The Kaluchak Massacre was a terrorist attack on 14 May 2002 near the town of Kaluchak in the Indian state Jammu and Kashmir. Three militants attacked a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus from the Indian state of

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

from Manali to Jammu and killed 7 people. After that they entered the family quarter of the Army and fired indiscriminately at the inmates, killing 23 persons, including 10 children, eight women and five Army men. The age of the children killed ranged from four to 10 years. Thirty-four people were injured in the attack.

The massacre

The terrorists reportedly crossed the

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...

from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

and boarded the bus at Vijaypur. When the bus neared Kaluchak, they shot the driver and the conductor and opened fire on the passengers. On hearing the shots in the bus, the Indian army soldiers fired in their direction. The terrorists, who were dressed in Indian army fatigues, returned fire and attempted to escape to the Army's family quarters, located on the main road. They also threw grenades on some vehicles parked in the vicinity. Upon entering the family quarters, they again fired on Army family members present in the premises. The terrorists were eventually cordoned off and killed by 10 am. The death toll amounted to 31 killed, including 3 Army personnel, 18 Army family members and 10 civilians. There were 47 wounded including 12 Army personnel, 20 Army family members and 15 civilians. The dead included ten children. All the three terrorists killed in this incident were Pakistani nationals. Indian investigations revealed that their names were Abu Suhail of (

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...

, Pakistan; Abu Murshed (Mohammed Munir) of Salamatpura in

Gujranwala Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous city proper after Karachi, Lahore, Faisala ...

Pakistan and Abu Javed (Amzad Salam Bin Mohammed Gisha) of Guda Giriya Gujranwala, Pakistan. The government sources stated that biscuits and chocolates found on the persons of the gunmen revealed that they were purchased from

Zafarwal Zafarwal (Urdu and Punjabi language, Punjabi: ) is a city and capital of Zafarwal Tehsil situated in the Narowal District of Punjab, Pakistan. Geography It is located at 32°21'0N 74°54'0E with an altitude of 268 metres (882 feet). It is ...

, Pakistan.

Reaction in India

Indian Prime minister

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the 10th prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months fr ...

termed the massacre "a most inhuman and brutal carnage". Hundreds of army personnel and their family members held candlelight prayers on Friday night in memory of those killed in one of the worst ever terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmir, in May 2002.

Jaswant Singh Major Jaswant Singh (; 3 January 193827 September 2020) was an officer of the Indian Army and an Indian Cabinet Minister. He was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and was one of India's longest serving parliamen ...

, the then Minister for External Affairs, writes in his book ''A Call To Honour – In Service of Emergent India'' that the Kaluchak incident was the last straw that almost led to war between India and Pakistan (see ''

2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff Increment or incremental may refer to: *Incrementalism, a theory (also used in politics as a synonym for gradualism) *Increment and decrement operators, the operators ++ and -- in computer programming *Incremental computing *Incremental backup, wh ...

''), and was the closest that Pakistan and India came to war. Indian Union Minister of State for External Affairs

Omar Abdullah Omar Abdullah (; born 10 March 1970) is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He became the 11th and the youngest Chief Minister of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, after forming a governme ...

blamed Pakistan for this massacre and argued for escalating the response against Pakistan, citing the "sheer barbarity" of the attack. Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir

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 ...

also blamed Pakistani intruders, calling them "animals." Members of

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

unanimously blamed pakistan for this attack.,

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

, 15 May 2002. Retrieved 2009-03-15. 2009-05-14.

International reactions

The President of the United States

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

condemned the massacre as a "terrible and outrageous act" and said that he was "appalled at the incident". The Presidency of the European Union "strongly condemned the brutal terrorist attack in Kaluchak (Jammu and Kashmir), which resulted in the death of numerous innocent civilians" and expressed sympathy to the Government of India for its problems in controlling

terrorism in Kashmir Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

. Similar condemnations were expressed by representatives of Germany, Japan and Russia. Pakistan arrested

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'') ...

chief

Hafiz Muhammad Saeed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed ( ur, , born 5 June 1950) is a Pakistani Islamist who co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based Islamist militant organization that is designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Security Council, Ind ...

, lending credence to the group's connection to the attack.Lashkar was ‘involved’ in Kaluchak attack

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 ...

, 18 May 2002. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
Archived
2009-05-14.

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, 15 May 2002 In 2003, the Australian government declared

to be a

terrorist organisation A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

based in

Muridke Muridke ( Punjabi, ur, ), is a city and headquarters of Muridke Tehsil of Sheikhupura District in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 53rd largest city of Pakistan by population. Muridke is situated near the city of Lahore, at an elevation of 205 ...

near

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, partially in reaction to the massacre.

References

External links

Candle light prayers held for Kaluchak massacre victims
''

Rediff.com Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

'' (15 June 2002)
Kaluchak massacre and India’s response
''

'' (22 May 2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaluchak Massacre 21st-century mass murder in India Mass murder in 2002 Spree shootings in India Islamic terrorism in India Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir Jammu district 2000s in Jammu and Kashmir Religiously motivated violence in India Terrorist incidents in India in 2002 Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002 May 2002 events in Asia