In Pictures
The children of Kashmir’s decades-long conflict
Fighting between Indian forces and separatist rebels has left thousands of children bereaved and traumatised.
Indian-administered Kashmir – Suhaib, a five-year-old boy, is unaware of the tragedy that befell him two years ago.
His father Aijaz Ahmad Thoker was killed by Indian forces in 2016 while returning home during protests following a prayer service for the slain rebel commander, Burhan Muzaffar Wani.
Thoker’s was the first killing in Kashmir following Wani’s death.
“My son has no idea about the death of his father. He’s too innocent to understand what death means,” said Asifa, Suhaib’s mother.
“Whenever he asks about his father, I dodge (the issue) by saying he has gone to perform Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca).”
According to Save the Children, the conflict is responsible for 37 percent of Indian-administered Kashmir’s 200,000 orphans. As a result of the fighting, orphanages are appearing across the valley.
Kashmir is a Himalayan territory divided between Indian and Pakistani control, with both countries claiming the territory in full. The two states have fought three wars, of which two were exclusively over Kashmir.
An armed rebellion against Indian rule began in 1989 and has claimed thousands of lives.
Another 8,000 Kashmiris have been subjected to enforced disappearances and their fate cannot be confirmed.
Fierce gunfights between rebels and Indian forces are almost a daily occurrence and children often bear the brunt.
“Inside orphanages children are continuously at risk of vicarious traumatisation,” said psychiatrist Dr Arshid Hussain.
“They see world through the prism of orphanages … these children should be raised with their extended families and be enrolled in normal schools.”
