State Brutality in Kashmir :

We strongly condemn the recent spate of state-perpetrated violence in Kashmir and its persistent framing as a law and order problem. Surely the unrelenting struggles of millions of Kashmiris must force us to question the reprehensible language of externally induced disturbance –indeed, if the most ordinary people are pelting stones on the streets of Kashmir, certainly they would have something very urgent on their minds. But over the years, the Indian state has consciously and deliberately chosen to turn a deaf ear to their voices.

We strongly condemn the recent spate of state-perpetrated violence in Kashmir and its persistent framing as a law and order problem. Surely the unrelenting struggles of millions of Kashmiris must force us to question the reprehensible language of externally induced disturbance –indeed, if the most ordinary people are pelting stones on the streets of Kashmir, certainly they would have something very urgent on their minds. But over the years, the Indian state has consciously and deliberately chosen to turn a deaf ear to their voices. Instead, it has declared a state of permanent emergency by the imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) since 1990.

This has claimed the lives of almost a hundred people in the last three months alone; 60,000 have been killed in the two decades since its imposition. Long spells of curfew and severe restrictions on movement have become the order of the day; and the presence of the military has acquired an uncanny normalcy on the state’s landscape. Overall, Kashmir is suspended in a perpetual state of exception, with every moment being marked by fear and uncertainty.