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Indian Kashmir rejects DNA testing of bodies in unmarked graves: Report
Families of disappeared people irked, say government trying to obfuscate the truth.
A Kashmiri relative of a missing person wears a headband during a demonstration. More than 8,000 people have gone missing or been killed since 1989. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
SRINAGAR: The government of Indian Kashmir has rejected wide-scale DNA testing of bodies in thousands of unmarked graves, reported the Associated Press (AP) on Wednesday. The families of those who disappeared during two decades of fighting in Kashmir had appealed for the testing.
The Associated Press claimed to have attained a report by Kashmir’s home department which stated that the bodies were of militants and said that if the families want the DNA tests done, they would have to identify the graveyard and the grave in which they think their relative is buried.
On the other hand, Khurram Parvez – an official with the local Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons – criticised the report as “yet another attempt by the government to obfuscate the truth and sustain impunity,” the AP report quoted.
Last year, Kashmir’s State Human Rights Commission had surprised everyone when it submitted a report detailing the existence of 2,730 bodies lying in unmarked graves in northern Kashmir.
Crucially the report had said 574 bodies had been identified as those of local residents — a finding that directly challenged the long-held official insistence that any unmarked graves could only be those of foreign militants.
The commission had recommended DNA testing to determine the identity of the remaining 2,156 bodies and the creation of an independent body to monitor the process.
Reader Comments (72)
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Shame on u India for committing genocide in KashmirRecommend
Kashmir is not part of India and is forcefully occupied so stop calling it “indian” Kashmir.
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Kashmir is an integral part of india. Recommend
pakistan is itself a gift of india,how cum they claim kashmir
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Of course they won’t wanna expose their genocide of Kashmiri people by fairly investigating it. If they were true in their claims that these bodies belong to Pakistan “militants”. they wouldn’t have hesitated one second.
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the headline should be “indian occupied kashmir ” and not ” indian kashmir ” – Whats wrong with you ET
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@sunil bhalla, then India is an integral part of Pakistan ;)
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Kashmir is a disputed area, not Indian. ET whats wrong with u ?
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muslims are outsiders. Islam is a foreign religion. Pakistan was a hindu place to start with.
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These people must have been killed by Terrorists. India army does not commit genocide.Recommend
The world’s largest democracy seems to be doing very well!
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It’s a good idea but not necessarily practical. First the concerned relatives would have to come in and provide DNA samples — and if 8,000 are missing as indicated in photo that’s an enormous task by itself.
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@Sunil bhalla
Oh! so you treat rest of the Indians similarly? Shame!
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Indian babus/netas, why can’t we just do the DNA test, identify the bodies, and return them to their near and dear ones?
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they were killed by terrorists
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Why does Pakistani news blogs show these kind of negative news. There was a news today by Forbes magazine showing 11 Indian companies are among the 50 top companies in the world. Why not these news????
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As an Indian I say that DNA testing should and must be done. If the truth is bitter so be it.
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Propaganda by Pakistani Media.
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India will never accept to test DNA because They know by doing this they will have no answer to give as Hundred of Thousand innocents natives were massacred there and thrown into big ditch
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Kashmir is an integral part of India, how convenient!
In his telegram to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said, “I should like to make it clear that the question of aiding Kashmir in this emergency is not designed in any way to influence the state to accede to India. Our view which we have repeatedly made public is that the question of accession in any disputed territory or state must be decided in accordance with wishes of people and we adhere to this view”. (Telegram 402 Primin-2227 dated 27th October, 1947 to PM of Pakistan repeating telegram addressed to PM of UK).
This is what you told the world and then you claim it to be an integral part of India. What a shame!
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itna makeup aur protest waah waah :P
kashmiri islamic government is holding the DNA test While central hindu majority government wants to do it . conclusions can be drawn accordingly.
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Frankly, this testing should be done. IF 574 out of these 2500 odd are of localpeople and emaining are foreign militants, we need to know that. If there have been improprieties, there needs to be a course correction.
Also not just the 574 people (assuming this is correct) ‘s families (who are Indian) will get closure but also it will be proven beyond doubt that the remaining 2000 were sent from across the border. Also we need to ensure justice for the 574 Indian citizens.
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India should respect the UN resolution and hold a plebiscite to get to know the free will of the Kashmiri people.
All the Kashmiris i meet they have nothing good to say about the Indian forces there.
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@SANJAY:
A gift which we got after sacrifices of many? or just as birthday present?
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Kashmir conflict is purely a religious one and also observed by several international agencies the same and that resulted to throw the native Kashmiri Pandits (BTW both Muslims n Hindus are same ethnic group and predominantly the Brahmins) by means of militancy and extremism.
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@Vikas, why do you come to this Pakistani propaganda website?
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Indian crimes against humanity, remember there is no hiding anymore.
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The graves may be of ‘stateless actors’.
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Even the UN calls it Indian-administered Kashmir.Recommend
India should respect the UN resolution and hold a plebiscite to get to know the free will of the Kashmiri people.
All the Kashmiris i meet they have nothing good to say about the Indian forces there.Recommend
@ex-indian: UN resolution ask for status-quo FIRST ……….get back the part of kashmir sold by pakistan to china and let there be a status quo…then we can think about holding a plebiscite. and plebiscite is for the whole of kashmir………and with the present condition of pakistan, POK may well vote for india.
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A major contradiction is very clear in ET English and Express Urdu websites, ET is approving the Indian claim on occupied Kashmir as Indian Kashmir whereas same news published in urdu text in Express Urdu websites where they replaced Indian Kashmir with Maqbuza(occupied) Kashmir
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@SANJAY: THAT’S WHY WE RULE 1000 YEARS ON INDIA.
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Want to know more? Here you go! Lies, lies and lies is all what the world’s ‘largest democracy’ has done. Please enlighten yourself!
In his statement in the Indian Parliament on 7th August, 1952, Pandit Nehru said, “Let me say clearly that we accept the basic proposition that the future of Kashmir is going to be decided finally by the goodwill and pleasure of her people. The goodwill and pleasure of this Parliament is of no importance in this matter, not because this Parliament does not have the strength to decide the question of Kashmir but because any kind of imposition would be against the principles that this Parliament holds. Kashmir is very close to our minds and hearts and if by some decree or adverse fortune, ceases to be a part of India, it will be a wrench and a pain and torment for us. If, however, the people of Kashmir do not wish to remain with us, let them go by all means. We will not keep them against their will, however painful it may be to us.”.Recommend
This is to protect the evil deed of Indian occupation forces.
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Dear ET, What do you mean by INDIAN Kashmir ? Should be Ashamed of you !
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700,000 soldiers in Indian occupied Kashmir & horrific crimes on the civilians being committed by the security forces & still you have not been able to break their chants for freedom nor their resolve, shame on Indian government. Free Kashmir
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Kashmir including POK is an integral part of India.
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well this is beauty of democracy and secularism….
if thay should start DNA in the un named graves of gujrat alsoo
the world so called biggest democrecy has closed their eyes on kashmir
bravo bravo brosssssssssRecommend
Easy Pakistanis don’t give a lecture on genocide and other non sense, because you are not in a position to do so as yourself have committed a genocide in 1971 and what not.Do i have to start about state of minorities in your country. India is not gonna give up Kashmir period, get over it.
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Lets also do DNA testing on living corpses of converted hindu girls.
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Personally, I would be happy if the bodies of locals could be identified and handed over to their families. However, conducting DNA tests on 8000+ family members and then 2000 decomposed bodies may not be practical. I honestly don’t see any gains to the Indian govt either ways – since refusal results in people will deciding that every single body belongs to a Kashmiri even though the truth is that many of them will be militants; and conducting tests and proving many bodies to be non-Kashmiri will result in accusations of data fudging by the authorities.
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@abdul karim KHAN
you can also add one zero more , its your own wish :P
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If Kashmiris claims are true. Why are Pakistanis and Kashmiris afraid of DNA test ?
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It is not “Indian Kashmir”, its “Indian Occupied Kashmir”
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@abdul karim KHAN:
Hate to break this news to you…..
But we were ruled by the Central Asian Mughal rulers and during that your forefathers converted to Islam either by sword or because they couldnt pay the jizya tax,while my forefather decided to keep their faith no matter what….
But basically both hindus and muslims were ruled by the Mughals…Your religion doesnt make you equal to them
If thats the case,then a Pakistani christian will claim that he ruled you for 200 yrs as he has the same religion as the Queen of EnglandRecommend
express tribune…writing something not atheist/secular/anti pakistan/ anti islam for once….wow im in a state of shock!
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Get this done for missing persons in Balochistan(kalat)………
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How about the treatment and decimation of native Hindu population in Kashmir and now Pakistan? Should Hindus treat Muslims the same way in India?
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@FU:
We will get over it when
You accept Pakistan as a separate country
Free Kashmir
Stop meddling in our country
Stop trolling on PAKISTANI websites
If you hate us so much, Keep distance. Stop coming around here.
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@BlackJack:
Look at your lame excuses. Why don’t you just accept that your army in involved in mass genocide, rapings and abduction of Kashmiris. I know you know it, but aren’t brave enough to admit it.
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Shame on India and UN for genocide in INDIAN OCCUPIED KASHMIRRecommend
@Pakboy: Recently I came through a letter from pak defence forum on dawn.com.Defence forum is now out of resources coz of band employed on different pakistani website citing Assam crisis.Now you want ET to cry in the same way.Be grateful as we r feeding you in some way.
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So Pakistanis shouting internal issues when Vatican was criticizing jailing 11 year old girls, but not its okay to interfere in other’s internal matters?
Pakistan takes the moral high ground when it comes to Kashmir, and takes up the cause of Muslims there. But, just move a few hundred kilometers to the North to Xinjiang in Kashmir, the moral high ground suddenly vanishes. You don’t hear a single word uttered by Pakistanis or their leaders about the plight of Uighur Muslims under Chinese rule.
Why? Because China gives money to Pakistan and also some weapons.
So will Pakistan stop bothering India if India gives some shut-the-heck-up money?
Coming to the issue at hand, the Kashmiris have suffered, yes. But, things are changing. Kashmir clocked the highest Tourist numbers this year and the last. Bollywood movies are being shot there now. Indian Muslims need Kashmir to be part of India.
I would not want any of my fellow citizen to suffer state brutality. Now, I know that is no longer the case and in a generation or two this wound would have healed quite a bit. Kashmir’s future lies with India, whether anyone likes it or not. Its utterly ludicrous to think of any alternatives. Practically speaking, it just can’t happen.
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Pakistanis should keep out of Indian Kashmir and give up0 “Pakistan Occupied Kashmir”. Preventing DNA test is Pakistan’s ploy to avoid being exposed yet again.
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@nitish:
Feeding us??? lol…we have surplus wheat so thank you….go feed 800million poor in india
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@Raw is War:
and what about those who conveted from Hinduism to Muslims?
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@nitish:
Hah you feeding us.? No You’re not. We can feed ourselves fine with grace of Allah. we have enough food.
Anyway i don’t think you are in position to say any that sort of thing to us. I know its deep shame and humiliation for you to admit it to someone else particularly to a Pakistani that massive massive poverty exist in India. 800 million people don’t have toilets in their home. 3/4 of population lives below $2 a month. I can’t believe how you are oblivious to these facts reported by neutral sources. UN UNHCR and WHO are good sources to begin your journey of realization true state of india
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Geonocide should have really been done by India… If it would have happen we will not see such situation today….
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Pakistan Stay Away!!
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@all Indian trolls. I have heard so many times Pakistan is given away by India, thogh how we got it is different debate! How it can be a gift or given away? We who live in Pakistan belong to this land, its our own land since generations, we are not foreigners! We lived on this land since centuries and we decided to call it separate homeland! same goes for Kashmir, it belongs to Kashmiries not to India! Its birth their right to stay with India or Pakistan or even go independant, This is called civilisation and democratic right!
How largest democracy just acts differently for Kashmir!
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For DNA tests please ask the relatives of Militants who crossed over from Pakistan to send DNA samples. One would find a perfect match!
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@Pakboy:
Now that we are here on this site, what you intend to do about it?
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Indian Kashmir???? Really ET???
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@Tony Singh:
thats is the problem… your over flowing population only find Pakistani newspapers to get spilt…I am sure nor of you Indians have any importance in India as well. As for us we have plenty of space and food to offer so we let you have it even though you dont deserve it Recommend
@Tony Singh, we will hope that you and your compatriots get a few hobbies rather than obsessing over people in a country that really wants nothing to do with you.
In relation to the article, I’m surprised (well not really to be honest) that most Indians are not supporting the DNA tests. And instead are using the same old ”Muslims are foreigners”, ”What about the Pandits”, ”Look at Balochistan”, ”Pakistan is India’s gift” lines – are you adults or 12 year olds, engaging in this petty tit-for-tat debate? As a Pakistani I would completely support DNA testing of this sort in Balochistan. Your insecurities and double standards as a nation are utterly astounding. You expect to call Muslims foreign invaders and terrorists, then have the audacity to preach about your ”tolerant, progressive” nation?
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what’s the point in giving DNA of terrorists
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The papers I have read, do point to the fact that India did commit blunder in Kashmir and Kashmiri’s do feel alienated. At the same time, Pakistan also did commit blunders and continues to do so, by supporting terrorism in India and elsewhere, with the aim of wresting Kashmir and dividing India.
The clinical hatred that Pakistan establishment has towards India has been its undoing. Pakistan is now a failed state and is ranked among similar countries.
Most of the Pakistani’s think they live in 1947 era. They quote Jinnah’s “You are free to go…” speech and Nehru’s Kashmir speech umpteen times, whereas the world has gone far ahead now for anyone, including Kashmiri’s to care. Snap out of your pipe-dream and save yourselves.
The Indian side of Kashmir is much more prosperous and progressive and freer than Pakistan occupied Kashmir. India has been taking incremental corrective steps in Kashmir. Just get it into your heads that the whole of Kashmir belongs to Kashmiri’s and India.
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@casim: Free Balochistan first. :-)
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@Shehryar:
If that is the case, why publish news that concerns us (India)? So long as this newspaper will publish the news pertaining to India, rest assured we will voice our opinion. If you do not like it, ignore it but do not advice us on the matter. All I can tell you Mr. Shehryar – Welcome to the world of internet – A truly remarkable place for exchange of ideas, a place where geographical boundaries do not matter. Welcome again.
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@Raw is War:
“muslims are outsiders. Islam is a foreign religion. Pakistan was a hindu place to start with.”
OK. Muslims in the sub-continent are foreigners, therefore they have no rights whatsoever and since the Hindus are the only natives they have the divine right to treat Muslims the way they like. I would like to ask you what you say about Sikhs. Are they also foreigners? In 1984, you slaughtered thousands of them in pogroms, gang raped hundreds of Sikh girls and women, and burned tens of thousands of their homes and businesses. Only in Punjab province, more than 11,000 Sikh youth were murdered in extrajudicial executions by the security forces. Another 6,000+ out of a large number of youth who were abducted by police from their homes died due to inhuman torture. Later their mutilated corpses were secretly cremated by the Indian security forces to hide their heinous crimes. Don’t believe me read yourself all these details of the Indian cruelties in this 275 page report by Human Rights Watch, “Protecting the Killers: A Policy of Impunity in Punjab, India, 18 October 2007″.
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@Shahbaz:
Consider the telegram null and void. It has exceeded its expiry date!
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