T he sensational inquiry report by the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) in Jammu and Kashmir, the first official acknowledgement of the long-known existence of thousands of unmarked graves in the Valley’s districts, was never meant to become public the way it did. As the acutely embarrassed state government and security forces flounder for a response that does not strain credulity, the report gives hope to the families of around 10,000 people known to have disappeared without a trace during the two-decade-long insurgency in Kashmir.

On July 2, the investigation wing of the SHRC headed by SSP Bashir Ahmed submitted a report on an inquiry into unmarked graves in the three districts of Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipore in north Kashmir. The team identified 2,730 such graves in 38 graveyards, of which 2,156 contained unidentified bodies. Significantly, the report states, “The local police, while handing over bodies to the villagers for burial, would tell them that these were of unidentified foreign militants, but 574 of them...