Kashmir: Lines of Control
Recently, our team stumbled upon the documentary video named Kashmir: Lines of Control on the microblogging site. The Twitter users Kashmir Scholars and IQashmir sharing the video link of the documentary urged the Twitter users to watch it.
The Twitter user Kashmir Scholars while sharing the documentary link wrote, “India illegally annexed Kashmir in August 2019 and pushed a series of laws & policies aimed at undermining the Kashmir struggle for the right to self determination.”
With the relevant keyword search on Twitter, we found that the video was first shared by the Twitter account Buried Signals last year who wrote, “Presenting Lines of Control, our interactive documentary about the conflict in Kashmir.” Buried Signals is a publication that specializes in visual essays and interactive documentaries.
We watched the 9:57 minutes video documentary “Kashmir: Lines of Control” which tries to portray that India invaded and forcefully dictating its term on Kashmir by inflicting atrocities on Kashmiri Muslims and denying access to basic necessities.
The documentary is narrated by terrorism advocator Ather Zia, a US based academic of Indian origin who wants Kashmir liberation from India. She is also a co-founder of the shady organization Stand With Kashmir (SWK), along with Mohamad Zunaid, the documentary’s second narrator. Apart from these ardent Hindu and India haters, the documentary has a third narrator, Mona Bhan, who, although being a Kashmir Pandit, openly works with people who oppose the resettling of Kashmiri Hindus in Kashmir.
Ather Zia, while propagating her agenda against India, claimed that so far in Kashmir more than hundred thousand people have been killed. She cited this big figure without backing any supportive evidence or data.
Since the documentary had the creators who advocate hate against India and Hindus, it was evident that their propaganda show would not end there. The documentary goes on to talk about the Jammu massacre in 1947, claiming that 600,000 Muslims were killed. Further, their underlying hatred for India went on to claim that Kashmir was invaded by India.
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We conducted a relevant keyword search on Google and came across a Times of India report dated June 20, 2011. The report’s headline state, “State data refutes claim of 1 lakh killed in Kashmir.”
According to the TOI report, they accessed Jammu and Kashmir government data from 1990 to 2011. According to the statistics, the figure is overstated and distant from the true figure. The report acquired data on year-by-year incidences, the number of individuals died, and the circumstances that led to the fatalities.
According to the government state data, 43,460 people were killed in the Kashmir insurgency between 1990 and 2011. There are 21,323 terrorists among them, 13,226 civilians killed by terrorists, 3,642 civilians killed by security forces, and 5,369 police officers killed by terrorists. Security forces killed 21,323 terrorists in operations, including both Kashmiri and foreign terrorists. There are around 1,500 Kashmiri police officers among the 5,369 personnel of the security forces.
Besides, as per another Hindustan Times report dated September 25, 2017, militancy in Jammu and Kashmir killed 41,000 people between 1990 and 2017. Out of 41,000 death which occurred 14,000 were civilians, 5,000 security personnel, and 22,000 terrorists.
Further, with more keyword search, we found the data report by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP). It has compelled data from the Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) from 1988 to 2019. The statistics contains the number of incidents as well as the deaths of citizens, security officers, and terrorists.
From 1988 to 2019, a total of 56,232 incidence of violence occurred in J&K, killing 14,930 civilians, 6,413 security personnel, and 23,386 terrorists for a total of 44,729 deaths.
In the following stage of our research, our team tried to verify the statistics given by the SATP and get the approximate figure using official data. We obtained the annual reports from the Ministry of Home Affairs website between 1988 to 2019.
We discovered that the data in the 1995-96 annual report was nearly accurate to what was provided in the SATP data. According to official records, there were 13,491 killings in J&K between 1988 and 1996 (up to March 31).
From 1990 to 2005, the overall number of civilians killed in J&K was 12,542, while the number of security forces and terrorists killed was 4,116 and 18,589, respectively. Additionally, between 1990 and 2005, 3,636 foreign terrorists were killed.
Moreover, according to another yearly report statistics from 2005 to 2014, the cumulative number of civilians, security forces, and terrorists killed was 1,378, 778, and 3,053, for a total of 5,209 killings. So, as per the official figure, the number of killings which occurred between 1988 to 2014 in J&K were approximately 40,579.
However, if we compare between 1988 to 2014, after the Modi government commenced its tenure in 2014, the number of terrorist activities and fatalities in J&K fell dramatically. The data from the Ministry of Home Affairs says that between 2015-19 the total number of security forces and terrorists killed in J&K were 372 and 885, while the total number of civilians killed were 150.
So far, based on our research and information obtained from various media reports and government sources, the Only Fact team has concluded that between 1988 and 2019, the approximate number of killings in J&K were about 43,000, which is nowhere near 100,000.
This figure includes civilians killed by terrorists, terrorists killed by security forces, civilians who lost their lives in terrorist operation by security forces and security forces killed by terrorists.
Just as the documentary deliberately overstated the number of fatalities in Kashmir, the claim of 600,000 Muslims killed in the Jammu massacre was similarly overblown by the creators.
The Only Fact team member had fact checked this claim and found it to be misleading. The figure of 600,000 is inflated; nonetheless, the casualties were from 20,000 to 100,000, and the image used to depict the Jammu massacre is from the 1946 Direct Action Day, during which many Hindu lives were lost. The complete report can be found by clicking here.
When the British ultimately chose to lose their control after World War II, the destiny of the princely kingdoms was scrutinized. After the British authority left, the Princely States were expected to join either India or Pakistan.
However, the Hindu Maharajah Sir Hari Singh, the former princely state of Kashmir’s governing monarch, was hesitant to join either Pakistan or India. Pakistan opted to act communally because the Maharajah had acceded to neither side until the establishment of India and Pakistan in August 1947. As a Muslim-majority state, it resolved to ‘liberate’ Kashmir by supporting the Azad Kashmir Force. Pakistan invaded Kashmir in October 1947, capturing its northern and western regions.
After Pakistan invaded Kashmir, the Maharaj approached India and requested them to sent troops, this is when India and Kashmir signed the instrument of accession. Following the signing of the pact, the government in Delhi reacted by sending troops to the region, and Pakistani advances were quickly halted. As a result, the region’s southern and eastern sections were maintained in the Indian Union and formed the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
India did not invade Kashmir. Pakistan opted to act communally by invading Kashmir, and as a result, Kashmir became part of India under the treaty of accession.
All of the information included in the documentary was taken from left and Islamist propaganda. None of the claims made were found to be factually true, but were solely based on delusory beliefs that these separatists chose to accept. Hence, the ‘Kashmir: Lines of Control’ is a propaganda driven dirty lie.
| Claim | 1. 100,000 people have been killed in J&K 2. 600,000 Muslims were killed in Jammu massacre 3. India invaded Kashmir |
| Claimed by | Kashmir: Lines of Control |
| Fact Check | Propaganda |
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