Is India using white phosphorus in Kashmir?
It wouldn’t be the first time India stands accused of using the chemical weapon.
In June, there were several reports that Indian forces were using white phosphorus during military operations in south Kashmir. Several videos circulated online purportedly showing streaks of white smoke – characteristic of white phosphorus bombs – while residents have reported charred bodies that experts say are also a hallmark of the weapon. Maryam Iqbal reports.
What is white phosphorus?
White phosphorus is a yellow or colorless chemical substance used by militaries to illuminate battlefields, to generate a smokescreen and as a way to start long-burning fires. It instantly ignites upon contact with oxygen and continues to burn until it is “deprived of oxygen.”
One of the most severe consequences is the deep, painful burns which can penetrate through to the bones.
The burns are near impossible to extinguish once ignited and can stick to surfaces like skin and clothing, leading to potential re-ignition upon exposure to oxygen.
Exposure to white phosphorus is particularly harmful through inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact.
The smoke from burning phosphorus irritates the eyes and the respiratory tract due to phosphoric acids and phosphine. It can cause long term organ damage.
Where has white phosphorus been used?
White phosphorus was infamously used by the US during the Vietnam War. Many other countries such as Turkey and Russia have also been accused of using white phosphorus as well. Then there is Israel which has repeatedly deployed white phosphorus in Palestine and Lebanon.
Multiple human rights organizations have conducted investigations into the use of white phosphorus by Israel.
Despite Israel’s open breach of international law, little action has been taken by the international community to hold it accountable.
As a result, Israel continues to use substances like white phosphorus with impunity.
Writing in The Caravan about the anti-Sikh violence in Delhi, Hartosh Singh Bal narrates:
“The mobs were well organised. According to evidence admitted by the Nanavati commission, “at some places the mobs indulging in violent attacks had come in DTC buses,” or other vehicles belonging to the state transport corporation. The attackers “either came armed with weapons and inflammable materials like kerosene, petrol and some white powder or were supplied with such materials soon after they were taken to the localities where the Sikhs were to be attacked.” (The powder is likely to have been white phosphorous, a volatile substance not stocked in most households or ordinary shops. How an industrial quantity of this substance suddenly became available to mobs in Delhi was not investigated.)”
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“There must be thousands of people in India today who must know how it started, what really happened: what the logistics were, who supplied the weapons and kerosene, the white phosphorus, who distributed the lists, who brought the mobs in on buses,” Singh said in 2018.
“Thousands must have the information that we need and we need them to come out. In terms of justice, we need to create an independent mechanism to have a proper independent investigation.”
However, there has been no investigation into the use of white phosphorus.
Girish Linganna, a defense analyst based in India, told me that white phosphorus was “commonly used in military operations worldwide” and that “specific details about the Indian military’s use of white phosphorus are not widely available.”
“However, it’s known that using such substances in populated areas is generally frowned upon because of the indiscriminate damage they can cause,” Linganna said.
In other words, India has systematically managed to conceal its human rights violations in several parts of the country.
And of course, in Kashmir, concealing abuse has been fundamental to India’s decades-long colonial project.
With Indian PM Narendra Modi dismantling civil society in Kashmir and imprisoning journalists, a culture of silence hovers over the valley.
Together, with laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Indian military has managed to operate with impunity.
Moreover, Kashmir has become a laboratory for India.
Indian forces experiment with new tactics to quell dissent. It has used pellet guns to blind thousands of protesters; jailed activists and journalists; it has threatened to take over the properties of dissidents and burnt the homes of resistance fighters; and set up lists of families at police stations; and used drones to surveil entire districts.
In an environment where the media and civil society have been criminalized and suffocated, the prospect of the Indian army experimenting with white phosphorus on the population with the expectation it would never be held to account, is not just plausible, but very likely.
It’s also worth noting that recent allegations the Indian military used white phosphorus come in the aftermath of an election that didn’t go quite the way Modi had hoped.
Despite his victory earlier this year, the BJP did not achieve a majority nor did it make any further electoral in-roads in Kashmir.
It also comes as locals narrate a significant escalation in military operations in the valley.
The reports of the alleged use of phosphorus in Kashmir also come as the Indian government continues to remain steadfast in its support for Israel even as a genocide unfolds in Palestine.
Meanwhile, Indian right wing commentators brazenly call for bringing Israeli tactics to Kashmir.
Chillingly, this wouldn’t be the first time the Indian army has been accused of using the incendiary weapon against Kashmiris.
Here are three reported cases over the past seven years:
Case #1: Pulwama, 2017
In 2017, residents reported that the Indian army had used white phosphorus in Pulwama.
This allegation was based on the discovery of charred bodies of Kashmiri youth in the debris of five houses destroyed by Indian forces.
The bodies were extensively burnt and beyond visual recognition, suggesting the use of a highly incendiary substance such as white phosphorus.
In Human Rights Watch’s 2020 report titled: “They Burn Through Everything: The Human Cost of Incendiary Weapons and the Limits of International Law”, families in Gaza who had been subjected to white phosphorous also described those who had been killed as “charred beyond recognition” and that their features were so burned it had rendered their features “unrecognizable”.
Case #2 Kulgam, May 2024
On May 6th, during a military operation in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, it was alleged that white phosphorus was used against resistance fighters.
Locals reported that bodies recovered from the site were completely charred, including two alleged armed freedom fighters and one confirmed unarmed civilian.
Additionally, multiple houses were burned down due to the attack.
A resident stated that his mother, an asthma patient, suffered significantly from inhaling the smoke of white phosphorus.
Amnesty International’s 2023 investigation into Israel’s use of white phosphorus in Lebanon found that people who had inhaled it suffered from shortness of breath and coughing.
Case #3: Pulwama, June 2024
On June 3rd, the Indian army was accused again of using white phosphorus during an operation in the Nihama area of Pulwama district, where two resistance fighters were entrapped.
Videos circulating on social media clearly show airbursts resembling those seen in other regions where white phosphorus has been deployed, such as Palestine and Lebanon.
According to a weapons and ammunition expert I interviewed, when part of shelling, typically white phosphorus is characterized by a loud bang followed by an airburst. To identify the use of white phosphorus, experts look for the distinctive cloud with individual dropping pieces.
This description matches the visuals seen in the videos shared on social media, further supporting the allegations of white phosphorus use in Kashmir.
To underline the level of brutality in Kashmir: Around the same time these alleged incidents took place, a 30-year-old Pulwama resident, Imtiaz Ahmed Pala, was detained by the police on suspicion of narcotics violations.
The family says he was later killed in police custody.
An Israel connection?
According to several human rights groups, Israel Chemicals Limited (ICL) is one of the biggest producers of white phosphorus on the planet.
In 2022, Indian Potash limited (IPL) signed an MoU with ICL (now known as the ICL Group) for five years.
“India and Israel share an extensive economic, defence, and strategic relationship based on mutual trust and cooperation,” India’s Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Dr. Mansukh Madaviya, said at the time.
[The] agriculture sector in India has huge potential and provides ample opportunities to collaborate and innovate. India and Israel should work together in the field of Research in Fertilizer sector so that it benefits the farming community”, Madaviya added.
According to the press handout, Madaviya said the Indian Government was committed to increasing agricultural production and the income of farmers through the use of fertilizers and were seeking cooperation from Israel in doing so.
The use of white phosphorus is heavily regulated under international law, particularly by the United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons (UNCCW) and the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
It is illegal to use it in over populated neighborhoods; to target civilians or to damage civilian structures like a school, market, warehouse and hospitals.
As a signatory to both conventions – UNCCW and CWC – India is legally bound to adhere to these regulations, making any use of white phosphorus in civilian areas a serious violation of international law.
However, with the Indian army operating under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which grants its soldiers to shoot, arrest, torture, and kill on a whim in Kashmir, the Indian government operates with impunity in the region.
Moreover, given how little information emerges from the region and India’s refusal to permit human rights investigations to take place in Kashmir, there has been no formal inquiry into the alleged use of white phosphorus in the valley.
In response to questions, Human Rights Watch (HRW) told me the following:
“Human Rights Watch has not been able to investigate this so we cannot comment.”
