The 1998 Wandhama massacre refers to the killings of 23 Kashmiri Hindus in the town of Wandhama in the

Ganderbal District The Ganderbal district, or more formally District Ganderdal, is a district in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Ganderbal town is administrative headquarters of district. It was formed in 2007 and has 6 subdistricts (tehsils): ...

of Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 January, 1998 by Islamist militant groups

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...

and

Hizbul Mujahideen Hizbul Mujahideen, also spelled Hizb-ul-Mujahideen ( ar, حزب المجاھدین, ), is an Islamism, Islamist militant organization operating in the Kashmir region. Its goal is to separate Kashmir Valley, Kashmir from India and merge it with ...

. The victims included four children and nine women.''International Terrorism'' p.157

Background

Wandhama is a small town near

Ganderbal Ganderbal is a town and a municipality committee in Ganderbal district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters of Ganderbal district.It is in Central Kashmir, it has an average elevation of 1,619 metres (5, ...

in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

The massacre

On 25 January 1998, 26 Kashmiri Hindus living in the village of Wandhama were killed by militants. According to the testimony of one of the survivors of the incident, a 14-year-old Hindu boy named Vinod Kuman Dhar, the gunmen came to their house dressed like Indian Army soldiers, had tea with them, waiting for a radio message indicating that all Hindu families in the village had been covered. After a brief conversation they rounded up all the members of the Hindu households and then summarily gunned them down with Kalashnikov rifles. The massacre was allegedly committed under Abdul Hamid Gada of

and was timed to coincide with the

Shab-e-Qadar The Qadr Night or Laylat al-Qadr ( ar, لیلة القدر), variously rendered in English as the Night of Decree, Night of Power, Night of Value, Night of Destiny, or Night of Measures, is, in Islamic belief, the night when the Quran was fir ...

, the holiest night of the month of Ramzan, when believers stay awake until dawn. Gada was subsequently killed in an operation by Indian security forces in 2000.

Reactions

The day after the incident, agitating Kashmiri Hindus clashed with police in the Capital, New Delhi, when they broke barricades and tried to force their way to the National Human Rights Commission. At least 11 Kashmiri Hindus were injured when they were hit by water cannon.Wandhama’s endless night
The Pioneer - 24 June 2008 Indian Prime Minister

Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician and freedom activist who served as the 12th prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998. Born in Punjab, he was influenced by nationalist ...

joined the mourners in Kashmir's Wandhama village on 28 January. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Governor K V Krishna Rao, Chief Minister

Farooq Abdullah Farooq Abdullah (born 21 October 1937) is an Indian politician who was Ex. President of Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He has served as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982, and as the union minister fo ...

and Union Minister for Environment

Saifuddin Soz Professor Saifuddin Soz (born 23 November 1937) is an Indian professor and seven term Member of the Parliament of India. Soz hails from the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He had been India's Minister of Water Resources in India' ...

. He said: There were protests in several refugee camps where Kashmiri Hindus had been living since their

exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

in 1990.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wandhama Massacre 1998 murders in India Massacres in 1998 Mass murder in 1998 Crime in India Crime in Jammu and Kashmir Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir Kashmir conflict Islamism Religiously motivated violence in India Political violence Violence against Hindus in India Lashkar-e-Taiba attacks Riots and civil disorder in India January 1998 events in Asia January 1998 crimes

Background

The massacre

Reactions

See also

Notes

References