Bandipora Redux: A Tale From Two Insurgencies

Ashok Agrwaal

Abstract

This artixcle is based upon my work on State impunity in the context of the guaranteed right to life, in Punjab and Kashmir.

The Indian state has fought insurgencies almost throughout its independent history: from Nagaland to Punjab, Andhra Pradesh to Kashmir, from the early 1950s to date. Among the many different kinds of human rights violations that the Indian security forces have been charged with, is the recurring charge that they force local people to act as 'human shields' \with a view to minimising uniformed casualties. These reports have been denied by the authorities who routinely provide other reasons, "caught in the cross-fire", "aiding/abetting terrorists", etc, to explain civilian casualties. In the absence of objective investigations, the truth about these incidents rarely becomes public. However, the cases reported here, one from Punjab in the early 1990s and the other from Kashmir in 2004, are proof that these allegations are true.

The article was written for an Indian audience and I apologise for colloquial usages, which will be incomprehensible to others. Further, though the story is exactly as it was published, I have made some minor stylistic changes.