A delegation to Kashmir, led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, has observed that excessive force was used by the administration to quell protests in the Valley after Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter on July 8. In its report, the five-member team said the use of pump action guns for crowd control had further pushed the people of the region against the administration.

They also said that people they interviewed held that youngsters who pelted stones at security officials did so in self-defence. The report said property and household goods were allegedly destroyed by security personnel during night-time search operations, and that the people of Kashmir were angry about these incidents.

The report said the locals believed that the Public Safety Act, which does not require the police to produce the arrested before a court, was a revolving door process to keep innocent people in jail. Though the act cannot be used against minors, security forces allegedly used it to detain and arrest several underage protestors in the region. The separatist leaders claim the number is about 6,000. The state does not have juvenile homes, hence the minors are generally kept in jails with hardened criminals, locals said.

The delegation said several residents have accused the security forces of destroying transformers to inconvenience citizens. They have also alleged that the forces have their fields on fire. The citizens believe that the forces carried out these actions to take revenge for pelting stones.

The team listed sentiments that had led to the unrest in the Valley. The reasons for the ongoing tension mentioned in the report include the central leadership’s refusal to recognise Kashmir as a politically contentious issue, refusal to recognise the emotional and sentimental aspects of the Kashmir issue, designating all Kashmiris as Pakistani puppets, and the Indian public’s indifference to the plight of Kashmiris, among others.

The delegation also suggested a few steps that the Centre could consider to deal with the situation. They have recommended reopening schools in the region, compensation for those killed during police action to quell protests, rehabilitation of those permanently blinded by pellet injuries, and a judicial investigation into excesses by the police, among others.