Decades of denial: Death certificate for disappeared reopens Kashmir wounds

After nearly three decades of searching and legal battles, a judge in Indian-administered Kashmir has formally declared Abdul Rashid Wani dead, providing rare judicial recognition of enforced disappearance in the disputed territory. Wani, a timber trader, vanished in July 1997 after being stopped near his home in Srinagar while carrying cash to pay suppliers. His family had been waiting for him to return and take them to a wedding reception that evening.

The court ruling, based on a police investigation, identified the army major who took Wani into custody and determined that he murdered Wani and disposed of his body on the day of disappearance. However, the judgment provides no information regarding where his remains are located. The declaration marks the first such ruling among thousands of petitions filed by families of disappeared persons, offering a measure of acknowledgment that many other families have yet to receive.

Wani's son, Junaid Rashid, now 34, expressed that the government's acknowledgment after 29 years came too late to prevent immense suffering. In Kashmir, wives of missing men are referred to as "half-widows," unable to fully mourn until their husbands' deaths are confirmed. The People's Union for Democratic Rights, a civil liberties organisation, characterised Wani's case as emblematic of Kashmir's human rights situation since armed rebellion intensified in 1989, when rebel groups launched an insurgency following failed political efforts for self-determination. The conflict has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, predominantly civilians, and has left the region heavily militarised with approximately 500,000 Indian soldiers stationed there.