Unmasking the Myth of “Mass Graves” in Kashmir

For decades, the imagery of “unmarked and unidentified graves” in Kashmir has been weaponized as one of the most powerful propaganda tools against India. Advocacy groups, international human rights organizations, and a pliant section of global media have peddled the claim that these graves are mass burial sites of civilians killed in cold blood by the Indian state. The emotional weight of such allegations has distorted international discourse on Kashmir, painting a picture of systematic state-sponsored atrocities.

But a rigorous, on-the-ground study conducted by a Kashmir based NGO, Save Youth Save Future, based on hard evidence rather than political theatre, forces us to confront the truth.

The Evidence: What the Graves Really Tell Us

The study, conducted across four conflict-affected districts, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, and Ganderbal, documented 4,056 graves through physical inspection, GPS tagging, photographic evidence, and community interviews. Its findings are stark:

61.5% (2,493 graves) belong to unidentified foreign militants, infiltrators from Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir who carried no identification precisely to preserve Islamabad’s “plausible deniability.”

29.8% (1,208 graves) were local militants from Kashmir who took up arms, often claimed by their families.

Only 276 graves (6.8%) were unmarked, a fraction of the numbers long thrown around in advocacy-driven reports.

Confirmed civilian burials? Just nine graves, 0.2% of the total.

The findings dismantle the myth of widespread mass civilian burials. Instead, the evidence overwhelmingly shows that the majority of these graves hold militants killed in legitimate counter-insurgency operations.

The Missing Accountability: Pakistan’s Hand

This data does not just debunk myths, it exposes Pakistan’s moral bankruptcy. Islamabad not only sent thousands of men across the border as cannon fodder in its proxy war, but also abandoned them in death. Denying their identity, refusing to claim their bodies, and leaving Kashmiris to bury them anonymously was Pakistan’s way of erasing responsibility.

Even today, Pakistan beats the drum of human rights in Kashmir while refusing to acknowledge that many of those “unmarked” bodies are its own citizens. The real humanitarian crisis lies here: families across Pakistan may never know the fate of their sons, sacrificed for Rawalpindi’s jihadist strategy.

The Historical Context: From Autonomy to Armed Jihad

The graves also tell a story of how Kashmir’s political movement was hijacked. From the 1980s’ legitimate calls for greater autonomy, the conflict mutated into a full-blown jihadist insurgency after Pakistan’s ISI redirected Afghan war veterans and weapons into the Valley post-1989. Groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad radicalized the conflict beyond Kashmiri aspirations, turning the Valley into a proxy battlefield.

The graves are not silent, they testify to this transformation. Each anonymous burial of a foreign militant is evidence of how Pakistan exported its terror template into India.

Challenging the Western Media Narrative

For too long, the “mass graves” story has been told in one dimension, India as the perpetrator, Kashmiris as voiceless victims. This study flips that narrative. It shows that truth is more complex, more inconvenient, and less politically expedient than advocacy-driven reports suggest.

Western media outlets that uncritically recycled allegations of mass killings now face a credibility crisis. Evidence matters, and the evidence here is conclusive: Kashmir’s unmarked graves are the fallout of Pakistan’s proxy war, not India’s alleged genocide.

The Way Forward: Truth and Reconciliation

The study recommends a forensic investigation of the 276 genuinely unmarked graves in Baramulla using DNA testing. This is a constructive path forward, acknowledging the pain of families searching for closure, while grounding the process in science and transparency.

Equally, Pakistan must shoulder responsibility by acknowledging its role, allowing families to visit graves, and ceasing its policy of denial. The international community too must adopt evidence-based approaches rather than falling prey to orchestrated disinformation.

Let Facts Speak, Not Propaganda

Kashmir’s graves are not just a humanitarian issue, they are a historical record of a proxy war waged on Indian soil. The numbers are clear: foreign militants form the overwhelming majority. The myth of “mass civilian graves” has been shattered.

For India, the lesson is equally clear: to continue confronting propaganda with evidence, to remain transparent in addressing legitimate humanitarian concerns, and to expose Pakistan’s duplicity at every forum.

The dead cannot speak. But with rigorous investigation, the truth can. And in Kashmir, the truth points not to Indian atrocities, but to Pakistan’s unending war by other means.