Massacres of Lal Chowk, Gaw Kadal, Handwara, Hawal send shivers down the spine
“It was all doomsday; bullets were being showered like rain onto the protesters.”
Jammu and Kashmir, an internationally-recognised disputed territory has been reeling under New Delhi’s illegal occupation for the past over seven decades, where continued human rights abuses range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Border Security Personnel (BSF) enjoying full impunity under black laws have committed severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians. Since 1989 when an indigenous freedom struggle was launched by people of Jammu and Kashmir, more than 100,000 Kashmiris have been martyred.
Civilians including women and children have been killed in “reprisal” attacks by Indian security forces. International human rights groups like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Genocide Watch, as well as the US State Department, have documented human rights abuses including disappearances, torture, and arbitrary executions carried out by Indian troops time and again.
The Indian forces have committed several massacres in 1990s which include Gaw Kadal, Handwara, Sopore and Kupwara in which around two hundred civilians were butchered by the Indian forces’ personnel.
Gaw Kadal Massacre:
More than 50 persons were killed and hundreds others injured in the indiscriminate firing by the personnel of Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on January 21, 1990, at Gaw Kadal in Srinagar. The CRPF troops opened fire on peaceful demonstrators who were peacefully protesting against wanton arrests and molestation of several women by the troops in Chota Bazaar locality of Srinagar on January 20, 1993. The incident took place soon after communal Jagmohan Malhotra was appointed as the Governor of occupied Kashmir to suppress the mass uprising in the occupied territory.
It merits mentioning here that on January 20, 1990, Jagmohan’s first television address as Governor of the occupied territory stunned everyone. It was clear-cut provocative speech and a direct threat in which he said that if anybody created a law and order problem ‘Meray haathon say aman ka patta khisak jaye ga (the cards of peace I’m carrying will slip away from my hands)’. And in less than 24 hours the threat was translated into action in a brutal manner.
Handwara massacre:
Four days after Gaw Kadal massacre, another massacre took place in Handwara district of Kupwara. On January 25, two patrolling parties of the Indian Border Security Force opened indiscriminate fire on thousands of peaceful and unarmed people who were protesting against the Gaw Kadal massacre. People from Ramhal, Vilgam, Rajwar, Kandi, Nagarwari, Qaziabad, Qalamabad, Kulangam and adjoining areas started gathering in Handwara Chowk, showing their protest against the newly appointed governor, Jagmohan.
A survivor, who was part of the procession, narrates, “People were protesting peacefully when troopers opened fire at them. Suddenly people hit by bullets were falling in front of me. Some of them died on the spot. I could see the bodies of Muhammad Shafi War of Divaspora, Shafi Khan of Sodal, Nazir Ahmad Dar of Braripora, Shiefud-din Khan of Wullarhama, Ghulam Muhammad Sheikh of Wajhama, Ghulam Muhammad Beigh of Wudpora, Ali Mohammad Itto of Chogal, Ghulam Muhammad War and Muhammad Amin Masala both residents of Kulangam receiving bullets and dying in front of me. Many others were critically injured.”
“It was all doomsday; bullets were being showered like rain onto the protesters. The incident still sends shivers down the spine of the people.”
Recalling the incident another survivor said, “Within minutes bodies were piling on streets and blood was scattered everywhere. I miraculously escaped in the indiscriminate firing; BSF men didn’t allow us initially to move the injured to the hospital.”
Human rights activists say at least 34 people lost their lives and 175 others suffered grievous injuries.
Sopore Massacre:
On January 6, 1993, more than 50 people were martyred and hundreds others injured when the BSF troops resorted to indiscriminate firing in Sopore in vengeance of the killing of one of their colleagues in an attack. more than 350 shops, houses and other structures.
The Border Security Forces sprayed a public coach with machine-gun fire, killing the driver and more than 15 passengers, said witnesses. Three other cars were also fired on, and then the paramilitary forces set the vehicles ablaze. Next, they began herding the native Kashmiris into shops and houses, said witnesses. Then the security forces shot them, splashed paraffin over the bodies and set the buildings alight in which more than 450 buildings were burnt down.
Kupwara Massacre:
On January 27, 1994, the personnel of Punjab Regiment of Indian Army opened unprovoked and indiscriminate fire near a bus stop in Kupwara to punish people for observing shutdown on India’s Republic Day (26th January). The bloodbath had left 27 civilians dead. The survivors allege that the massacre was carried out by the soldiers to punish the people for observing a shutdown on January 26, 1994.
The survivors of the Kupwara massacre recalled the horrific scene saying that the event continued to haunt them.”
The survivors said that a patrol party of Punjab regiment of the Indian Army had warned the shopkeepers on the eve of January 26 of dire consequences if they observe strike and didn’t celebrate the Republic Day. They narrate that the next day on January 25 some Army personnel called out worshippers from Jamia Masjid Kupwara and thrashed them including Imam of the Masjid. On January 26 as usual people of Kupwara observed a complete shutdown. The survivors said that as they were returning after meeting the DC Kupwara and were about to reach the old bridge a single firing shot was heard which was followed by a rain of bullets. “All were seen running for safety, the firing lasted at least for an hour. I hid in one of the shops. After a lull I came out of the shop and there were horrific scenes of bloodbath all around, said one of the survivors”
Zakoora & Tengpora massacre:
On March 1, 1990 Indian troops killed 33 protesters and injured 47 at Zakoora Crossing and Tengpora Bypass Road in Srinagar. The protesters were only calling for the implementation of a United Nations resolution regarding the plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir Kashmir.
Lal Chowk massacre:
On 10th April 1993, a large section of Srinagar including Lal Chowk was burnt to the ground by Indian paramilitary troops. More than 60 houses, five commercial buildings, 150 shops, two official buildings, shrines, schools were completely burnt to ashes. A total of 47 innocent civilians were burnt alive and over 125 were killed by Indian Border Security Forces (BSF). As the fire continued to spread through Lal Chowk, a number of locals attempted to escape the flames by fleeing across the Jhelum River in boats. According to eyewitnesses, security personnel gathered on the river bank opened fire on the boats with machine guns. Some of those on board jumped into the river to escape the firing and drowned. The gunfire continued for at least 30 minutes, and at least 16 bodies were later recovered from the river.
Hawal massacre:
At the funeral of Mirwaiz Muhammad Farooq on 21 May 1990 over 60 civilians were killed by paramilitary forces and hundreds injured in the indiscriminate firing on the funeral procession. Mirwaiz Moulana Muhammad Farooq who was the then Mirwaiz of Kashmir had been brutally killed by unknown gunmen at his residence and his followers took his body in a funeral procession towards Mirwaiz Manzil when the paramilitary personnel stationed in a camp at Islamia College started indiscriminately firing using their machine guns trained at the peaceful procession. For those who survived thousands of bullets fired by the paramilitary CRPF on the funeral procession of Mirwaiz Moulana Muhammad Farooq, memories of the carnage will not fade ever. The survivors even remember the name of the CRPF commandant posted at Hawal, who ordered his troops to open the fire.
“It was a mayhem,” recalls advocate Nazir Ahmed Baba, one of the survivors of Hawal massacre. “I remember everything that happened on that date. Perhaps, the decision to allow funeral procession of the Mirwaiz was not communicated to the CRPF camp at Hawal. Bullets rained in all directions and dead fell like the apples fall from the trees when they are ripe.”
Nazir, a resident of Hawal, said paramilitary CRPF men had blocked all the roads and even the lanes and the by-lanes. “The only option with us was to ferry the dead and injured on the handcarts. Some were taken to the SMHS and those seriously injured to the SKIMS, Soura,” he recalls.
Victims of the attack state how the massacre was completely unprovoked and they were all unarmed yet the forces fired thousands of bullets. Over 60 were killed and 200 were injured in the massacre and this remains to be one of the deadliest massacres in Kashmir.
Bijbehara massacre:
The Bijbehara Massacre took place when 74th Battalion Border Security Force (BSF) fired upon protesters in the Anantnag district of IIOJK, on 22 October 1993, killing 51 civilians.
The protests had erupted over the siege of the mosque in Hazratbal. Amnesty International reported that at least 51 people died and 200 were wounded on that day, which included incidents in Srinagar and Bijbehara.
Human Rights Watch reported an eyewitness to the incident recalled: “The people had gathered on the National Highway which passes through Beijbehara town. It was like this even then, narrow, with shops on both sides of the road. There were thousands of people shouting slogans. But it was peaceful…. The BSF just opened fire without any warning. It was terrible. There were so many people lying on the ground. Others were running in panic…. This road, this very road, was full of blood.”
The enlisted massacres literally expose the nauseating pretense of the Indian government and are considered even after completion of 30 years as one of the grisliest incidents of brutality and gross human rights violations committed by Indian troops and paramilitary personnel.
These massacres prove Indian government’s consistent policies of repression and subjugation to silence the people’s resistance against the illegal occupation.
In order to execute its inhuman policies in occupied Kashmir, India has purposefully adopted laws and policies that systematically discriminate against Muslims, turning India into an unsafe place for the Muslims.
Besides, Indian judicial system was Hindutva RSS saffronised that failed to provide justice to the people of Jammu and Kashmir mostly Muslims and due to this, convicted criminals of Lal Chowk, Bijbehara, Gaw Kadal, Handawa and Sopore massacres were still freely moving in India.
These massacres are part of bloodied history of occupied Kashmir where not a single Indian troop has been indicted for the crimes he committed ruthlessly. Although these massacres have been reportedly widely and cited by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the international community has played role of numb spectator and the killings of the innocent Kashmiris have been swept under carpet. The international community only rises from the slumber when the oppressor is a tyrant, but when an economy like India is directly involved in such crimes, nobody seems to bother. At least this is the time the international community should shun its double standards and rise from the deep slumber.
