The Chittisinghpura massacre refers to the fatal shooting of 35 Sikhs on 20 March 2000, in the Anantnag district of the State of Jammu and Kashmir in India.[1][2][3] The Indian government asserts that it was conducted by the Islamic Fundamentalist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.[4] Mohammad Suhail Malik of Sialkot, Pakistan confessed while in custody about participating in the attacks at the direction of Lashkar-e-Taiba in an interview with Barry Bearak of The New York Times although Bearak questioned the authenticity of the confession.[5] Suhail Malik is a nephew of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of Lashkar-e-Taiba.[5] He was however later acquitted of these charges by a Delhi court.[6] Some other observers like Bruce Riedel have also attributed this massacre to Lashkar-e-Taiba.[7][8]. Lashkar-e-Taiba repeatedly denied the allegations and asserted that the killings were carried out by Indian forces. They also cited the aquittal of Suhail Malik by an Indian court as a proof that they had nothing to do with the killings.

The Killings [ edit ]

Wearing Indian Army fatigues,[9] the killers came into the village in two groups at separate ends of the village where the two Gurdwaras were located. They first lined up the Sikhs, who had been celebrating the Holi or Hola Mahalla Festival, in front of their Gurdwaras and opened fire, killing thirty-six people.

Aftermath [ edit ]

The killings of 36 Sikhs was a turning point in the Kashmir issue, where Sikhs had usually been spared from militant violence.[10] After the massacre hundreds of Kashmiri Sikhs gathered in the village shouting anti Pakistan and anti Muslim slogans and criticizing Indian government for failing to protect the villagers.[11] Sikh protesters shouting "blood for blood" marched to the seat of Jammu-Kashmir government to demand retaliation against Pakistan-based Muslim militants.[12].

The villagers ensured that the local school was up and running just two weeks after the killings. The massacre created tension and distrust between the Sikh and Muslim residents of the area, but no problems developed at the joint Muslim-Sikh village school. After the massacre the residents of the village pointed the police to Mohammad Yakub Magray as one of the suspects.[13]

In 2005, Sikh organizations such as the Bhai Kanahiya Jee Nishkam Seva Society demanded a deeper state inquiry into the details of the massacre[14] and for the inquiry to be made public. The state government ordered an inquiry into the massacre.

Commenting on this massacre Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal responding to a call for international inquiry into the incident by Nazir Ahmed, Baron Ahmed said that violence will never solve Kashmir problems and rejected the call for international inquiry.[15]

Five days after the events at Chattisinghpora, on 25 March 2000, the Indian Army killed five men in Pathribal village of Anantnag district, claiming that the victims were the "foreign militants" responsible for the attacks. On 19 March 2012, The Central Bureau of Investigation told the Supreme Court of India that the encounter in Pathribal in which civilians people were killed by Indian Army personnel "were cold-blooded murders and the accused officials deserve to be meted out exemplary punishment."[16]

Response by Kashmiri Sikh Community [ edit ]

"The five the government killed were innocent," Niranjan Singh, president of the Anantnag District Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, told rediff.com on telephone. "They had nothing to do with the murders." Ranjit Singh, former president of the Anantnag Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, seconded this opinion. "Nobody believes the claims of the government," he said in a telephone interview. "It is utter nonsense."[17]

Clinton Controversy [ edit ]

The massacre coincided with the visit of United States president Bill Clinton to India. In an introduction to a book written by Madeleine Albright titled The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs (2006), she accused "Hindu Militants" of perpetrating the act. This error created a major incident, with both Hindu and Sikh groups expressing outrage at the inaccuracy. Clinton's office did not return calls seeking comment or clarification. In the hours immediately after the massacre in March 2003, the US condemned the killings but refused to accept the Indian government's accusation that it was the work of Pakistani Islamist groups. The publishers, Harper Collins routed a correction through Albright's office. In a public statement they acknowledged the mistake.[18]

Page xi of the Mighty and the Almighty contains a reference to Hindu militants that will be deleted in subsequent printings, both in America and in international editions. This error was due to a failure in the fact-checking process.[18]

Chittisinghpura massacre in film [ edit ]

The massacre was depicted in the commercial Bollywood film Adharm (unholy) directed by Adeep Singh.

David Headley's confession [ edit ]

In 2010, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) associate David Headley, who was arrested in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, reportedly confessed to the National Investigation Agency that the LeT carried out the Chittisinghpura massacre.[19] He is said to have identified an LeT militant named Muzzamil as part of the group which carried out the killings apparently to create communal tension just before Clinton's visit.[20]

References [ edit ]