THE FORUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR has released its seventh annual report (‘the Report’), marking the completion of seven years of Union Rule in the region, along with a special section on Ladakh and Pakistan-held territories of Jammu and Kashmir. The Report covers events and developments between August 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026. The Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir was established following the Centre’s revocation of the region’s special status in 2019. The Forum is an informal group of citizens who believe that an independent initiative is necessary to ensure that human rights violations in the region do not go unnoticed.
It is currently co-chaired by Gopal Krishna Pillai, a former Union Home Secretary, and Radha Kumar, who previously served on the Group of Interlocutors for Jammu and Kashmir. It consists of a diverse range of members from retired judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court to lawyers, retired civil servants and army officers. The Report has been majorly compiled using government sources, media accounts of reputed newspapers or television, NGO fact-finding reports , interviews and information gathered through legal petitions.
The Report also identifies a familiar pattern of distrust toward Kashmiri Muslims, who it says have faced “demonisation, harassment and assault” since the Red Fort blast.
Civilian security and the shadow of the Red Fort attack
The Report’s foremost section deals with civilian security. While the security situation in the region had appeared to improve, the Red Fort attack of November 2025 pointed to a rekindling of the militancy that has plagued Kashmir for years. The attack, which killed 13 people and injured 32, was carried out using a car loaded with explosives; its driver was a Pulwama-based doctor whose family home was demolished three days after the blast.
Ongoing investigations also led to the arrest of a group of doctors, medical students, and clerics affiliated with Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, who were found to be stockpiling arms and explosives. While the arrested individuals disclosed the locations where they had stored explosives, they withheld any information regarding their alleged role in the car bomb attack near the Red Fort.
According to the Report, the 2025 attack also raised significant questions about the status and continued relevance of Operation Sindoor, which both the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister have affirmed remains an “ongoing operation.” Citing the South Asia Terrorism Portal, the Report notes that of the 1,500 searches, including Cordon-and-Search Operations (‘CASOs’), conducted in 2025, 541 took place in Jammu, with the remainder occurring across the rest of the valley. The Report also flags the Rashtriya Rifles, who have been repeatedly named in successive Forum Reports for their routine involvement in conflicts with civilians, and, on certain occasions, with the police.
A climate of suspicion toward Kashmiri Muslims
The Report also identifies a familiar pattern of distrust toward Kashmiri Muslims, who it says have faced “demonisation, harassment and assault” since the Red Fort blast. The attack aggravated pre-existing suspicion toward the community, which has since faced housing discrimination, forced evictions, landlord refusals, aggressive identity verification, and hostility from neighbours, shopkeepers, hotel staff, and even co-workers.
It also notes that, amid heightened surveillance and harassment of Kashmiri students, the Gurugram Police issued an order requiring housing societies, paying-guest accommodations, and rental landlords to submit detailed lists of tenants, including identity proofs, with particular focus on residents from Jammu and Kashmir and foreign nationals. The National Human Rights Commission, which took cognisance of a complaint filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association regarding the continued harassment of Kashmiri students and traders, has recorded no developments since the complaint was filed.
Following the Red Fort blast, the Jammu and Kashmir administration also began profiling mosques, madrassas, and individuals associated with the management of Islamic religious institutions. The Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (‘MMU’), the largest conglomerate of Islamic religious organisations in the region, has expressed deep concern over this profiling, describing the nature and depth of the information sought as an attempt to control and regulate religious institutions through coercive means.
The Report also flags a disparity in enforcement with demolitions of properties belonging to suspected drug smugglers have taken place only in Kashmir, not Jammu, despite Jammu recording more cases under the NDPS Act.
The routine use of UAPA and PSA
On arrests and detentions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (‘UAPA’), the Report documents what it describes as an almost reflexive tendency among police to invoke the law’s stringent provisions. In one instance, a school was first issued a notice asking why it should not be categorised as an unlawful entity under Section 8 of the UAPA; it was declared unlawful the very next month, with no grounds for the declaration shared with the institution. The ban has affected the lives of nearly 600 students enrolled at the school.
The Report also documents the detention, under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 (‘PSA’), of men accused of “inciting violence” while protesting the alleged sexual assault of a female student by a senior lecturer, a case in which the lecturer was eventually suspended, though the inquiry against him remains pending. It further notes the “severely critical” stance the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has taken against both police and magistrates in several cases involving UAPA and PSA arrests and detentions.
Among the Report’s notable findings is a Supreme Court judgment granting bail to Syed Andrabi, a government employee with the Rural Development Department in Kupwara, who had remained in custody for over five years under UAPA. The judgment reaffirmed that the principle of “bail being the rule and jail being the exception” extends even to cases involving stringent laws such as the UAPA.
Narcotics, terror financing, and selective demolitions
The Report also highlights a growing tendency among security and intelligence agencies to treat drug-smuggling cases in tandem with terrorist financing, including the attachment of the properties of those involved. In April 2026, Minister of State Nityanand Rai informed Parliament of the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s plan to set up a four-tier Narco Coordination Centre (‘NCORD’) to enable coordination between Central and state agencies.
The Report further points to a disparity in enforcement with demolitions of properties belonging to suspected drug smugglers or traders have taken place only in Kashmir, and not in Jammu, despite Jammu recording a higher number of cases filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (‘NDPS’).
Freedom of speech, the press, and internet shutdowns
On freedom of speech, expression, and education, the Report notes that the Jammu and Kashmir administration banned the publication, possession, and circulation of 25 books, alleging that they propagate false narratives, secessionism, and glorify terrorism against the Indian state. The banned works include those by Booker Prize-winning novelist and activist Arundhati Roy and constitutional expert A.G. Noorani.
The Report also cites data showing that India imposed 65 internet shutdowns in Jammu and Kashmir during the period under review, with Kashmir accounting for more than 60 percent of such incidents nationwide. It notes that the region also endured the world’s longest internet shutdown, lasting 552 days, following the revocation of Article 370.
On press freedom, the Report cites Reporters Without Borders, which found that journalists in Jammu and Kashmir “routinely avoid sensitive topics such as human rights abuses, security operations and dissent,” in an effort to avoid state surveillance and the risk of arrest.
Women, children, and shifting indicators
The Report includes a dedicated section on women and children in Jammu and Kashmir, noting that 1,979 domestic violence cases were lodged between 2024 and 2025. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has also flagged that 400 juveniles remain in detention under the PSA, despite such detention being impermissible under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.
On a more positive note, the official data cited in the Report show an improvement in the sex ratio at birth in Jammu and Kashmir, which rose from 936 girls per 1,000 boys in 2014–15 to 976 girls per 1,000 boys by March 2025, even as the region’s overall sex ratio of women to men remains significantly lower, at an estimated 899 women per 1,000 men in 2026. The dropout rate among adolescent girls has also declined, from 4.1 percent in 2020–21 to 3.2 percent in 2024–25, though the Report notes the region continues to grapple with the issue.
Political and economic rights
On political and economic rights, the Report notes that the Union Home Minister’s repeated promise to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir following elections has yet to materialise, with no visible movement toward that goal. It also cites the official Periodic Labour Force Survey, which recorded Kashmir’s unemployment rate among persons aged 15 and above at 6.7 percent in 2025, up from 6.1 percent in 2024, and significantly higher than the national average of 3.5 percent.
Ladakh and Pakistan-held Kashmir
The Report’s final section addresses Ladakh, highlighting the region’s long-standing demand, pending since 2020. for inclusion under the Sixth Schedule or for statehood, despite repeated rounds of talks between the Apex Body Leh, the Kargil Democratic Alliance, and officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Report also documents the uprising in Pakistan-held Kashmir (‘PoK’), where a widening rift has emerged between the Joint Awami Action Committee (‘JAAC’). an alliance of civil society groups and traders demanding civil liberties, economic welfare, and political rights, and the Pakistani government. Islamabad has since declared the JAAC a “proscribed organisation” under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, and the Anti-Terrorism (Second Amendment) Act, 2014, while also imposing an internet shutdown that continues to date.
Among its recommendations, the Report calls for the restoration of statehood to both Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, describing statehood as a non-negotiable foundation for peacebuilding in the region.
Rights violations and recommendations
The Report concludes with a detailed list of rights violations, including the right to representation, to regular free and fair elections, and to vote, in line with Article 21(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, to which India is a signatory, as well as the right to habeas corpus, protection against arbitrary arrest and illegal detention, the right to bail, the right to a fair and speedy trial, and the rights to freedom of speech, expression, and peaceful assembly, among others.
Among its recommendations, the Report calls for the restoration of statehood to both Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, arguing against the State’s use of the “terrorism” justification and describing statehood as a non-negotiable foundation for peacebuilding in the region. It also recommends expediting police reforms in both Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to address the incorrect and vague application of the PSA and UAPA, reinstating Jammu and Kashmir’s oversight commissions, including those for human rights, women, accountability, and information, and setting up a dedicated Ladakh Human Rights Commission.