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Kashmir: At a tipping point?

Inside the world’s most militarised zone.

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Boatmen paddle in the early morning mist on Dal Lake in Indian-administered Kashmir. A tense calm has descended on the valley after months of violent anti-India protests. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
By Karishma Vyas
Published On 12 Feb 2017

In Indian-administered Kashmir, the numbers are staggering. More than 70,000 people have been killed since a separatist conflict erupted in the late 1980s.

More than 600,000 soldiers are now stationed there, making it the world’s most militarised zone.

They stand accused of numerous human rights abuses, which activists say are encouraging boys to become rebel fighters. Has this volatile region reached a tipping point?

Al Jazeera’s Karishma Vyas travelled to the disputed territory to investigate what is feeding the unrest.

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A resident of Tral in south Kashmir makes the peace sign outside her home. More than 70,000 people have been killed since a separatist insurgency erupted in Indian-administered Kashmir in the late 1980s. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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A farmer counts his money at the floating vegetable market on Dal Lake in Srinagar. The region was once a coveted tourist destination, but a 30-year separatist movement and the military crackdown on it has devastated the local economy. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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Young men in south Kashmir's Anantnag district chant anti-India slogans while waving the Pakistani flag during the funeral of a Kashmiri rebel. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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Thousands of residents from south Kashmir's Anantnag district chant anti-India slogans while waving the Pakistani flag during the funeral of a local rebel. Sameer Rasool Dar, 21, was killed in a security operation in December 2016. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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Women in south Kashmir weep and shout anti-India slogans during the funeral of a local rebel. Sameer Rasool Dar, 21, joined the underground rebels just a month before his death. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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A woman prays in Jama Masjid, the main mosque in downtown Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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Children stand against a window in Jama Masjid, the main mosque in downtown Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir. Kashmiris are demanding that the Indian government hold a referendum to allow them to vote on whether they stay with India, join neighbouring Pakistan or become an independent state. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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A woman walks past anti-India graffiti in downtown Srinagar. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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Indian security forces stand guard along a major road in the Kashmir Valley. The region, wedged between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan, is the most militarised zone in the world, with more than 600,000 security forces based there. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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Indian security forces stand guard along a road in the Kashmir Valley. Their job is to secure the Line of Control, the de facto unofficial border between India and Pakistan. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]
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A woman prays in Jama Masjid, the main mosque in downtown Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir. The separatist conflict has claimed more than 70,000 lives. [Karishma Vyas/Al Jazeera]