India backs use of human shields in Kashmir

By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

India's defense minister on Wednesday backed the Indian Army’s use of human shields in disputed Kashmir, calling it a war strategy.

“Military solutions are to be provided by military officers,” Arun Jaitley told reporters in New Delhi. “We should allow our army officers to take decisions.”

The minister, who likened the situation in the disputed territory to a war, added that the army does not need to consult parliamentarians over what it needs to do.

Jaitley’s comments came amid a controversy over viral videos last month showing a Kashmiri civilian tied to an Indian Army jeep.

The civilian was used as a human shield to stop protesters from throwing stones at Indian Army troops guarding a polling booth during by-elections in Srinagar. Many residents in Kashmir view the Indian Army as an occupying force in the region.

The army, earlier this week, awarded Maj. Leetul Gogoi, the officer who had ordered the use of human shields on April 9, maintaining that his prompt response had managed to disperse a mob which would have sabotaged the election process.

'Admission of occupation'

Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez said that Jaitley’s statement reinforces the long-held perception that there is a military occupation of Kashmir.

“Jaitley’s statement is only an admission of the default position that the Indian state and army have in Kashmir. The army has always taken decisions in Kashmir and they have always been above the law,” he said.

“The entire Indian state is only admitting the truth now that the Indian Army holds Kashmir for India,” Parvez said.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

The two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – since they were partitioned in 1947, two of them over Kashmir.

Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.