Srinagar: Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) is facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as thousands of people continue to remain missing, exposing what observers describe as the criminal face of the Indian occupation authorities in the territory.
Alarming data presented in the Indian Parliament has revealed that out of 7,151 missing persons reported in occupied Jammu and Kashmir during 2023, as many as 4,190 are still untraced. The disclosure was made by India's Minister of State for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a written reply to Rajya Sabha member Randeep Singh Surjewala.
While the actual number of missing persons is believed to be far higher than officially stated, even these figures submitted by the Modi-led government lay bare the disturbing scale of enforced disappearances in the occupied territory. Years of militarization, fear and lawlessness have turned daily life into a nightmare, with children and women forming a significant proportion of the missing, underscoring the extreme vulnerability of civilians under Indian occupation.
Official data shows that police traced 2,961 individuals during 2023, yet thousands of families continue to suffer in anguish, uncertain about the fate of their loved ones.
The situation of missing children is particularly alarming. Child disappearance cases have steadily risen from 627 in 2020 to 723 in 2021, 821 in 2022, and have remained at similarly high levels in 2023. Girls constitute the majority among missing minors, heightening fears of trafficking, abuse and other grave crimes in an environment marked by impunity and weak accountability.
Recovery rates further highlight systemic failure. Of the 821 children reported missing in 2022, only 376 were traced, leaving 445 still unaccounted for. This grim trend has continued year after year, creating a growing backlog of unresolved cases and shattered families.
Overall figures point to a worsening crisis. In 2020, 5,824 people were reported missing in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, but only 2,011 were traced. In 2021, 6,486 cases were recorded with 2,526 recoveries. In 2022, 6,983 people went missing and just 3,136 were found. By 2023, the total climbed to 7,151 missing persons, with more than four thousand still untraced.
The staggering number of unresolved disappearances stands as a damning indictment of India's claims of 'normalcy' in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and highlights the urgent need for sustained international attention to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the territory.