In occupied Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyet Conference has revealed presence of 3650 nameless graves spread in Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu region.
According to Kashmir Media Service, talking to mediamen in Srinagar, the APHC leader, Ghulam Ahmad Mir said, "The graves spread over 188 graveyards in Poonch and Rajouri districts have been discovered during a survey."
Ghulam Ahmad Mir further said, "1201 nameless graves have been found in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district, followed by 865, 220 and 217 nameless graves in Mendhar, Haveli and Mandi tehsils of the district respectively, while 472 unnamed graves have been discovered in tehsil Rajouri, followed by 198, 197, 175, 78 and 27 graves in Budhal, Thanamandi, Kalakote, Darhal and Nowshera tehsils of Rajouri district respectively." The APHC leader said the survey was carried out from April 5 to May 15 in the twin districts.
"Twenty to twenty-five percent areas of these two districts have been left out in the survey as Indian army camps are located near the graveyards there. The number may be more if the nameless graves in the areas where the survey could not be carried are added to the list," he added.
Ghulam Ahmad Mir maintained that most of the graves belong to the people who have been subjected to custodial disappearances over the years of military violence. " The people living in these areas disclosed that the bodies were brought to the graveyards by the troops with their faces beyond recognition.
The APHC leader said, "The survey is also going on at places like Gool Gulabgarh, Mahore, Reasi, Ram Nagar, Kathua, Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar and Bhaderwah," adding, "It may take couple of months to complete the survey in these areas and the findings would be made public at an appropriate time. Our belief is that the number of unidentified graves in districts like Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban, Reasi, Udhampur and Kathua would be two to four times more than those found in Rajouri and Poonch districts."