The death of Makhan Din and killing of another civilian by the army within 24 hours raises security concerns in the disputed region.
The two back-to-back deaths came as authorities detained hundreds of Kashmiris for the killing of a retired army officer by suspected rebels
Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – Makhan Din stands inside an empty mosque in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Kathua district to record his last video message on a mobile phone.
Wearing a skullcap and a blue-and-white sports jacket, the bearded 25-year-old says he is about to “sacrifice” his life so that no one else in the region is subjected to “torture” by the police, who suspected him of “being associated with militants”, the term authorities use for rebels fighting against the Indian rule.
In the middle of the grainy four-minute video recorded on February 5, Din is seen picking a copy of the Quran from a shelf at his back and putting it on his head to pledge he had “never seen” any rebels as he recounts the horrors he endured in police custody the night before. He then places the holy book back, his lips constantly praying to God.
“I will die so that other people will be saved after me. Oh Allah, accept my sacrifice. Keep my family happy, always, Oh Allah. Save me from the punishment of the grave … You watch everything … Send angels to take my soul from inside the mosque. Please forgive me,” he says as he switches off the phone camera.
In a statement on February 7, police claimed Din had a “number of suspicious contacts in Pakistan and other foreign countries”, and denied he was tortured in custody or had any injury on his body. “He was questioned and then got exposed, went home, and committed suicide,” it said. The Jammu district administration is investigating Din’s death by suicide and allegations of torture.
Meanwhile, Din’s video message had reached tens of thousands of mobile phones and TV screens in and outside the region, heightening tensions and bringing back memories of torture and other atrocities in the scenic Himalayan valley, where an armed rebellion has been going on for decades.
Since independence from British rule and partition into a Hindu-majority India and mainly Muslim Pakistan in 1947, the entire Kashmir territory has been claimed by both the nations who rule over parts of it. The two nuclear powers have fought three full-scale wars over the territory and have positioned tens of thousands of soldiers across its snowy frontier.
India accuses Pakistan of training and financing the rebellion on the Indian side, a charge denied by Islamabad, which says it only provides diplomatic support to the movement on international platforms. New Delhi has deployed more than 500,000 soldiers in Kashmir, making it one of the most militarised regions in the world, where the Indian forces have been given special powers and impunity to crush the rebellion.
Residents say New Delhi’s grip over the region has tightened since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right-wing government revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution – which granted a degree of autonomy to Indian-administered Kashmir – and divided the region into two federally-governed union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. The government claimed the move would bring “normalcy”, peace and development to the region, as it pushed a series of laws and policies Kashmiris fear are aimed at altering the demography of the Muslim-majority region.
The 2019 move was also accompanied by a months-long security lockdown and a ban on public protests, as thousands of people – students, lawyers, activists, and even pro-India politicians – were thrown into jails. More than five years later, however, peace continues to elude the restive streets of the region.
