More than 100 people were killed in the Kashmir Valley between June and November 2010, most of them in firing by police and paramilitary forces, in protests set off when a tear gas shell killed a 17-year-old student in Srinagar's Rajouri Kadal on 11 June. The Centre answered in September with an all-party delegation and an eight-point package, and in October named three interlocutors. A commission later found most of the deaths it examined were due to "unprovoked and indiscriminate firing"; its report was never published.
Machil, and a shell in the same street
The spring had already been angry. On 29 April 2010 three young men from Nadihal village in Baramulla district were lured to the Machil sector near the Line of Control with offers of work as Army porters. Soldiers of 4 Rajput Regiment shot them dead in a staged encounter and labelled them foreign militants, and demonstrations followed across the Valley Kashmir Reader. In June, Al Jazeera reported, the staged gunfight was still producing sporadic protests Al Jazeera.
Rajouri Kadal had seen this before. In February 2010 a schoolboy was killed there by a tear smoke shell, setting off days of protest IANS via Deccan Herald. Jammu and Kashmir was governed by a coalition of Omar Abdullah's National Conference and the Congress IANS via Ummid.
On the evening of 11 June a tear gas shell hit a 17-year-old Class 12 student on the head near Gani Memorial Stadium at Rajouri Kadal. He died on the spot. His family says he was walking home from a tuition class Al Jazeera Kashmir Reader. Claim · Amnesty International Amnesty said two police personnel clashing with protesters fired the shell at him at close range, and that police did not register his father's complaint that day; a court ordered an FIR in July 2010 Kashmir Life. His death set off a second wave of civilian unrest, Al Jazeera reported Al Jazeera.
Masarat Alam's "Quit Kashmir" calendar
Hurriyat (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani was booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) on 23 June. The next day his colleague Masarat Alam issued the first "calendar" of protests, as part of what he called a "Quit Kashmir" campaign. It ran nine days and had only two days of total shutdown, with set times for sit-ins by students, lawyers and traders, online protest and graffiti Kashmir Life.
As people kept dying in firing, later calendars called for more shutdowns, and the authorities drew their curfews around them. Geelani took charge of the calendar after his release; ANI in September described his programme as his "Quit Jammu and Kashmir Movement" ANI via Oneindia. The calendars "fizzled out" after Eid-ul-Adha and the Darbar Move in November, Kashmir Life reported Kashmir Life.
In early July, at the state government's request, the Army was moved in and kept ready for deployment. Home Minister P Chidambaram said it was there as "a deterrent" and would stay "as long as it is necessary" Tribune.
"It was unprovoked": protesters and separatists
Protesters said security forces fired on peaceful marches. "We were marching peacefully and the police and the security forces opened fire. It was unprovoked," a protester in Pulwama told Deccan Herald in August. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said "rushing more troops to Kashmir and crushing the voice of Kashmiris will not solve the issue". PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti urged the Centre to stop "trying to solve the Kashmir issue through the barrel of a gun" Deccan Herald.
Police, intelligence sources and Omar Abdullah
Police said they used force when protesters defied curfew and turned violent Deccan Herald. Claim · Intelligence sources In July, sources told The Tribune that intercepts traced stone-pelting to people in Pakistan and to hardline separatists, and that boys were paid up to Rs 300 per incident. The paper also reported Chidambaram as saying the Lashkar-e-Toiba was instigating people Tribune. Omar Abdullah called stone-pelting and strikes "symptoms of a wider problem" that needed a political solution, and accused the PDP of making things worse PTI via Governance Now.
13 September: a school burned at Tangmarg
The deadliest day came after a reported desecration of the Quran in the United States. Protests turned into clashes across the Valley, and a Christian missionary school and government buildings were burned at Tangmarg. The AP put the day's toll at 13, and a police officer was also killed Christian Science Monitor Deccan Herald. Deaths in police firing at Tangmarg were reported as three, by the Inspector General of Police quoted by Reuters, or six, by Deccan Herald. Geelani condemned the burning of the school Deccan Herald.
105, 110, 117, 120: the death toll by date
Each count has its own cut-off. Deccan Herald, citing Home Ministry figures, reported 105 deaths between 11 June and 25 September Deccan Herald. Al Jazeera reported more than 100 dead, "many in them in their teens", most "killed in live firing by police and paramilitary troops" and others by tear gas shells or rubber bullets Al Jazeera. Kashmir Life gave 110 in October 2010 Kashmir Life, and later Kashmiri reporting about 120 Kashmir Life Kashmir Reader. A 2013 public interest litigation in the High Court sought FIRs on 117 deaths Kashmir Life.
Police and paramilitary personnel were injured by stones through the summer. On 16 August alone police reported five policemen hurt Tribune, and at least one policeman was killed on 13 September Deccan Herald. By 25 September the Home Ministry counted 245 people arrested or detained.
An all-party delegation and eight points
After an all-party meeting in Delhi, MPs led by Chidambaram reached Srinagar on 20 September; reports put the delegation at 36 to 42 members. The PDP and the separatist leaders had said they would not meet it Deccan Herald Deccan Herald.
So small groups of MPs went to them. They called on Geelani, Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik at their homes, where Geelani and Mirwaiz were under house arrest. Mirwaiz said a private call by MPs was not the same as talks with the government RNZ, citing BBC and NDTV. Four members met jailed leader Shabir Shah in Jammu, and Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan held talks with Geelani at his home on 21 September. The BJP distanced itself from the meetings with separatists Tribune.
Government's position On 25 September the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved eight measures Tribune Deccan Herald:
- A group of interlocutors to begin "a sustained dialogue" with all sections of people.
- Advice to the state to release students and youth detained for stone-pelting.
- A review of all PSA detentions; Deccan Herald reported 51 PSA detainees.
- A Unified Command meeting to review troop deployment in the Valley, especially Srinagar, including bunkers and checkpoints.
- A review of "disturbed area" notifications, which would remove AFSPA from areas taken off the list.
- Ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh for each person killed in civil disturbances since 11 June.
- Two task forces on development needs in Jammu and Ladakh.
- Reopening of schools and colleges, exams for 2010-11, and Rs 100 crore for school and college infrastructure.
Omar Abdullah hoped it would be "the first step to the final destination of reaching a political solution". Sajjad Lone said the test was whether it would be implemented "in spirit and in deed on the ground" Al Jazeera. Geelani called it "mere eyewash", because it did not accept Kashmir as a disputed territory Al Jazeera, citing PTI.
"Accession, not merger": Omar Abdullah's speech
Omar Abdullah wound up an assembly debate on the unrest on 6 October: "Accession of Jammu and Kashmir has taken place with India but the State has not merged with the country." BJP and Panthers Party members protested the next day, and four of them and a staff member were hurt in the scuffles Kashmir Life. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain called the statement "shameful" IANS via Ummid. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said he found nothing objectionable in it PTI via Governance Now.
On 13 October curfew was lifted across the Valley except parts of Sopore, though a Hurriyat strike kept markets shut PTI via Governance Now. Police arrested Masarat Alam in Srinagar after a manhunt on 18 October. They told a court he was involved in 13 criminal cases; his lawyer said none was militancy-related Deccan Herald.
700 delegations and "A New Compact"
Chidambaram named the interlocutors on 13 October 2010: journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, academic Radha Kumar and Information Commissioner M M Ansari PTI via Governance Now. In December the Home Ministry said it had acted on their first recommendations, which included expediting undertrial cases, permitting peaceful protests and releasing protesters facing no serious charges PTI via Governance Now. Neither Hurriyat faction met them. Only Maulana Abbas Ansari met one interlocutor, in his individual capacity PTI via Governance Now.
The panel visited the state 11 times and met 700 delegations. It submitted its 176-page report, "A New Compact With the People of Jammu and Kashmir", on 12 October 2011; it was made public on 24 May 2012 Tribune IDSA. It recommended upholding the state's "distinctive status guaranteed by Article 370"; a Constitutional Committee to review all Central laws and constitutional articles extended to the state after 1952; three elected regional councils for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh; and a review of the Disturbed Areas Act and AFSPA, fewer security forces in residential areas, and amendments to the PSA.
A Newslaundry commentator called it an exercise in futility and argued that the proposed review amounted to a return to the pre-1953 status Newslaundry; The Tribune reported that the report ruled out such a return Tribune. An IDSA analyst argued that the "broad consensus" it recorded deserved debate rather than dismissal IDSA. We found no government decision to adopt it.
Two closure reports and an unpublished commission
A judicial commission set up in July 2010 to look into 17 killings stopped working in 2011 when its judges resigned. By 2013 police said 79 FIRs had been registered over the deaths, with charges filed in 43 and 18 closed as "untraced", according to Amnesty International Kashmir Life.
The 11 June killing was one of those closed. A police SIT closed it as "untraced" in 2012, and a Srinagar magistrate accepted that on 27 February 2013 Kashmir Life. The High Court quashed the order and gave the case to the Crime Branch, which filed its own closure report in May 2015, citing three varied accounts from eyewitnesses, police witnesses and experts. The family's challenge was still being heard in 2017 Kashmir Reader, and in 2021 his father said the family had still not received justice Maktoob.
On 19 June 2014 Omar Abdullah's cabinet appointed Justice (retd) M L Koul as a one-man commission on the 2010 firing deaths, to fix responsibility for excessive force Kashmir Life. He submitted a 320-page report to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti at the end of December 2016 Kashmir Life. Before him, all government agencies had said the killings "were neither deliberate nor intentional but were only preventive in nature" Kashmir Life.
Documented According to Kashmir Life, which reported on the contents, the commission received 63 petitions. Only two concerned deaths from stone-pelting; it found the rest the result of "unprovoked and indiscriminate firing and use of disproportionate force". It recommended a CBI probe into the 11 June killing Kashmir Life and advised against deploying the CRPF to deal with protesters Kashmir Life. In one Anantnag case, police filed a murder charge against a constable Kashmir Life.
The report stayed in a drawer. In June 2017 the High Court asked the government why, on a PIL by the J&K People's Forum, and lawyers for the petitioners argued that lives lost in 2016 could have been saved had it been published Kashmir Life. In September 2017 the Home Ministry said in an RTI reply that it had no information on the report Kashmir Life. We found no reporting that it has since been released.
The Machil case ended differently. A General Court Martial in 2014 sentenced five Army personnel, a colonel among them, to life imprisonment. On 26 July 2017 the Armed Forces Tribunal suspended the sentences and granted them bail Kashmir Reader.
Pellet guns and Article 370
Security forces have used pellet guns for crowd control in Kashmir since 2010. During the 2016 unrest after Burhan Wani's killing, a government panel recommended replacing them after pellets blinded or maimed large numbers of protesters IANS via The News Minute. The interlocutors' central recommendation, to uphold Article 370, was overtaken on 5 August 2019, when the Union government and Parliament revoked the state's special status. The Supreme Court upheld that decision on 11 December 2023 Scroll.
Eight dates, 2010 to 2012
Tear gas death in Srinagar
A 17-year-old student is killed near Gani Memorial Stadium Al Jazeera.
First protest calendar
Masarat Alam issues the first weekly programme of protests Kashmir Life.
Army called in
Moved in at the state's request as "a deterrent" Tribune.
Deadliest day
Thirteen killed, per AP; school burned at Tangmarg Christian Science Monitor.
Eight-point package
The Cabinet Committee on Security approves the Centre's package Tribune.
Interlocutors named; curfew lifted
Curfew lifted except parts of Sopore PTI via Governance Now.
Masarat Alam arrested
Held in Srinagar after a manhunt Deccan Herald.
Interlocutors' report public
Submitted in October 2011 Tribune.
Sources
- Kashmir Reader: Machil fake encounter, military court suspends life sentence of five convicts, 27 July 2017
- Al Jazeera: In Kashmir, a father's fight against forgetfulness, 12 Dec 2017
- IANS via Deccan Herald: Another youth killed, Srinagar on boil, 5 Feb 2010
- Kashmir Reader: Court hears petition against Crime Branch's closure report in 2010 killing, 19 Nov 2017
- Kashmir Life: Amnesty asks government to reinvestigate 2010 killing, 17 June 2013
- Kashmir Life: Calendar of protests, 2010
- ANI via Oneindia: Army to play proactive role in thwarting Geelani's protests, 16 Sept 2010
- Tribune: Stone pelting, intercepts show Pak link, 9 July 2010
- Deccan Herald: Violence continues, CM faces wrath, 5 Aug 2010
- Tribune: APHC protests, major towns under curfew; five cops among eight injured, 17 Aug 2010
- Christian Science Monitor: Kashmir protests against Quran burnings leave 13 dead, 13 Sept 2010
- Deccan Herald: Kashmir turns bloodsoaked, 13 Sept 2010
- Deccan Herald: Kashmiris' future secure in India, says Chidambaram, 20 Sept 2010
- RNZ: Delegation on visit to Kashmir, 21 Sept 2010
- Tribune: Delegation members meet Shabir Shah; BJP distances itself, 22 Sept 2010
- Tribune: 8-point initiative for Kashmir, 26 Sept 2010
- Deccan Herald: Centre unveils Kashmir package, 25 Sept 2010
- Al Jazeera: India offers Kashmir talks, 26 Sept 2010
- PTI via Governance Now: My govt's credibility has been dented, says Omar, 9 July 2010
- Kashmir Life: Now, Omar talks dispute, Oct 2010
- IANS via Ummid: Omar's remark shameful, says BJP, 7 Oct 2010
- PTI via Governance Now: Omar's not wrong on J-K accession, says Krishna, 15 Oct 2010
- PTI via Governance Now: Three interlocutors chosen for J-K, 13 Oct 2010
- Deccan Herald: Kashmir separatist leader sent to 5-day remand, 20 Oct 2010
- PTI via Governance Now: Centre sends interlocutors' report to J-K, 7 Dec 2010
- PTI via Governance Now: All-party meeting to discuss interlocutors' report, 26 July 2011
- Tribune: J-K interlocutors for review of Central laws, 25 May 2012
- IDSA: Debating the Interlocutors' Report on Jammu and Kashmir, 4 July 2012
- Newslaundry: An exercise in futility?, 21 June 2012
- Kashmir Life: Justice M L Koul to head the commission on 2010 killings, 19 June 2014
- Kashmir Life: Koul Commission report, court seeks government's response, 6 June 2017
- Kashmir Life: 2010 killings 'admitted', Jan 2017
- Kashmir Life: Don't deploy CRPF while dealing with protesters, says Koul Commission, Jan 2017
- Kashmir Life: RTI, no information about Koul Commission report, says MHA, 27 Sept 2017
- Kashmir Life: Court accepts police closure report in 2010 killing, 21 Mar 2013
- Maktoob: Father of 2010 victim on the 11th anniversary, 12 June 2021
- IANS via The News Minute: Chilli pepper balls could replace pellets in Kashmir, says expert panel, 26 Aug 2016
- Scroll: Supreme Court upholds abrogation of Article 370, 11 Dec 2023