The Sarla Bhat case and Kashmir's long road to justice

The Kashmir insurgency left behind thousands of victims, but many of its earliest crimes never reached a courtroom. Fear silenced witnesses, investigations stalled, and the passage of time buried evidence. More than three decades later, one such case has returned to the centre of public attention. The chargesheet in the murder of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhat is not only an attempt to prosecute those allegedly responsible; it is also a test of whether history's unresolved crimes can still be brought to justice.