APSN | Kashmir inquiry confirms dozens of unmarked graves

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Kashmir inquiry confirms dozens of unmarked graves

Associated Press - August 21, 2011

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Aijaz Hussain, Srinagar, India – An Indian government inquiry says dozens of unmarked graves in Kashmir hold more than 2,000 unidentified bodies.

The Jammu-Kashmir State Human Rights Commission says in a report that police had claimed the 2,156 corpses were militants fighting against Indian rule in portions of the disputed Himalayan region.

Rights groups say, however, that innocent people have been caught up in the conflict and some 8,000 have disappeared since 1989.

The commission was set up in 1997 after widespread allegations of rights abuses by the army, paramilitary and police.

The report is likely to deepen cynicism in restive Kashmir where anti-India sentiment runs deep and most people want independence or merger with Pakistan.