On 20 July 2001, in the month of

Shraavana Śrāvaṇa ( sa, श्रावण) is the fifth month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Śrāvaṇa is the fifth month of the year, beginning on July 23 and ending on August 22. In the Tamil calendar, it is known ...

, 13 people were killed and 15 other injured in a terror attack on a

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

night camp at Sheshnag Lake near the Amarnath Temple glacial cave shrine in

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...

in the

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 ...

n state of Jammu and Kashmir, in two explosions and firing by militants."Amarnath Yatra devotees have faced repeated terror attacks: Here's the blood-soaked history of pilgrimage"
First Post, 11 July 2017.Vicky Nanjappa
One India News
11 July 2017.

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *''Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) *'' San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *''Kokomo Tribune'' *'' Peru Tribune'' * ''The Trib ...

, 11 July 2017. In a pre-dawn attack, terrorists penetrated several layers of security cordon and exploded two

improvised explosive devices An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

(lEDs), casualties included 8

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

civilian pilgrims entailing 2 women, and 3

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

civilians and 2 security personnel.2001
Kashmir
Data India, Issues 27-52, pp.650.]

Background

The 48-days July–August annual Hindu pilgrimage, undertaken by up to 600,000 or more pilgrims to high glacial Amarnath cave shrine of stalagmite, iced stalagmite Shiv linga e at in

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

, is called '' Amarnath Yatra''.Amarnath Yatra explained
Boston.Com
, 13 July 20112. It begins with a mountainous trek from the Nunwan and Chandanwari base camps at

Pahalgam Pahalgam (), known as Pahalgom (; in Kashmiri) is a town and a notified area committee, near Anantnag city in the Anantnag district of the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a popular tourist destination and hil ...

and reaches cave-shine after night halts at Sheshnag Lake and Panchtarni camps.Amarnath yatra ends, fewest pilgrims in decade

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

, 18 August 2016. The yatra is both a way of earning revenue by the state government by imposing tax on pilgrims,BJP demands removal of Amarnath yatra entry fee

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

.No Additional Tax Levied on Vehicles Going to Amarnath and Vaishno DeviPress Information Bureau, Ministry of Finance of Government of India
2010. and making living by the local Shia Muslim Bakarwal-Gujjars by taking a portion of revenue and by offering services to the Hindu pilgrims, and this source of income has been threatened by the militant groups who have banned and attacked the yatra numerous times,Carl W. Ernst, 2016
Refractions of Islam in India: Situating Sufism and Yoga

SAGE Publications SAGE Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent publishing company founded in 1965 in New York by Sara Miller McCune and now based in Newbury Park, California. It publishes more than 1,000 journals, more than 800 books ...

, .Muslim group asks for reviving Amarnath Yatra

, 17 July 2016.Expert Speak on Kashmir: No algorithm for AzadiObserver Research Foundation
August 2016. as well as have

massacred A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

at least 30 and injured at least 60 people in Amarnath pilgrimage terrorist-attack massacre (2000) causing death of 21 unarmed Hindu pilgrims, 7 Muslim civilians and 3 security forces in a two hour long indiscriminate shoot out at

town in

Anantnag district Anantnag district is a district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is one of ten districts which make up the Kashmir Valley. The district headquarters is Anantnag city. As of 2011, it was the third most populous distri ...

. See also: Amarnath pilgrimage terrorist-attack massacre (2000). This attack on Amarnath yatra was part of the larger 1st and 2nd August 2000 Kashmir massacre in 5 separate coordinated terrorist attacks that killed at least 89 (official count) to 105 people (as reported by

PTI PTI may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Pardon the Interruption'', an American television sports show * PTI, a musical group on the WTII Records label Organizations * Pacific Torah Institute, a yeshiva high school in Vancouver, British Columb ...

), and injured at least 62 more."Night of massacres leaves 105 dead in valley"

, 3 August 2000.

Aftermath

Union

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

released the additional funding and state Government of Jammu and Kashmir tightened the security. Few weeks later

Bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his group is designated a ...

launched

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

which forced the change in global response to the Islamic terror attacks from aloof and sporadic to united and coordinated.9/11 anniversary: How the world changed in 15 years

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

, 11 September 2016. ''Pakistan-backed'' Islamic terrorist organizations,

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'') ...

founded by

Hafiz Saeed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed ( ur, , born 5 June 1950) is a Pakistani Islamism, Islamist who co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based Islamist militant organization that is List of designated terrorist groups, designated as a terrorist grou ...

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 ...

were designated terrorist organisations by

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

References

External links

*
Amarnath: Journey to the shrine of a Hindu god
''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' news story in pictures, 13 July 2012.
Chronology of major killings of Hindus by Islamic terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, up to year 2003.
{{coord missing, Jammu and Kashmir 21st-century mass murder in India Violence against Hindus in India Islamic terrorism in India Terrorist incidents in India in 2001 Massacres in 2001 Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir July 2001 events in India