Investor Presentaiton
Raising the Stakes in Jammu and Kashmir
Crisis Group Asia Report N°310, 5 August 2020
Page 5
which included veterans from the Afghanistan war in their ranks, led to an escala-
tion of violence in the Valley, particularly the appearance of suicide attacks and the
targeting of civilians. Unlike indigenous militants, whose operations exclusively tar-
geted the Indian presence in Jammu and Kashmir, the new proxy groups also carried
out attacks in other parts of India. 17 Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed
continue to operate in Jammu and Kashmir today.
Although Pakistan exploited the unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir for its
own ends, the conflict remained rooted in local grievances against the Indian state.
Instead of searching for political solutions, New Delhi intensified its military repres-
sion, transforming Kashmiri militancy into a full-blown insurgency. By 1994, more
than a half-million troops were deployed in the state. Their heavy-handed methods
and grave human rights abuses resulted in a groundswell of anti-Indian sentiment. 18
Militant groups s also targeted civilians, killing Kashmiri Hindus, pro-India political
leaders and activists, and extorting money from local businesses. 19 Tens of thousands
of Kashmiris have been killed since the 1990s by either the military or the militants.20
B.
Lost Opportunities
Kashmir witnessed a period of relative calm from 2003 to 2008. Disenchanted with
the gun after more than a decade of a violent insurgency, Kashmiris searched for po-
litical ways of securing their rights, turning out to vote in large numbers in relatively
fair regional elections. 21 As militancy waned, there were also rising hopes for a peace-
ful settlement of the Kashmir dispute as India and Pakistan opted for bilateral talks,
agreeing to a ceasefire on the Line of Control in 2003. Although the talks were framed
as a "composite dialogue" aimed at resolving all bilateral issues, several confidence-
building measures were directly linked to Kashmir, particularly the opening of the
Line of Control to travel and trade for Kashmiris on both sides.22
tul Mujahideen, which was responsible for the hijacking, saw most of its members joining the new
group after it was formed in 2000. Harkatul Mujahideen's militant wing, which attacked targets in
Kashmir until as late as 2015, is no longer as active. Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba
are sanctioned by the UN Security Council and appear on its list of al-Qaeda and Taliban affiliates,
also known as the al-Qaeda Sanctions List, respectively since 2001 and 2005. For analysis of Paki-
stan's use of militant proxies, including Laskhar-e-Tayyaba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, see Crisis Group
Asia Reports N°s 279, Pakistan's Jihadist Heartland: Southern Punjab, 30 May 2016; 271; Revisit-
ing Counter-terrorism Strategies in Pakistan: Opportunities and Pitfalls, 22 July 2015; and 164,
Pakistan: The Militant Jihadi Challenge, 13 March 2009.
17 The first major attack outside of Jammu and Kashmir was on India's federal parliament in De-
cember 2001. See "Mapping Militant Organizations", Centre for International Security and Cooper-
ation, Stanford University, July 2018.
18
By 1990, human rights organisations had documented widespread abuses by military personnel,
including extrajudicial killings, torture, arson, arbitrary arrest and detention without trial. Crisis
Group Report, The View from Srinagar, op. cit.
19 Crisis Group Reports, Learning from History; Steps Towards Peace, both op. cit.
20
By one account, some 6,000 people were killed in the 1990s either by security forces or the mili-
tants in the 1990s. Lieten, op. cit. See also "Behind the Kashmir Conflict: Abuses by Indian Security
Forces and Militant Groups Continue”, Human Rights Watch, July 1999; and "If They are Dead,
Tell Us': Disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir”, Amnesty International, 2 March 1999.
21
Crisis Group Reports, The View from New Delhi; and Steps Towards Peace, both op. cit.
22 Crisis Group Report, India/Pakistan Relations and Kashmir: Steps Towards Peace, op. cit.View entire presentation