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Enduring the effects of partition in Kashmir

Seven decades on, the Indian Partition continues to haunt the Kashmir Valley.

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A Kashmiri boy peeks through the bullet-riddled window in the village of Moul, district of Shopian, in Indian-administered Kashmir where an overnight shoot-out between Kashmiri fighters and an Indian army convoy resulted in the deaths of one elderly Kashmiri woman and three Indian soldiers. According to witnesses, a group of rebel fighters tossed grenades and sprayed military vehicles and soldiers with bullets as the convoy crossed the village. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
By Violeta Santos Moura
Published On 13 Aug 2017

Indian-administered Kashmir – As the 70th anniversary of the partition of Indian subcontinent approaches, for some of the communities torn apart by the aftermath of the historic event, the effects of the trauma still linger. The Kashmir region was among the communities divided in a violent skirmish between the newly emancipated Indiaand Pakistan. Both countries now administer parts of Kashmir, but both claim rights over the entire territory. 

In Indian-administered Kashmir, the predominantly Muslim population harbour strong sentiments against Indian rule and an estimated 70,000 people have been killed in the violence that has persisted since an armed movement of resistance against Indian rule broke out in the region in the aftermath the disputed state election of 1987.

The armed groups leading this movement of resistance demand that Kashmir be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country which the Indian government rejects.

While the ongoing debate over the future of this war-torn region persists, it seldom deviates from the geopolitical aspects of the bilateral dispute dating back to 1947.

The following series illustrates the often bloody and overlooked ripple effects on the lives of millions in Kashmir, locked in a decades-long pursuit for self-determination.

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Kashmiri girls shout slogans decrying both the killing of her 60-year-old neighbour, killed in a shootout between fighters and Indian soldiers. 'Azadi, Azadi' - Freedom', she chants. 'There is only one solution: Gun solution! Gun solution! There is only one track: go India, go back!' The night before Kashmiri fighters had ambushed a convoy of Indian soldiers. Three Indian soldiers were also killed in the shoot-out. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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Indian forces fire with a pellet rifle at protesting Kashmiri youths, after Friday prayers in the old part of Srinagar. Over 7,000 people received pellet related injuries during mass protests in the summer of 2016, according to some reports, of whom 1,200 people were blinded as a result of pellet injuries. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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Kashmiri youth are seen during clashes with Indian army after midday prayers in the old part of Srinagar during a Friday protest against Indian rule and the killings of civilians and fighters in Indian-administered Kashmir. Amnesty International estimates that the number of Kashmiris detained over the past two decades ranges from 8,000 to 20,000. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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A Kashmiri 26-year-old labourer and father of two, who requested anonymity, shows his left eye, which was blinded by pellets. The Indian army was searching for his younger brother in the Baramulla district during protests against Indian rule, in which he says he was not participating. He suffers from chronic pain as a result of the injury. 'A bullet is better than a pellet, you die at once,' he says. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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Masked Kashmiri youths rest during clashes with the Indian army. They say the police had fired tear gas, pepper gas and live ammunition in reaction to the stone-throwing youth. For most Kashmiris, the issue at the root of the conflict is one of national self-determination, democratic rights and ultimately a departure from Indian rule. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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A soldier of the Indian army stands next to a wall with graffiti reading 'Freedom' in the village of Panjpora, located south of Srinagar. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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Mehbooba Sofi, 52, dries her tears as she restrains her playing granddaughter and recounts her family's four-year quest for justice. Her 26-year-old son Tahrir Rasool Sofi was killed by Indian soldiers on March 5, 2013, in the village of Ganai Hamam. According to eyewitnesses, Tahrir was killed while trying to talk to journalists about an incident where soldiers had come into the area and ransacked residential houses, shops and vehicles. Tahrir was shot with two bullets, one hitting his face, and died on the spot. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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Nazir Ahmad Sheikh, 40, was once a mason. Both of his legs were amputated, as well as four fingers on his left hand in 1994 as a result of torture reportedly inflicted on him by soldiers of the Indian army. Other forms of torture he suffered included bludgeoning, the crushing of his limbs and the electrocution of different parts of his body, including genitalia. Nazir believes he was taken by Indian soldiers because he resembled a wanted fighter. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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Nazir Ahmad Sheikh, left, and Abdul Qadeer, right, 46, pose for a portrait in the border district of Baramulla in Indian-administered Kashmir. Qadeer is a former fighter who has become a human rights activist. He says he was also tortured by government forces. For three years, Qadeer was subjected to bludgeoning, electrocution, sleep deprivation, his muscles were shredded, among other forms of torture. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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The external fence surrounding an Indian military camp sits on the main road between the Kashmiri capital of Srinagar and the border district of Baramulla. Kashmiris say they feel uncomfortable when walking past these camps because of what they suspect happens inside these military facilities. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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Ghullam Muhammad Mir, left, and his daughters-in-law Nasima Begum, centre, and Hasina Begum, right, pose for a portrait at their home in Tantray Pora, Delina, Baramulla district in Indian-administered Kashmir. They suspect their men were arrested and one disappeared, tortured to death or executed. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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Men pay their respects at a funeral and bury the body of Ghulam Mohi ud Din Rather in the village of Panjpora in Indian-administered Kashmir. The 34-year-old was a soldier of Kashmiri origin who served in the Indian army and was killed, along with two Indian soldiers, in an ambush by Kashmiri fighters on an Indian army convoy in the village of Moul. A civilian was also killed in the shoot-out. Such funerals are rare as there is only a small minority of Kashmiris that join the Indian army whom the Kashmiri population see as occupiers. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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Relatives and neighbours in Panjpora village try to comfort the mother of 34-year-old Ghulam Mohi ud Din Rather in the village of Panjpora who was killed in an ambush by Kashmiri fighters. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]
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A mass grave with an estimated 200 to 300 bodies of unidentified Kashmiris believed to have been killed by Indian government forces is seen in the vicinity of the village of Chehal in the area of Uri, between the Kashmiri areas under Indian and Pakistan control. The few tombstones were placed by families who believe their disappeared loved one may have been buried in this mass grave due to the descriptions of the now deceased grave digger. According to human rights lawyer Parvez Imroz, there are 6,000 documented unmarked single and mass graves dotting the territory and many more to be found as many more areas were still not surveyed in the Kashmir valley. [Violeta Santos Moura/Al Jazeera]

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