayers were disallowed by India at the main mosque of Srinagar, Kashmir, Jamia mosque, as gates of the mosque were locked. This was the third consecutive Friday when Kashmiri Muslim worshippers were denied their basic religious freedoms. October 27th is considered as “Black Day” in Kashmir widely, as this was the…
October 20, 2023
On 20th October, India disallowed the Friday congregational prayers at the historic Jamia mosque in Srinagar. This was the second consecutive Friday in the month of October when the prayers were disallowed at the mosque. The mosque was locked up by government officials and a heavy military presence was kept throughout the mosque. Hundreds of…
October 13, 2023
On October 13, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was recently released from a four-year house-detention, was placed under detention again. India did not allow him to leave his home on Friday to lead the congregational prayers in Kashmir’s grand mosque. Moreover, the Friday congregational prayers were not allowed at all at the mosque. A spokesman of…
October 10, 2023
On October 10, India demolished a building of Darul Uloom (Islamic seminary) in a village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. According to a government official, the action was taken on the recommendations of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). NIA has been leading the illegal crackdown against the Kashmiri self-determination movement by detaining all dissenters and…
October 6, 2023
On October 6th, India declared Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP), a pro-freedom organization headed by prominent leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, as an “unlawful association”, thereby banning it. The ban is set for five years. In the recent past, India has similarly banned socio-political organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front…
September 25, 2023
On 25th September, reports emerged that social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) have allegedly provided access to the Jammu and Kashmir Police, allowing them to track individuals or entities deemed as “anti-national” who use these platforms. “Anti-national” is the category that India deploys to classify any and all expressions of advocacy…
September 25, 2023
On 25th September, in a report by Reuters, a high government official announced that India will auction Jammu and Kashmir’s lithium reserves over the next few weeks. India has been seeking ways to procure supplies of lithium, a critical raw material that is used in the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries. In February, it discovered…
September 24, 2023
On 24th September, family members of a Kashmiri female political prisoner informed us that 34-year-old Fehmeeda Sofi is bedridden and has been rendered completely immobile due to a severe back and spinal problem. Fehmeeda Sofi has been facing severe hardships during her more than 8 years of intermittent detention. She has been subjected to repeated…
September 23, 2023
On 23rd September, the Jammu and Kashmir police illegally arrested ten Kashmiri boys for allegedly disrupting the ‘peace’ outside Jamia mosque in Srinagar. The boys had raised pro-freedom slogans after Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, a prominent political and religious Kashmiri leader, was allowed to attend Friday prayers in the historic Jamia mosque after four long years…
September 21, 2023
On 21st September, the Jammu and Kashmir Police illegally detained a Kashmiri Facebook user, accusing him of “promoting anti-national activities”. The detained Kashmiri lived in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Ashiq Ahmed Khan, the detained Kashmiri, ran a Facebook page by the name of Pulwama News. On his Facebook page, he was covering a gunfight that…
September 15, 2023
On 15th September, Kashmiri Muslim students were severely attacked at Desh Bhagat University in Punjab during their peaceful protest against the university’s move to illegally transfer their admissions to a college that lacks accreditation. Around 70 Kashmiri students were being illegally transferred, despite being in their third year of study already. One of the students…
September 5, 2023
On 5th September, India lifted additional duties on approximately half a dozen American products, such as chickpeas, lentils and apples, walnuts in shells and almonds fresh or dried. It is important to remember that Kashmir’s apple, walnut, and almond growers are facing a significant challenge with the recent decision by the Indian government to lift…
August 19, 2023
On August 19th, India “blocked” the website and social media handles of a Srinagar-based independent news outlet The Kashmir Walla. “When we contacted our server provider to ask why thekashmirwalla.com was inaccessible, they informed us that our website has been blocked in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the IT Act,…
August 19, 2023
On August 19th, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out raids against pro-freedom activists in Kashmir at three locations. During the raids, they detained a teenage boy and his father from the Kupwara area of Kashmir. The 19-year-old boy, Mehrajudin Sofi, and his father, Ghulam Mohammad Sofi, were taken into custody by the NIA during…
August 16, 2023
On 16th August, four Kashmiri Muslim students of the Law Department of Amity University in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, were assaulted and beaten by locals. The family members of the assaulted students see the incident as a hate-crime, as Kashmiri Muslim students have faced attacks in different states of India in the past as well. The…
August 10, 2023
On 10th August, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir upheld the illegal and arbitrary detention of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Abdul Hameed Ganie alias Dr. Hameed Fayaz. Ganie has been booked under the notorious Public Safety Act, and he has been behind bars since 2019. Ganie has been incarcerated in Kathua jail, which is hundreds of…
August 1, 2023
On 1st August, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India, which has led the crackdown against human rights defenders and pro-freedom activists in Kashmir, raided multiple locations in Kashmir including the residence of Advocate Parvez Imroz. Imroz is a prominent human rights defender who has been awarded with Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize and also…
August 1, 2023
On 1st August, Indian authorities in Kashmir ordered the hoisting of the Indian flag on all educational institutions for the forthcoming Indian Independence Day (August 15th). Like last year, the Chief Education Officer has issued orders to numerous schools in Kashmir, asking them to ensure that all members of the school, including students, teachers and…
August 1, 2023
On 1st August, in a story by The Wire, it was reported that India suspended the passports of Kashmiri journalists and at least one political activist in Kashmir, terming them “security threats to India”. Citing section 10(3) of The Passports Act, 1967, the Regional Passport Office in Srinagar has conveyed notices to at least two…
July 26, 2023
On 26th July, family members of three Kashmiri female political prisoners reached out to us, informing us that their incarcerated loved ones have been separated from each other and shifted to different wards. Asiya Andrabi, Nahida Nasreen, and Sofi Fehmeeda have been in jail since 2017 for their participation in the Kashmiri self-determination movement. The…
July 19, 2023
On 19th July, media reports raised an alarm as India is likely to remove globally appreciated literature of Kashmiri writer Agha Shahid Ali and novelist Basharat Peer’s Curfewed Night from the curriculum at University of Kashmir. In a report by The Wire, The University of Kashmir (UoK), the Valley’s foremost higher-educational institution, has removed three…
July 17, 2023
On 17th July, India terminated three Kashmiri Muslim government employees for having their support for the Kashmiri freedom struggle. India accuses the employees of having “links” with “militant outfits”, an accusation that the family members of the employees vehemently deny. India has for long punished Kashmiri civilians for their alleged links with pro-freedom organizations, even…
July 14, 2023
On 14th July, India booked a member of pro-freedom socio-political organization, Hurriyat Conference, under lawless Public Safety Act (PSA) in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. Ameer Hamza was accused by the Jammu and Kashmir police of being involved in “anti-national” activities, a juridical category that state deploys to criminalize any and all calls for Kashmir’s right…
July 9, 2023
On 9th July, Indian authorities in Srinagar raided a hotel and arrested 10 Kashmiri political activists who advocate Kashmir’s right to self-determination. The activists, non-violent and dissident, had gathered to informally discuss the Kashmiri movement for freedom and its future. The police claim that the activists sought to “revive” two pro-freedom political organizations that India…
June 30, 2023
On 30th June, Indian government approved suspension of mobile internet services in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir “in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State and for maintaining public order.” The language of national security has often been invoked to deny Kashmiris the right to express themselves on…
June 28, 2023
On 28th June, India disallowed Eid prayers at the historical Eidgah (biggest Eid congregational place) at Srinagar. The local mosque committee said that it had announced that Eid prayers will be held at Eidgah, however, the Indian authorities disallowed it and increased militarization to prevent people from reaching Eidgah. The Chief Sermonizer of Kashmir, Mirwaiz…
June 24, 2023
On 24th June, India jailed three Kashmiri civilians under the lawless Public Safety Act after labeling them as supporters of Kashmiri pro self-determination groups. The police spokesman identified the three civilians as Umer Ahmad Ganaie, Aftab Hussain Dar, and Hilal Ahmad Khan. While India accuses them of supporting “militancy”, it is interesting to note that…
June 24, 2023
On the intervening night of June 23rd and June 24th, Indian armed forces forced Kashmiri Muslim villagers in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district to chant the Hindu ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogan inside a mosque. In a report by The Wire, locals state that a group of soldiers from the Army’s 50 Rashtriya Rifles first arrived in…
June 22, 2023
On 22nd June, India expelled from employment two Kashmiri doctors who were part of the team who conducted the post-mortem of the infamous rape and murder of Asiya and Neelofar, two Kashmiri civilian women, by Indian army personnel in May 2009 in Shopian area of Kashmir, and released a report thereafter that had incriminated the…
June 20, 2023
On 20th June, State Investigation Agency of India conducted midnight raids at many locations in four districts of occupied Kashmir, namely Srinagar, Islamabad (also known in state nomenclature as Anantnag), Pulwama and Kupwara. According to the police, the social media users who were “promoting secessionist agenda” were targeted in the raid. India calls all calls…
June 17, 2023
On 17th June, five freedom fighters were killed in a gunfight with Indian occupation forces in northern Kashmir’s Kupwara district. Additional Director General of Kashmir Police Vijay Kumar held that those killed were foreign “militants”. The Indian state has for long labeled native freedom fighters in Kashmir as Pakistan proxies, in order to delegitimize their…
June 17, 2023
On 17th June, India further augmented its military presence in Kashmir with the bringing in of 85 new military squads. The military official stated that the increased militarization is being done to ensure safety for Indian Hindu pilgrims during the Amarnath Yatra. India has used Amarnath Yatra as a stick with which to beat Kashmiri…
June 14, 2023
On 14th June, a special Indian court dismissed an application submitted by People Democratic Party’s (PDP) youth leader, Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, in which he sought permission to travel to the United States of America (USA) to pursue a 3-month Peace Fellowship Programme at Yale University. Parra was previously detained for a prolonged period, under the lawless Unlawful…
June 14, 2023
On 14th June, a Delhi Court extended illegal and arbitrary detention of human rights activist Khurram Parvez and Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj for 45 more days. Khurram Parvez has been behind bars for over two years now, for his human-rights violations documentation work, while Irfan Mehraj was arrested by India in March this year for…
June 13, 2023
On 13th June, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) seized the property of incarcerated pro-freedom Kashmiri leader, Ayaz Akbar, at Shalteng area of Srinagar. Ayaz Akbar has been under illegal detention for the past 6 years for his participation in Kashmiri right to self-determination movement. The property was not owned by Ayaz Akbar, but instead his…
June 8, 2023
On 8th June, students of Vishwa Bharati Higher Secondary School in Srinagar’s Rainawari area held a protest against the school authorities on not being allowed to enter the premises wearing ‘Abaya’, an apparel Muslim women wear to cover themselves. As reported by Free Press Kashmir, one of the protesting students said that they were not…
June 7, 2023
On 7th June, Maulana Rehmatullah Qasmi, the rector of the renowned Islamic seminary in Kashmir, known as Darul Uloom Raheemiya, was summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of India for interrogation. He visited the Agency’s office on the same day for the interrogation. The summoning is part of India’s systematic crackdown on religious scholars…
May 29, 2023
On 29th May, the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of Jammu and Kashmir police confiscated approximately 20 shops in the Kupwara district of north Kashmir. Acting on the orders of the district magistrate, the SIA took action to seal the shops, which were identified as part of a shopping complex owned by the socio-religious welfare organization…
May 26, 2023
On 26th May, four civilians of Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district were booked under the lawless Public Safety Act (PSA) for their “anti-national” activities, India’s euphemism for participation in the Kashmiri right to self-determination movement. The civilians were subsequently detained and lodged in Kot-Bhalwal jail in Jammu, which is hundreds of miles away from their…
May 26, 2023
On 26th May, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) sought the death sentence for Kashmiri leader Muhammad Yasin Malik after he was given life in prison. Malik, chief of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was sentenced to life imprisonment by an Indian court last year for his involvement in the Kashmiri struggle for freedom. He was…
May 18, 2023
On 18th May, the family of a female Kashmiri political prisoner lodged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail reached out to us. The family stated that in the prison ward where their family member has been incarcerated, along with other Kashmiri female Muslim political prisoners, the jail authorities, headed by a Brahmin police officer, have installed…
May 15, 2023
On 15th May, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Fernand de Varennes, stated that India is seeking to normalize the “brutal and repressive denial of democratic and other rights of Kashmiri Muslims and minorities” by holding G20 meetings in Jammu and Kashmir. “The Government of India is seeking to normalize what some have…
May 10, 2023
On 10th May, the National Investigation Agency of India (NIA) seized six shops under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in Lethpora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. An official said that the property that has been seized belongs to a Kashmiri Fayaz Ahmad Magray. The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act is in place to “prevent…
May 4, 2023
On 4th May, ahead of the G-20 meeting in the occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India took up the revamping and repair of military bunkers by converting them into “smart bunkers” at different locations in the valley. India has taken up the work on a fast-track basis to ensure the completion of works before…
April 29, 2023
On 29th April, a Kashmir documentation network reported that thousands of Kashmiris have been put behind bars as the G-20 meeting in the occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir draws near. The arrests are being viewed as an effort by India to project a forced normalcy in the region during the meeting, as the pro…
April 22, 2023
On 22nd April, India decided not to allow Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at the historic Jamia mosque in Srinagar. This is the fourth year in a row that the Eid prayer was disallowed by India in the mosque that has been central to the religious life of the Kashmiris for centuries. A large gathering of worshippers who…
April 15, 2023
On 15th April, the Jammu and Kashmir police lodged an FIR in Kashmir’s Budgam district, against a Kashmiri Imam, Syed Arshad Hussain, for speaking against India’s settler-colonial policies and attempts to change the Muslim-majority demographic composition of the valley. While we were not able to access the exact charges that have been mentioned in the…
April 14, 2023
On 14th April, the management body of the most prominent mosque of Kashmir valley, Jamia Masjid, stated that the Indian government disallowed Jumu'atul-Wida congregational prayers at the historic mosque. Jumu'atul-Widaa' is the last Friday in the month of Ramadan, a highly important religious occasion for the Muslim population of the valley[17]. One of the members…
April 12, 2023
On 12th April, The Hindu, a prominent Indian newspaper, reported that a revised political science textbook has been published by India’s National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT)[15]. The authors of the new textbook have removed a section in the book that stated that Kashmir’s highly contested accession to India was conditional, based on…
April 7, 2023
On 7th April, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police made use of the Official Secrets Act in its “verification report” on Kashmiri politician Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija Mufti, who has been issued a conditional passport[10]. In a report by the The Wire, it states that in its response to a petition filed by Iltija in…
April 5, 2023
On 5th April, the Hindu nationalist Indian government announced that 185 persons from outside Jammu and Kashmir have bought land in the occupied territory during 2020, 2021 and 2022[3]. While responding through a written reply to a question, Union Minister of State for Home, Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Indian…
April 4, 2023
On 4th April, the State Investigation Agency of India conducted raids at the residences of pro-freedom leaders, Bilal Sidique and Bashir Molvi, in Srinagar. The raids are part of India’s systematic crackdown on Kashmiri political leadership that advocates the right to self-determination[1]. The crackdown has included, among other human rights violations, prolonged illegal detentions, property…
March 24, 2023
On 24th March, the Supreme Court of India overruled its 2011 judgment holding that mere membership of banned associations is not sufficient to constitute an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act offense but that it needs to be accompanied with overt violence. It is important to note that the UAPA has been systematically used to detain pro-freedom…
March 22, 2023
On 22nd March, a freelance journalist, Irfan Mehraj, in Indian-occupied Kashmir was arrested by the Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with an ongoing probe into a fictitious "NGO terror funding case". Mehraj, who worked as a freelancer and an online editor with the twocircles.net, was arrested from his hometown Srinagar, the capital city…
March 20, 2023
On 20th March, Jammu and Kashmir Police seized two residential properties in Gundpora-Rampora and Chittibanday villages of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district for allegedly sheltering pro-freedom armed fighters. A police official stated that the houses were used for the purpose of pro-freedom activity and the shelter was voluntarily given by members of the houses. The Indian…
March 15, 2023
On 15th March, the Delhi Police denied permission for a public meeting on Kashmir at the Gandhi Peace Foundation, citing the possibility of “law and order disturbance”, a claim that the organizers say is fictitious. The public meeting was aimed at raising awareness about media blackout in Kashmir, and by denying permission for it, the…
March 15, 2023
On 15th March, Indian Lieutenant Governor of Kashmir Manoj Sinha stated that 47 Kashmiri employees have been expelled from their employment as they were said to have ‘militancy’ links, a state euphemism for participation in Kashmir’s right to self-determination movement. These Kashmiri employees include schoolteachers and university professors. The expulsion of these employees is part…
March 13, 2023
On 13th March, the Special Investigation Unit of the Indian state seized a residential house of a Kashmiri, Muhammad Ishfaq Malik, for allegedly being involved in ‘militant activities’ in Kokernag area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The state refers to any dissident activity, or activism in favor of Kashmir’s right to self-determination as either militancy…
March 7, 2023
On March 7th, Indian authorities barred Shab-e-Barat (Night of Repentance) congregational prayers at the Jamia mosque in Kashmir, the most prominent mosque in the valley that has been the center of people’s religious activities for centuries. The Indian officials locked the gates and placed military there, preventing thousands of Kashmiri Muslims from praying at the…
March 6, 2023
On March 6th, an Indian Army court recommended life imprisonment for a captain in relation to the killing of three Kashmiri civilians in a “staged” and “fake” military operation in the Shopian area of south Kashmir in July 2020[2]. Captain Bhoopendra Singh was subjected to court martial after a Court of Inquiry and Summary of…
March 2, 2023
On 2nd March, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), a unit of Indian occupation forces in Kashmir, announced its acquisition of new “Hi-Tech Critical Situation Response Vehicles (CSRV)” which are said to be equipped with advanced weaponry. The CRPF, in a statement, said that the technology will be used against pro-freedom activists in Kashmir. The…
February 27, 2023
On February 27th, Jammu and Kashmir police’s State Investigation Unit, a special unit that primarily targets political dissidents, human rights defenders, and pro-freedom activists, seized four houses for allegedly providing shelter to pro-freedom rebels in Srinagar district[14]. On 24th February, properties of three persons who were allegedly involved in pro-freedom activities were similarly seized by…
February 26, 2023
On 26th February, three Kashmiri Muslim employees were terminated over their alleged links to the Kashmiri self-determination movement. The three employees include Mohammed Mir Andrabi, Syed Hameed Yatoo, Arif Sheikh[11]. On 24th February, another teacher was expelled for criticizing the government's policies on social media[12]. According to Kashmiri legal rights organization, Legal Forum for Kashmir,…
February 21, 2023
On 21st February, the Indian state announced that a new property tax will be imposed on Kashmiris in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir from April 1, 2023[9]. Before 5 August 2019, when Article 370 — a constitutional provision that, along with Article 35A, gave some degree of autonomous status to J&K — was illegally abrogated,…
February 16, 2023
On February 16th, prominent international news organizations issued a statement over the prolonged illegal detention of Kashmiri journalist, Fahad Shah, who was arrested on February 04, 2022 and has been in jail ever since. The organizations in a joint statement stated that, “A full year has passed since Fahad Shah, editor of The Kashmir Walla…
February 12, 2023
On February 12th, the Indian state seized and shut almost 45 properties, and demolished two properties, in Banihal, most of which were either pharmacies or medical diagnostic centers. While the state claimed that the demolition of the properties was carried out because they were built on “state-land”, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have…
February 8, 2023
On 8th February, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti was detained in New Delhi for protesting against the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir administration’s demolition drive in the valley. Many political analysts have called the drive “dispossession through demolition”. At the protest site, Mufti stated: “Jammu and Kashmir has been turned into…
February 7, 2023
On February 7th, responding to the demolition of homes and businesses in Srinagar, Budgam, Anantnag and Baramulla in occupied Jammu and Kashmir that are ongoing since 4 February, Aakar Patel, chair of board for Amnesty International India stated that “the ongoing demolitions appear to be an extension of the brutal human rights violations the region…
February 6, 2023
On 6th February, a rights organization called Legal Forum for Kashmir released a report titled “The Great Land Grab: Disempowering People in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir”[1]. The report highlighted a new mechanism of state-led persecution of Kashmiris under the pretext of a fictitious anti-encroachment drive in 20 districts of Jammu & Kashmir. The Indian…
January 28, 2023
On 28th January, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) sealed the office of one of the factions of the major pro-freedom organization, Hurriyat Conference, after a court in New Delhi ruled that the group’s “anti-India” activities, a state euphemism for self-determination activism, warrants the confiscation of the office[24]. The court further stated that among the so-called…
January 26, 2023
Ahead of India’s Republic Day on January 26th, security has been beefed up throughout Kashmir, with the frisking of pedestrians and civilians intensifying. The militarization on the streets has also increased, and the movement of transport has been subjected to excessive stoppages for frisking[23]. [23] http://thekashmiriyat.co.uk/ahead-of-jan-26-security-beefed-up-frisking-intensified-in-srinagar/
January 21, 2023
On 21st January, in a report by The Kashmir Walla, it was revealed that the United Nations Military Observer Group properties in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) located in Srinagar is part of the encroaching properties list issued by the state. In the documents accessed by The Kashmir Walla, the state has asserted that the UN…
January 20, 2023
On 20th January, Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha inaugurated 930 militarized and settler-style accommodations for migrant Brahmins. Similar projects have been in process at nine other locations across Kashmir for migrant Brahmins[18]. India has long used the military in proposals for returning the Hindu diaspora back to the Muslim-majority region, constructing enclosed, heavily…
January 17, 2023
On 17th January, in the year 2018, Muhammad Yusuf was at his home in Kathua, sitting perturbed and restless, when one of his neighbors came running towards him. He broke the news that would traumatize any uncle in the world: they had found the dead body of his eight-year-old niece, Asifa Bano, laying in bushes…
January 10, 2023
On January 10th, Indian state seized the house of a Kashmiri political prisoner from South Kashmir for his alleged links with pro-freedom armed fighters. The political prisoner identified as Usman Gulzar Wani, a resident of Nagabal village of South Kashmir’s Shopian district is currently incarcerated in Kot Bhalwal Jail Jammu. As per reports, around 250…
January 10, 2023
On 10th January, Indian army announced that it shall provide military training to the so-called Village Defence Committee (VDC) guards. The Village Defence Committee is constituted by extremists who claim to combat “terrorism”, but in reality, the Committee historically has been used against pro-freedom Kashmiris. The Modi-led Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been…
January 7, 2023
On January 7th, the Indian State Investigation Agency (SIA) Saturday attached/confiscated around 5 properties belonging to banned socio-religious welfare organization Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) at different locations in south Kashmir. The JeI has been banned, their members detained, and their properties confiscated, because of their alleged participation in and support for the Kashmiri struggle for right to…
January 6, 2023
On January 6th, Kashmiri pro-freedom and religious leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was barred from 176th consecutive Friday prayers in the historical and prominent mosque of Kashmir, Jamia mosque. The pulpit of the largest place of worship and spiritual guidance in Kashmir has been forcibly rendered silent for the past three and a half years because…
January 4, 2023
On January 4th, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs announced that it is going to deploy 10 military companies in the occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The 10 military companies are being moved in from Delhi into the valley[5]. In 2019, India moved almost 50,000 military and paramilitary personnel to the region, an addition…
January 2, 2023
On January 2nd, a special court in Delhi granted bail to Kashmiri photojournalist Manan Dar who was illegally and arbitrarily arrested on 22 October 2021. In an official statement, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) who were fighting the case for Dar in the notorious National Investigation Agency court said, “that their efforts ensured…
December 28, 2022
On 28th December, Indian police killed four Kashmiris in the Jammu province of the Indian-occupied Kashmir region. Additional director general of police (Jammu), Mukesh Singh, told reporters that the police followed a truck moving in "an unusual manner" on a key highway in Jammu and followed it for a distance before signaling the driver to…
December 22, 2022
On December 22nd, the construction of four militarized Israeli-style settlements for Kashmiri Pandits (Brahmins) at the Wandhama area of Kashmir’s Ganderbal district was completed. The total number of settlements that the Indian state plans to construct in the district are twelve, out of which four would be ready by the end of this month[11]. Many…
December 21, 2022
On December 20th, a residential house in the name of deceased pro-freedom Syed Ali Geelani was among the three properties which were seized by the Indian authorities[7]. The seizure was carried out under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a draconian law that the Indian state has weaponized to detain Kashmiri political dissidents and their family…
December 21, 2022
On December 21st, a family from Kashmir’s Kunan Poshpora village demanded the return of a family member, Abdul Rashid Dar, who was illegally detained by the Indian army and interrogated in custody. The Kashmiri civilian was jailed on 15th December. After detaining him, the army had told the family members that he would return the…
December 13, 2022
On December 13th, a Delhi Court dismissed the bail plea filed by pro-freedom leader Nayeem Ahmad Khan. Nayeem Khan has been in prison for his involvement in the self-determination movement of Kashmir, and has been imprisoned since August 14, 2017[6]. Nayeem Khan is one of the many Kashmiris who are currently incarcerated in prisons across…
December 11, 2022
On December 11th, the Indian administration in the occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir announced that it is planning to create a digital database of all families of the valley, with each of them having a unique alpha-numeric code. The database will identify each and every family in Kashmir and would collect the basic data…
December 10, 2022
On December 10th, the house of the family of Kashmiri pro-freedom fighter, Ashiq Nengroo, was demolished by the Indian authorities in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. In April this year, the Indian government declared Nengroo as a “designated militant” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, an Act that has been used by the Indian state…
December 6, 2022
On December 6th, Indian authorities arrested a Kashmiri journalist from the Islamabad district of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with a 2017 case. It was not immediately clear what the charges in the case are. Khalid Gul is one of the several journalists whose residence was raided by Indian police last month, part of India’s…
December 2, 2022
On December 2nd, Jammu and Kashmir police’s Special Investigation Unit produced a chargesheet against 13 Kashmiris, including three slain pro-freedom fighters, under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The houses of many (number not specified) Kashmiri civilians were also seized by the Indian state after they were accused of providing shelter to the pro-freedom armed…
November 28, 2022
On November 28th, the family members of Kashmiri female political prisoner Sofi Fehmeeda informed us that she has been bedridden for weeks. She cannot move without a wheelchair. Prison doctors have recommended her to undergo urgent back surgery. Despite her critical state of health, she has not been shifted to any hospital. She is being…
November 26, 2022
On 26th November, the State Investigation Agency questioned and intimidated senior pro-freedom leader Professor Abdul Gani Bhat for nearly 8 hours after he was summoned by the probing agency at Jammu interrogation center. He was being probed for allegedly supporting the pro-freedom armed resistance.[15] [15] https://freepresskashmir.news/2022/11/26/sia-questions-hurriyat-leader-for-8-hours-in-militancy-funding-case-say-officials/
November 26, 2022
On 26th November, Indian authorities in south Kashmir’s Islamabad district seized thirteen properties belonging to the socio-religious welfare organization, Jamaat-e-Islam, under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. India has launched a systematic crackdown against Jamaat-e-Islami, a Muslim organization that is known in Kashmir for providing assistance to the destitute and running schools for the disadvantaged and poor.…
November 23, 2022
On 23rd November, the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court issued a summon notice to its three advocates after a complaint regarding committing “professional and other misconduct” was filed by Secretary to the Government, Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Achal Sethi. The three advocates are Mian Abdul Qayoom, Ghulam Nabi Thoker and…
November 22, 2022
On November 22nd, Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez completed a year in illegal Indian detention. On November 22, 2021, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA), raided Parvez’s home and office for approximately 14 hours, seizing his and his family members’ laptop, mobile phone, and books. Khurram Parvez was charged under the Indian Penal Code and…
November 14, 2022
On 14th November, Kashmiri Muslim students were beaten up by Hindu nationalists for allegedly supporting Pakistan in a cricket match between Pakistan and England. The incident happened at Lajpat Rai Group of Institutions in Punjab[7]. Many Kashmiri students were injured and were hospitalized. Instead of taking action against the individuals who attacked Kashmiri students, the…
November 10, 2022
On November 10th, Indian state banned entry and usage of at least nine properties including a yet to be functional school building belonging to socio-religious welfare organization Jamaat-e-Islami, following instructions by the notorious State Investigation Agency. The directions have been issued under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The Government of India has already declared…
November 9, 2022
On 9th November, Indo-Israel Agriculture Project announced its plan to establish the proposed “Centers of Excellence” in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Under the agriculture attache MASHAV (Israel’s agency for international Development Cooperation) at the Embassy of Israel in India, these agricultural centers are going to be developed. India and Israel have for long shared strategic…
November 7, 2022
On November 7th, a study revealed that a huge majority of Kashmiri civilians, including minors, who were shot at with pellet guns by Indian military forces and received eye injuries have suffered some degree of vision loss. Pellet guns were widely used by the Indian state during the 2016 pro-freedom civilian uprising in Kashmir to…
November 4, 2022
On November 4th, the Indian state seized the house of jailed Kashmiri pro-freedom leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, falsely accusing him of “money-laundering”, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002. The Act has been weaponized against Kashmiri pro-freedom leaders, resulting in their detentions, harassment of their family members, and seizure of their houses. By doing…
November 1, 2022
On 1st November, an Indian Court in Bengaluru sentenced a 21-year-old Kashmiri engineering student, Faiz Rasheed, to 5-Year imprisonment for expressing verbal support for the pro-freedom Kashmiri armed fighters. He was accused of “intending to disrupt the sovereignty and integrity of India”. He has been booked under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which has…
October 25, 2022
On 25th October, Moulana Muhammad Abbas Ansari, a religious leader and former chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, an alliance of Kashmiri parties, died. The 86-year-old leader died at his home in Srinagar. He had been ailing for some years and had lately been hospitalized for a few days. In a tweet by Hurriyat Conference, it…
October 18, 2022
On 18th October, India’s notorious State Investigation Agency, responsible for overseeing detentions and raids against political dissidents, conducted a raid at the house of a social media user at an area known as Magam. The user, currently unidentified, was intimidated and his home raided, under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), for his posts on…
October 18, 2022
On the 18th October, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court directed the Superintendent of Jammu Jail to allow a 19-year-old political prisoner from north Kashmir to appear in the BSc 3rd Semester examination taking place this month. Wasim Ahmed Malik, a resident of an area known as Bandipora, was arrested by police on charges of…
October 18, 2022
On 18thOctober, Kashmiri female journalist, Sanna Irshad Mattoo, was barred from traveling to New York by the Indian authorities. Mattoo won a Pulitzer award this year for her commendable work in photojournalism. Mattoo tweeted that “I was on my way to receive the Pulitzer award (@Pulitzerprizes) in New York but I was stopped at immigration…
October 17, 2022
On October 17th, a group of unidentified men, brought down the signboard of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, the most prominent pro-freedom forum in Kashmir. In various video clips, viral on social media, the mob can be seen pulling down the signboard from the Hurriyat office. In a statement, Hurriyat stated that it “denounces the…
October 14, 2022
On October 14th, a charge sheet was filed by the infamous State Investigation Agency against a Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah and a Kashmiri PhD scholar in an alleged “narrative militancy” case. “Narrative militancy” is a term manufactured by the Indian state to incriminate any opinion or expression that calls for Kashmir’s freedom from India or…
October 11, 2022
On 11th October, family members of the jailed Kashmiri pro-freedom leader, Altaf Shah, informed us that he died, weeks after being diagnosed with last-stage cancer. He was denied medical care at the right time despite suffering from such a grave ailment. Shah’s family was not allowed to meet him, or see him, even as he…
October 11, 2022
On the same day, the National Investigation Agency of India conducted raids at multiple locations across Jammu and Kashmir including the residence of rector Darul Uloom Raheemiyyah (one of the most prominent religious schools in the valley) Moulana Rehmatullah Qasmi. Qasmi had recently issued a strong statement against the crackdown and detention of many religious…
October 11, 2022
On the same day, the National Investigation Agency of India arrested the chairperson of Al-Huda Educational Trust (AHET), Mohammad Ameer Shamshi, under the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, as the agency carried out searches in eight districts of Jammu and Kashmir. AHET is an Islamic social and educational welfare organization responsible for setting up schools…
October 5, 2022
On 5th of October, a Kashmiri civilian, Asif Ahmed, was killed in Pulwama area of Kashmir valley. While the police maintains that the personnel's rifle went off accidentally, such police versions of Kashmiri civilian killings have been proven to be false in the past.[3][4] [3] https://freepresskashmir.news/2022/10/05/cop-kills-civilian-in-pulwama-former-arrested-fir-registered/ [4] https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/did-indian-forces-stage-another-fake-gunfight-to-kill-kashmiri-civilians-43015
October 4, 2022
On October 4th, the Indian state suspended mobile internet services in parts of Jammu and Rajouri districts, claiming that there’s a possibility of “misuse by miscreants” which may cause “deterioration in public order”. The temporary suspension of the internet services comes while Home Minister of India Amit Shah is on a visit to the area.…
October 1, 2022
On 1st October, Kashmiri pro-freedom leader, Altaf Ahmed Shah, was diagnosed with renal cancer that had metastasized and spread to other parts of his body, including his bones. Altaf Ahmed Shah, 65-year-old, is a leader of a prominent pro-freedom organization called Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, and has been incarcerated in Tihar Jail since July 2017. He led the…
September 27, 2022
On 27th September, prominent Kashmiri fruit trader Mudasir Ahmed Bhat said that the halting of trucks along the Srinagar-Jammu national highway by the state authorities has led to a loss of around Rs 5 billion to the growers, buyers, and dealers in the month of September. Roadworks have halted thousands of trucks carrying millions of…
September 25, 2022
On 25th September, police in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district seized a residential house after accusing the owners of sheltering pro-freedom armed fighters. The house belongs to a Kashmiri civilian named Bashir Ahmad Mir.[13] [13] https://thekashmirwalla.com/bandipora-police-attaches-residential-house-for-sheltering-militants/
September 20, 2022
On 20th September, the State Investigating Agency (SIA) raided the office of Falah-e-Aam (Welfare of All) Trust in the Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. This year, on June 14th, the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Department ordered cessation of academic activities in schools run by Falah-e-Aam. The schools, numbering more than 300, of…
September 20, 2022
On 20th September, 90-year-old Abdul Ahad Rah passed away at his native in Srinagar awaiting a meeting for over 22 years with two of his sons who were arrested by Delhi Police in Nepal, and were never traced afterwards. Both of Ahad’s sons Muhammad Shafi Rah (then 30) and Mushtaq Ahmad Rah (then 25), had…
September 19, 2022
On 19th September, video emerged on social media of a school in Kulgam’s Nagam area, in which Kashmiri Muslim students are seen performing Hindu rituals and singing Hindu hymns. The video shared by several social media users shows several school children, including Hijab clad female students, repeating a Hindu hymn after a reciter on the…
September 17, 2022
On 17th September, two days after detaining many prominent religious scholars and community leaders in Kashmir, the Indian government today arrested another renowned religious preacher, Sarjan Barkati. This is not the first time Barkati has been arrested. Following the killing of popular pro-freedom armed commander, Burhan Wani, in 2016, Barkati was kept under arbitrary detention…
September 15, 2022
On 15th September, three prominent Kashmiri Muslim religious scholars and community leaders were arrested by the Indian authorities and booked under the Public Safety Act. The three scholars include Moulana Abdul Rasheed Dawoodi, Moulana Mushtaq Ahmad Veeri, and Moulana Abdul Majeed Dar Al-Madni. The detainees have been shifted to Jammu, miles away from their homes.…
September 14, 2022
On 14th September, family members of Muslim Kashmiri female political prisoners in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail stated in a conversation with us that the Hindu right-wing jail authorities are installing Hindu idols in wards where the Muslim Kashmiri female political prisoners are kept, in order to antagonize them. Additionally, when the prisoners recite the Quran,…
September 12, 2022
On 12th September, the Supreme Court of India rejected a plea by the father of a Kashmiri civilian, Amir Magray, murdered by the Indian state in a fake encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Hyderpora area last year. The plea sought permission for the exhumation of Amir’s body and handing it over to the family for…
September 8, 2022
On 8th September, a BBC report revealed that the Indian army has been using civilian vehicles for counterinsurgency operations and night patrolling. The BBC traveled to 15 villages in South Kashmir to learn more about the practice and it found that many civilians have been intimidated into handing over their vehicles to Indian armed personnel.…
September 7, 2022
On 7th September, Indian state arrested two Kashmiris and labeled them as “hybrid-militants”, a category that the state uses arbitrarily to label any pro-freedom Kashmiri as a “terrorist”. The category is commonly used in Kashmir to dehumanize Kashmiris who provide logistical support to pro-freedom armed groups, or merely have sympathetic thoughts or feelings towards the…
September 3, 2022
On 3rd September, the Indian state arrested a local cleric in the Kashmiri region of Chenab Valley, 22-year-old Kashmiri, namely Abdul Wahid, and falsely labeled him as a “Pakistani agent”. The detainee was a teacher at a local religious school, Madeenatul Uloom Darasgah, where he used to teach kids the Holy Quran. The family of…
September 3, 2022
On the same day, in a report by Press Trust of India, a senior officer of Indian occupation forces announced that a tear gas shell-dropping drone system has been developed by them that can be used by police for “controlling protesters and rioters”. He said the “drone tear smoke launcher” can be used for launching…
September 2, 2022
On 2nd September, Amnesty International said in a briefing that the Indian state has drastically intensified the repression of rights in Jammu and Kashmir in the three years since the change in status of the region. The new briefing, “We are being punished by the law”: Three years since of abrogation of Article 370 in…
August 27, 2022
On 27th August, a local court in Chandigarh acquitted 20 Hindu nationalists who had roughed up and assaulted Kashmiri religious leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, during a seminar on Kashmir conflict resolution in Chandigarh a few years back. Stones and pots had been hurled at the leader by the Hindu nationalists. While the pro-BJP court claimed…
August 26, 2022
On 26th August, Kashmir Valley’s chief cleric and pro-freedom leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was disallowed to lead the Friday prayers at the prominent Jamia mosque in Srinagar. Mirwaiz was stopped by police outside the gate of his residence when he was leaving for the mosque. Earlier, in an interview with BBC Hindi, Indian colonial governor…
August 26, 2022
On the same day, Indian forces in Kashmir claimed to have arrested three Kashmiri boys who were presented as ‘over-ground workers’, a term created by the Indian state to refer to those Kashmiris who support or sympathize with the indigenous armed struggle for self-determination. The term has often been used to justify the illegal detention…
August 20, 2022
On 20th August, nine Kashmiri school-teachers were suspended by the Indian state for not hoisting an Indian flag in their schools. Around 8 of these 9 suspended teachers were Muslims. The suspension comes following the Indian state’s campaign of enforcing the hoisting of the Indian flag over every household, school, and workplace in Kashmir.[16] [16]…
August 18, 2022
On August 18th, the Jammu and Kashmir Wakf Board, an institute run by the Indian state through which it controls the Muslim shrines in Kashmir, announced that it will no longer allow donation system at these shrines, striking another blow at the autonomy of the religious life of the Kashmiri Muslim community. The Muslims of…
August 17, 2022
On August 17th, the Chief Electoral Officer of Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir Hirdesh Kumar announced that after abrogation of Article-370, every citizen of India who lives in Kashmir, for job, education, or business purpose, can cast vote in the upcoming assembly elections in the occupied territory. He further added that he expects that these additional…
August 16, 2022
On August 16th, a Kashmiri was killed by unidentified gunmen. Without any investigation and presentation of evidence, the police identified a Kashmiri pro-freedom armed fighter, Adil Ahmad Wani, as the perpetrator of the killing. The family members of Wani have been arrested, and their house has also been seized by the Indian state. Under no…
August 15, 2022
On August 15th, the Indian state announced its decision to rename 199 schools/colleges and roads in Kashmir after members of Indian armed forces. The same armed forces have persistently violated the human rights of Kashmiris and committed war crimes against them. Nomenclature is used by the Indian state to inflict psychological trauma on Kashmiris.[12] [12]…
August 13, 2022
On August 13th, the Indian Sub-divisional Magistrate in Kashmir put under suspension the Executive Officer of Municipal Council in an area called Magam, over ‘Insult to National Flag’. Some Indian flags were spotted in a garbage truck in the area and consequently, without any inquiry as to how the flags ended up there, the Kashmiri…
August 11, 2022
On August 11th, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court rejected the petition of Abdul Razak Ahanger, who died during the pendency of the petition. He had approached the Jammu and Kashmir High Court 17 years back demanding compensation for the death of his son and also an inquiry into his death. According to him, in…
August 8, 2022
On 8th of August, the National Investigation Agency carried out raids at multiple places in the Jammu and Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir against members of a banned social welfare organization called Jamaat-e-Islami. Jamaat is known in Kashmir for setting up schools for the needy, creating infrastructures of support for the orphans and the…
August 6, 2022
On August 6th, the Indian state announced that it shall not permit Muharram procession, a procession that is very important to the religious life of Shia-Muslim community. The police announced that the major Muharram procession from Guru Bazar to Dal-Gate in the capital of Kashmir, Srinagar, shall not be allowed. The major Shia processions of…
August 6, 2022
On the same day, the Chief Education Officer issued orders to numerous schools in Kashmir, asking them to ensure that all members of the school, including students, teachers and all the workers, shall hoist the Indian flag at their homes and school buildings. In the order that has been issued, the Chief Education Officer states…
August 5, 2022
On 5th August, 32-year-old Manzoor Ahmed Lone, son of Mohammed Abdullah Lone, who was a resident of Kulgam area of Kashmir, received a bullet injury during the gunfight that broke out between Indian occupation forces and pro-freedom armed fighters. Manzoor was taken to the hospital after being injured, however, he succumbed to his injuries in…
August 3, 2022
On 3rd August, following the petition of Kashmiri resistance leader Asiya Andrabi, the Delhi High Court issued notice to the notorious National Investigation Agency (NIA) concerning the agency's decision to seize Andrabi’s house. Andrabi has been placed under detention for the past four years and booked under the UAPA for her pro-freedom political activism, for…
August 3, 2022
On the same day, following the coercive “Har Ghar Tiranga” scheme, under which the Indian authorities are forcing Kashmiris to hoist the Indian flag at their households and workplaces, a Hindu nationalist Brahmin activist Sandeep Mawa affixed tricolor on the gate of Hurriyat office in Srinagar. The move aims at inflicting a sense of defeat…
August 1, 2022
On 1st August, pro-freedom Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik, who was on hunger strike in Tihar Jail for the last 10 days, discontinued his fasting after the Indian jail authorities informed him that his demands have been conveyed to the government. Yasin went on hunger strike demanding a fair and impartial trial, following the Indian government’s…
July 29, 2022
On 29th July, Indian authorities sealed five more residential houses of Kashmiri Muslims under UAPA in Srinagar. The seizure was justified by stating that the houses were being used for pro-freedom political activities, and any such activity is labelled as “terrorism” by the Indian state. By depriving people of their homes, the Indian state aims…
July 28, 2022
On 28th July, the Jammu and Kashmir colonial administration issued a list of eighteen educational institutions which were given names after the members of Indian armed forces personnel. The move is meant to inflict psychological trauma upon Kashmiris and to humiliate the schoolkids, as they have been subjected to persistent human rights violations at the…
July 27, 2022
On 27th July, Kashmiri journalist, Aakash Hassan was barred from traveling abroad as authorities at airport in New Delhi stamped his boarding pass with ‘canceled without prejudice’. Journalist Aakash Hassan wrote on his Twitter handle that immigration officials at the airport in New Delhi barred him from boarding a flight to Colombo, Sri Lanka. He…
July 26, 2022
On 26th July, four days after pro-freedom Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik went on a hunger strike in Tihar jail, the jail administration reportedly put him on intravenous (IV) fluid or glucose. Malik has stopped eating food since 22 July, protesting against his prolonged illegal detention and unjust life imprisonment sentence. (…
July 22, 2022
On July 22nd, pro-freedom Kashmiri leader and chief of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Yasin Malik, who is currently lodged in Tihar Jail after being sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the right to self-determination movement, announced a hunger strike until death. ( Source: https://freepresskashmir.news/2022/07/22/jklf-chief-yasin-malik-announces-hunger-strike-unto-death-in-new-delhi-jail/ )
July 20, 2022
On 20th July, the Government of India approved construction of 6,000 accommodations for Hindu migrant employees working in the disputed territory. The accommodations would be in the form of separate and militarized settlements. After the year 2010, around 3,800 Brahmins have shifted to the valley and lived in such settlements, working in different government sectors.…
July 15, 2022
On 15th July, the Jammu and Kashmir colonial administration constituted a seven-member committee to enforce the implementation of the “Har Ghar Jhanda” scheme across the occupied territory. The scheme involves hoisting of an Indian flag over every house in Kashmir, by force if necessary. The state is coercing the Kashmiri population into identifying with the…
July 11, 2022
On 11th July, the Jammu and Kashmir Police, under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, granted sanction for the confiscation of four residential houses and seizure of three vehicles that are reported to have provided assistance to pro-freedom activism. UAPA allows the Indian state to seize the property of any political dissident in Kashmir, and also suspend…
July 9, 2022
On 9th July, the colonial Administrative Council which met under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, approved the change of names of Directorates in the Social Welfare Department. The decision will rename the Mission Directorate, Integrated Child Development Services; Mission Directorate, Integrated Child Protection Scheme; and State Resource Center for Women as Directorate…
July 9, 2022
On 9th July, a Kashmiri 21-year-old boy named Muslim Ahmed Lone was picked up from his house by Indian state officials in Srinagar. According to the family members, the officials, all dressed in civilian clothing, later handed over his dead body to them. The police have issued a statement in which they acknowledge picking him…
July 9, 2022
On 9th July, the Jammu and Kashmir colonial administration approved transfer of around 9 acres to Kashmiri Hindu employees. The move is part of the broader move aimed at settling Hindus in the valley, this altering the Muslim majority status of the valley. ( Source: https://thekashmirwalla.com/j-k-govt-approves-transfer-of-71-kanals-to-migrant-govt-employees/ )
July 7, 2022
On 7th July, the Administrative Council which met under the chairmanship of the Lieutenant Governor of occupied Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, approved the enhancement of ex-gratia relief to the next-of-kin (NoK) of occupying armed forces based in the valley. The ex-gratia award shall range from Rs 5.00 lacs to Rs 25.00 lacs in favor of NoK…
July 4, 2022
On 4th July, the Jammu and Kashmir administration nominated nodal officers for “successful implementation of the initiative Har Ghar Tiranga”. The initiative aims at having, by force if necessary, an Indian flag hoisted over each house in Kashmir. The appointed nodal officers have to ensure that every house will hoist the Indian flag. The initiative…
July 2, 2022
On 2nd July, the fruit growers and dealers of north Kashmir held a peaceful protest at Fruit Mandi (Fruit Market) Sopore over the stoppage of fruit-laden trucks along Srinagar-Jammu highway in view of the Hindu Amarnath Yatra. Due to the Yatra pilgrimage, the state authorities have heavily increased military checkpoints, forced Kashmiri Muslim shopkeepers to…
July 2, 2022
On 2nd July, Sanna Irshad Mattoo, a Kashmiri photojournalist who recently won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize award, said that authorities at the Delhi airport denied her permission to travel abroad for a scheduled photography exhibition in Paris. Mattoo was scheduled to travel from Delhi to Paris today for a book launch and photography exhibition as…
July 2, 2022
On 2nd July, two Kashmiri civilians were arrested and have been booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) for their “subversive” activities in the Doda district of Kashmir. The two civilians were labeled as “over ground workers (OGW)”, a category that the state uses arbitrarily to label any dissident Kashmiri as a “terrorist”. The category is…
July 1, 2022
On 1st July, Jammu and Kashmir High Court directed the authorities to allow the family of Amir Magrey, a civilian who was killed in last year’s Hyderpora fake encounter and then falsely labeled as a “terrorist”, to perform his funeral prayer. The court has, however, refused to allow the exhumation of Amir's body. Amir’s family…
2020
The Indian government instituted a new “Domicile Law” for the Jammu and Kashmir, allowing certain classes of Indians to become permanent residents of Kashmir. India started issuing certificates to Indians that would permit them to get employment in Kashmir and make them eligible to purchase land. India expands its military bases in Kashmir, further militarizing…
2019
On August 5, the Indian government abrogated Article 370 and revokes Article 35A, putting to an end the last remnants of the so-called “autonomy” and “special status” that India had offered to Kashmiris as an incentive after it militarily occupied them. The removal of these articles paves the way for Indians citizens to settle in…
2016
Indian forces murdered Burhan Wani, the 22-year old pro-freedom armed commander, who had become widely popular, partly because of his social media use to condemn Indian atrocities against Kashmiris. The killing was followed by widespread protests against the Indian occupation. Indian forces killed dozens and blind hundreds of young Kashmiris by pellet-guns that otherwise are…
2010
The Indian military killed three Kashmiri civilians in Machil, Kupwara, and falsely claimed them to be “Pakistani terrorists.” In June, 17-year-old Tufail Mattoo was killed in Srinagar when Indian forces shot his head with a teargas shell. His death led to an intense months-long civilian uprising. Indian forces respond by killing more than 100 young…
2009
In May, the rape and murder of two Kashmiri women in Shopian led to widespread protests across Kashmir. Independent investigations held that Indian forces were involved and the doctors concluded that the women were raped. The Indian government falsely maintained that the women drowned in a stream and ended the investigation. 2700 unmarked mass graves…
2008
The Indian governor and members of the local pro-India political elite gave 100 acres of land in Kashmir to the Amarnath Shrine Board, a non-Kashmiri institute. The “land deal” violated the protection of land guaranteed under Article 370 and Article 35A by India to Kashmir, which limited ownership of land only to the permanent residents…
2000
On March 20, just before US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India, 35 Kashmiri Sikhs were killed by unidentified gunmen in the village of Chattisinghpora in South Kashmir. The government blamed Muslim rebels, but Kashmiris and prominent Sikh leaders (and later US officials) hold that the attack was orchestrated by Indian intelligence agencies to seek…
1993
All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) is formed. It is an amalgamation of dozens of Kashmiri political groups. Its goal is Kashmir’s “right to self-determination” but keeps the question of whether Kashmir ought to be a separate nation-state or merge with Pakistan open. Kashmiris unite across political differences and agree that the foremost goal is an…
1990
Indian military forces carried out several massacres across Kashmir. Protests intensify and Hindu nationalist bureaucrat Jagmohan is installed as the governor. On January 21, an estimated 55-65 unarmed protesters were killed by Indian troops near Gawakadal in Srinagar. On January 25, Indian forces killed 21 protestors in Handwara town. On March 1, Indian soldiers killed…
1988
As India’s repression in Kashmir grew and all forms of pro-freedom voices were choked, organized armed resistance against Indian occupation took shape. Under international law, resistance and even armed struggle against a colonial occupation force are recognized and permitted. Resolution 3314 of the UNGA prohibited states from “any military occupation, however temporary”. The resolution went…
1957
The UN passed another resolution (UNSC Resolution 122) asserting that only the “will of the people expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations” will determine Kashmir’s final status, and stated that the J&K Constituent Assembly’s actions, including administrative or legal changes, are invalid…
1956
The J&K Constituent Assembly, which was controlled by India and used to give a democratic cover to its military-occupation, adopted a new constitution, declared the state an integral part of the Indian Union. Kashmiri activists continue to struggle for the promised self-determination.
1950
India reneged on its promise of the plebiscite. The Indian Constitution came into being and Article 1 declared the entire state of J&K as a part of the territory of India. Article 370 gave a “special” status to the State of J&K. Pro-Pakistan and pro-freedom Kashmiri leaders were detained, and many were pushed into exile.
1948
India took the case of Kashmir to the United Nations. Kashmir was officially recognized as a disputed territory. The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution (UNSC Resolution 47) providing for an immediate ceasefire between India and Pakistan, withdrawal of Pakistani and Indian troops from the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and a plebiscite…
1947
With the end of British colonial rule in South Asia in 1947, and the creation of the modern Indian state and Pakistan in its aftermath, most of the princely states had to accede to one of the two newly-found dominions. The British asked “Princely Rulers” to accede either to India or to Pakistan based on…
1932
Prominent Kashmiri Muslim leaders established the All Jammu Kashmir Muslim Conference, aiming at empowerment, education, and representation of Kashmiri Muslims in the government. The Maharaja claimed to redress the grievances by establishing a Praja Sabha (“Subjects’ Assembly”), however, the Muslim representation remained disproportionately negligible and Muslims continued to face systemic and institutional marginalization.
1931
On July 13, during the trial of Abdul Qadeer, who was accused of encouraging Kashmiris to rise up against the tyranny of the Dogra, people gathered in Srinagar. The Dogra troops massacred 22 Kashmiris. Protests erupted all over Kashmir following the massacre but the uprising was brutally suppressed.
1865
Kashmiri shawl weavers rose against the backbreaking conditions and taxations Dogra subjected them to. The regime brutally crushed the uprising and in the three decades following the protest, the number of Kashmiri shawl weavers decreased from 28,000 to just over 5,000. The participants in the revolt were drowned and severely punished. Despite the setback, however,…
1846
In 1846, after the British East India Company prevailed over the Sikh Empire in the First Anglo-Sikh War, the British sold Kashmir, then ruled by the Sikh Empire, to a Hindu Rajput dynasty, the Dogra. This was a reward for Gulab Singh, a Dogra who served as the ruler of Jammu in the Sikh Empire…
January 1, 1970
Seven Kashmiri Muslim students were arrested by India for allegedly not supporting India’s cricket team in a World Cup final against Australia. The students were studying at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) in Ganderbal district of Kashmir. A copy of the first information report (FIR), accessed by news outlet Scroll, shows…
January 1, 1970
Originally published at Muslim Network TV In the heart of the picturesque yet troubled land of Jammu and Kashmir, the year 2023 unfolded with a chilling increase in surveillance and a disconcerting erosion of privacy rights. An annual review conducted by the advocacy group Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK) has shed light on the ongoing…
January 1, 1970
Since the beginning of this year, the Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces have been demanding the residents of Kashmir to fill up census forms seeking their personal details without any explanation or reasoning. A Kashmiri who has received this form told us that the police demanded that he fill the form at earliest…
January 1, 1970
On April 5th, India shut down the historic Jamia Masjid, the center of religious life for Kashmiri Muslims, on the last Friday of Ramadan. Jumu'at Al-Wida is the last Friday prayer or Jumu’ah; Wida means end referring to the end of Ramadan. The last Friday of Ramadan is a holy day for Muslims. The chief…
January 1, 1970
On April 6th, the historic Jamia mosque in Srinagar was closed ahead of the Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny) as India disallowed the special night prayers in the mosque. Laylat al-Qadr is the night when Muslims believe the Quran was first sent down from heaven to the world and also the night when the first…
January 1, 1970
On April 8th, three Kashmiri civilians were booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district for their alleged involvement in pro-freedom activism. Mysir Majeed Malik, Abdul Ahad Dar, and Ahmad Waza, are the three civilians who were detained arbitrarily by Jammu and Kashmir police. The three civilians have been detained and subsequently…
January 1, 1970
On April 10th, India once again disallowed Eid-ul-Fitr prayers at the historic Jamia mosque, triggering condemnation from religious leaders and protest from local communities. On the day of Eid, local sources inform us that police personnel closed the gates of the mosque after Fajr prayers (dawn prayer), informing the mosque committee and local worshippers that…
January 1, 1970
On 15th April, families of Kashmiri female political prisoners currently lodged in Tihar jail bemoaned the denial of medicine and healthcare to their incarcerated loved ones. Three Kashmiri pro-freedom activists, Asiya Andrabi, Nahida Nasreen, and Fehmeeda Sofi have been incarcerated in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail since 2018. The trio have been jailed for their advocacy…