The discovery of 38 unmarked mass graves where 2156 bodies of Kashmiris, irrespective of age and gender though mostly of the youth, have been found dumped in the Indian occupied Kashmir, is a glaring testimony to the brutalities that New Delhis security forces have been committing to quell the Kashmiris struggle for freedom. The graves constitute a crying shame for the Indian authorities and a crime against humanity. There can be no doubt about the truth of the news as well as the figure of the dead bodies because the reporting agency happens to be Indias own, the Jammu-Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (J&KSHRC) and not an international organisation whose findings New Delhi could discount. This ugly reality behind the faade of the so-called 'greatest democracy in the world, an expression mostly popularised by Indias friends in the West, especially the US, endorses the soul-rendering pleas of the relatives of the thousands of persons, who either go missing for unknown reasons or are simply picked up from their houses, to dampen the spirit of the freedom fighters, for their whereabouts. It also bears out the repeated accusations of Syed Ali Geelani, the intrepid and long-standing leader of the Kashmiri struggle for freedom from the Indian yoke, that a large number of Kashmiri youth are being brutally killed or mysteriously disappear every day. Such persons are much bigger in number and have not been accounted for by these corpses; according to the J&KSHRC, as many as 10,000, who went missing over the past 10 years, have not been traced. The total number of deaths in the 10 years since 2001 has been estimated at 50,000 by this Indian agency; other observers have computed the number as high as 80,000 and rising. Though a strong indictment of the Indian leadership for the callous suppression of the yearning of the people of Kashmir for the grant of their legitimate rights, the discovery is also a tribute to the indomitable spirit of the occupied people who, undeterred by the cruelties they have been experiencing at the hands of Indias minions, have kept the banner of freedom alive. The situation in the Indian-controlled Kashmir is pathetic and calls for a strong response not only from the international human rights bodies, but also the world powers, which do not tire of proclaiming the virtues of democracy and are even going to wars to enforce it and championing the cause of the victims of human rights abuses. Pakistan, which has a direct stake in the final outcome of the disputed state, must lodge a strong dmarche with New Delhi against these brutalities, and launch a vigorous diplomatic drive to secure the right of self-determination for these beleaguered people, as stipulated in the relevant UN resolutions to which India has been committed. There should be no let-up in our efforts till the resolutions are fully implemented. The lingering dispute has also given rise to another issue the Indian machination to wrongfully divert waters flowing from the disputed part to our detriment and Kashmirs settlement would also solve the water issue.