‘Thousands of people missing in IIOJK but international community is silent’
New Delhi: As many as 7,151 people went missing in occupied Jammu and Kashmir during the year 2023 alone, according to the data presented in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament.
According to Kashmir Media Service, 2,961 of them were recovered within the same year, while 4,190 people remained missing till the end of 2023. These are not speculative figures but the numbers that were acknowledged in the Indian Parliament.
This trend has been increasing continuously in the last four years. In 2020, 5,824 people went missing in the occupied territory, in 2021, this number increased to 6,486 and in 2022, it reached 6,983. By 2023, this number had reached 7,151.
Meanwhile, the number of missing persons has increased from 3,813 at the end of 2020 to 4,190 by the end of 2023. In four years, the number of missing persons has not decreased, but increased. This situation raises fundamental questions about accountability.
When thousands of people are going missing every year in the most heavily militarized region and the number of missing persons is increasing rather than decreasing, institutional responsibility becomes a central issue. Yet there is no visible transparent and independent investigation or effective judicial oversight.
Equally important is the silence of the international community. Major Western countries prioritize trade, defence cooperation and strategic partnerships with India. Human rights concerns are mentioned but not pursued through sustained diplomatic pressure. The result is clear.
The growing number of missing persons and the expansion of economic relations go hand in hand, reinforcing the impression that the international community is giving limited importance to the lives of Kashmiris.
