According to the annual report compiled by Legal Forum for Oppressed Voices of Kashmir (LFOVK), this year witnessed one of the worst assaults on human rights by the Indian government as the Indian Army martyred 474 Kashmiris, including 232 freedom fighters, in the occupied valley in 2020.

From 1 January 2020 to 30 December 2020, the Indian army conducted 312 Cordon and Search Operation (CASOs) which resulted in 124 gunfights with the Kashmiri freedom fighters. The occupied force also incurred heavy losses this year as the freedom fighters killed 177 Indian Army men.

Indian Army also razed 657 houses, including the destruction of an entire village in Budgam, to the ground during 2020.

Moreover, Indian authorities also pressurized, intimidated, harassed, and charged many journalists under criminal laws for their reporting on Kashmir in 2020.

While high-speed internet services remain blocked in Indian-occupied Kashmir since 5 August 2019, the Indian government also suspended internet 141 times in the occupied valley this year.

The LFOVK report states that 2020 may be recorded as a “Zero year” in human history as the COVID-19 pandemic forced most of the global population inside their homes to save themselves from the deadly infection.

However, for Indian-occupied Kashmir, this year added more complications and saw no letup in atrocities committed by the Indian occupying forces.

This is despite the fact that the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, called for a global ceasefire in conflict regions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, as the usual offender of international law and agreements, India defied the call from the world’s highest office and continued with its war crimes policies in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the report concludes.