SUMMARY

One-sided violence perpetrated by the Government of India has taken place mainly in locations that are in one way or the other experiencing armed conflict.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s this has meant that the areas of Kashmir and India’s north-eastern states were the most affected, since these areas experienced armed conflicts. Government forces have, however, also intervened with one-sided violence in demonstrations and communal clashes, primarily between Muslims (India) and Hindus (India).

Violence aimed towards civilians by the Government of India bears three characteristic traits; indiscriminate use of force to control crowds, revenge killings for comrades lost in battle, and as a part of counter-insurgency strategies.

The first category of violence can be seen all across India, both in regard to demonstrations and in regard to attempts to control crowds during communal clashes. The second trait can be discerned in areas where an armed conflict is ongoing and where troops, presumably due to a lack of discipline, exact revenge on populations deemed to be hostile. The third trait is also visible in armed conflicts, where civilians have been killed in hard-handed counter-insurgency operations of different kinds.

The Government of India first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1990, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in September of that year when 2 teenagers were killed when police opened fire at youths blocking a crossroads in New Delhi city.