Indian-controlled Kashmir separatist leader castigates authorities over missing of 3 men

A moderate separatist leader in Indian-controlled Kashmir castigated the local government on Friday for maintaining what he described "criminal silence" over the disappearance of three men.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of moderate faction of Hurriyat (freedom) Conference made the remarks at a gathering in a grand mosque in Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Families of these youth are worried about their safety knowing how ordinary civilians have been detained by Indian forces in the past and subjected to custodial disappearances or killed in fake gunfights after labelling them as militants," Farooq said.

"It is unfortunate that authorities are maintaining a criminal silence over the matter," he said.

The civilians - Ghulam Jeelani Khatana (42), Mir Hussain Khatana (45) and Ali Muhammad Sheikh (40) - went missing last month from Kupwara district, about 120 km northwest of Srinagar.

Families of the missing men blame Indian military for subjecting the trio to enforced disappearance, saying they were taken away by a trooper belonging to the Indian Territorial Army.

Following their missing reports, police arrested the accused trooper for questioning.

Indian military said on Wednesday it had ordered a probe into the disappearance of three men.

The enforced disappearances started in 1990 in Indian-controlled Kashmir immediately after insurgency challenging New Delhi's rule broke out.

Rights groups say more than 8,000 people have been subjected to enforced disappearances in the restive region so far. However, the local government has always contested the numbers.

Indian-controlled Kashmir is considered as one of the highest militarized region in the world. Officially India does not reveal the actual number of its troops deployed in Kashmir, which rights groups put at more than 700,000 troopers and paramilitary troopers.

Indian troops and police are consistently accused of grave human rights violations in the region.

A separatist movement and guerilla war challenging New Delhi's rule has been going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Enditem