A study conducted by academics from Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia and Ambedkar University has found Indian forces to be the main perpetrators of violence in occupied Kashmir.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the study said that the Indian army and paramilitary personnel are the main perpetrators of violence in the occupied territory, followed by the police and the Special Task Force.
The study titled ‘A Qualitative Exploration of Salient Incidents of Violence Exposure among Youth in Kashmir: Beyond Direct Violence’ noted that most of the respondents (approximately 94%) believed that the local community members were the main victims of the violence.
The study has been authored by Waheeda Khan and Sramana Majumdar.
Khan is a former professor of psychology at Jamia Millia Islamia and Majumdar and a faculty member at the School of Human Studies at Ambedkar University.
The study has 96 participants (51 male and 45 female) in the age range of 18-30 from different regions in occupied Kashmir. All participants were enrolled as students in the Kashmir University, Srinagar.
The study has found that children, women and the elderly have been the maximum victims of violence, though young people have witnessed the highest amount of violence, followed by children, the elderly, and the women. The study says that the negative perception of the role of the military and the militaristic nature of the violence in the Kashmir Valley has emerged out of a debate around the overwhelming presence of the Indian army in Kashmir and various cases of human rights violations.
The study has also examined how living in a situation of ongoing conflict creates conditions where movement, speech and other basic rights are suppressed.
