Hundreds of people have held a sit-in in Indian-administered Kashmir in protest against the disappearance of their loved ones during the past 20 years of unrest in the valley,
The relatives and family members of the missing persons gathered in the summer capital of Srinagar on Tuesday and demanded the whereabouts of their dear ones.
The protesters also called on authorities to carry out credible investigations into the issue and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“We want to know whether they are dead or alive because the pain of them being missing will never let us live,” a protester said.
The sit-in was staged on the day which has been called The International Day of the Disappeared.
“This is a special day to spotlight this heinous crime, and to remind victims, including the families and associations of victims of those who disappeared, that they are not alone," a statement by the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances said.
An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people have gone missing in the region, according to human rights groups working in Kashmir.
Nearly 2,730 unidentified persons also lie in unmarked graves along the Line of Control, Kashmir State Human Rights Commission said. The line has been source of conflict since Pakistan and India came into existence as independent states in 1947.
The government in Indian-controlled Kashmir has for many years promised to set up a commission to find the truth about disappearances but up to now no such body has been formed for fear of high numbers of the disappeared the fact that the government cannot hold its own security agencies accountable for the crimes.
MA/MGH
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