The Pathribal Aftermath

Pathribal was a part of three successive and related killings which claimed 50 lives between March 20 and April 3, 2000. On March 20, unidentified gunmen killed 35 Sikhs at Chittisinghpora followed by the Pathribal killings on March 25 and then the killing of nine civilians at Brakpora on April 3 who were part of a protest over the Pathribal killings. Vakil Manzoor recounts. On 25 March 2000, Indian military forces killed five men in (Vuzkhah Zontangri peak) Pathribal village of Anantnag district, claiming that the victims were “foreign militants” responsible for the attacks on Sikhs in South Kashmir’s Chittisinghpora. Official reports claimed that security forces after a gunfight, blew up the hut where the ‘militants’ were hiding, and had retrieved five bodies that had been charred beyond recognition. The bodies were buried without any postmortem examination. Over the following days, local villagers began to protest, claiming that...

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Most mass graves in C'nawabganj now 'a matter of indifference'

Freedom fighters said, a large number of people were killed by the Pakistan occupation forces with the help of local collaborators and buried in those places, 1971. Due to lack of maintenance, a number of the identified mass graves have turned into abandoned places while others are about to be obliterated, they said. Some of the places where the mass graves are located are Shmashan Ghat, Rehaichar and BGB camp in the town, Zamindar House of Baroghoria, Poragaon, Teroroshia and Dashroshia villages in Islampur union under Sadar upazila. The killing ground known as 'Pakistan Bagan' near Shibganj Girls' College in Chapainawabganj has almost been devoured by Pagla River, while the mass grave near Gomostapur police station is now about to be obliterated. Most of the mass graves of Liberation War martyrs in different upazilas lie uncared for while a few face obliteration largely due to indifference of the authorities. Besides, there is...

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8,000 jars of human remains are to be given a proper burial

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- A group of relatives of Palestinians killed by Israel demanded Tuesday that the Israeli government exclude their remains from a state plan to bury unidentified remains. Israel's Haaretz daily reported that 8,000 jars of human remains are to be given a proper burial, under a national program unveiled Sunday by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv. Palestinian relatives insisted that Israel follow through on its agreement with the Palestinian ministry of civil affairs in summer 2011 in which it agreed to release nearly 200 bodies of slain Palestinians. In a statement, the group condemned Israel's "defiance of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions of 1949, in which Israel is obligated to return victims of war to their families." It was not immediately clear if the unidentified remains kept by Israel would include Palestinians. The burial process will start on May 20, Haaretz...

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Remains' burial project underway

"Final Resting Place," a joint venture by the Health Ministry and the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, which aims to entomb 8,288 organs and tissue samples removed from deceased during autopsies, was officially launched on Sunday. Health Ministry Director-General Ronny Gamzo told reporters that the first phase of the program will focus on increased efforts to contact all of the families. The ministry has also set up a special information hotline for any public inquiries. The Abu Kabir Forensic Institute (AKFI) is scheduled to begin referring remains for burial in May. The families will be asked to choose between burying the remains in their relatives existing graves or in a specially designated gravesite. However, the ministry said that families who choose to use an existing gravesite will have to bear the cost. The statement was met with ire from both families and Knesset members alike. Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, who heads ZAKA (Disaster...

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