Massacres reminder of terror face of Indian Hindutva troops in IIOJK

Srinagar: The Indian troops and paramilitary personnel have committed scores of brutal carnages, most of them in the month of January, in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

According to an analytical report released by Kashmir Media Service, today, in eight years starting 1990, as many as five major massacres left hundreds of persons dead and property worth crores in ruins.

On 19 January 1991 Indian paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force troops massacred 14 civilians in Srinagar’s Magarmal Bagh area and 33 long years have passed but justice continues to elude Magarmal Bagh massacre victims.

It said the memories of Magarmal Bagh like bloodbaths are still fresh in Kashmiris’ minds, adding Magarmal Bagh and other massacres are a reminder of the criminal face of Indian troops.

On January 21, 1990, Indian troops slaughtered over 50 civilians in Gaw Kadal area of Srinagar, 25 on January 25, 1990 in Handwara, 60 on January 06, 1993 in Sopore town and 27 on January 27, 1994 in Kupwara. Memories of these bloodbaths are still fresh in Kashmiris’ minds as they are a reminder of the criminal face of Hindutva forces.

On 06 January 1993, over 60 civilians were martyred and more than 350 shops and other structures, including residential houses, were gutted after Indian soldiers set the Sopore town ablaze. The victim families are still awaiting justice while the perpetrators of this heinous crime are roaming free.

On January 21 in 1990, over 50 innocent people were killed in Gaw Kadal area of Srinagar when Indian forces’ personnel had resorted to indiscriminate firing on peaceful demonstrators who were protesting against the molestation of several women by the troops on the previous night.

On 25 January 1990, at least 25 Kashmiris were gunned down by Indian troops in Handwara town of Kupwara district.

On 27th January in 1994, a day after India’s Republic Day, Indian troops had massacred 27 civilians in Kupwara town. The Kupwara massacre was carried out by the Indian troops to punish people for observing a shutdown on January 26.

The report said as many as 634 people have been killed and property worth billions of rupees was ruined in around 30 massacres carried out by Indian forces since January 1990 till date. Besides, over 3 Lakh Muslims were butchered in Jammu by Indian Army, Dogra and Hindutva communal forces in November 1947.

The report said that the aim of committing massacres is to instill fear among the Kashmiris. Citing statements of BJP leaders and ministers of Modi-led Hindutva Indian government and warnings by international human rights organizations and groups particularly the Genocide Watch, the report expressed the fear that BJP-RSS nexus was planning to carry out more Jammu, Gaw Kadal and Sopore like massacres in occupied Kashmir.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its yearly report said that Indian authorities continued to restrict free expression, peaceful assembly, and other rights in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Reports of extrajudicial killings by Indian forces continued throughout the year in 2023. It said that critics and human rights defenders faced arrests and raids based on spurious terrorism allegations.

It is worth mentioning here that in the second half of August 2019, Genocide Watch, a global organisation dedicated to the prevention of genocide, issued two warning alerts for India – one for the occupied territory of Kashmir and the other for Assam state. The genocide alert regarding occupied Kashmir identified the genocidal process, based on Dr Stanton’s 10 Stages of Genocide, which include Classification, Symbolisation, Discrimination, Dehumanisation, Organisation, Polarisation, Preparation, Extermination and Denial. While elaborating the phase Extermination, the Genocide Watch reported that since 1990, there have been at least 25 massacres by Indian troops.

Despite the fact that the BJP-led Indian regime has crossed all records of atrocities to change Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir into a minority area, India has failed to kill the freedom sentiment of Kashmiris, the report noted. It urged the international community to come forward to stop genocide of Kashmiri people at the hands of brutal Indian forces.

Meanwhile, the posters, pasted on pillars, poles and walls in different areas of the territory, while paying tributes to martyrs, have urged people of the occupied territory to observe India’s Republic Day on 26 January as Black Day to register their protest against the forcible occupation of their motherland by India.

Terming the so-called Indian Republic Day celebrations in IIOJK a cruel joke, the posters read that India should read the clear message from the people of Kashmir that they have always rejected its illegal occupation.

The posters, also circulating on social media, have further asked the people to hold special prayers for the Kashmiri martyrs on the anniversaries of these massacres.