The Sopore massacre refers to the killing of at least 43 civilians by 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 ...

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...

(BSF) who were travelling on a bus from Bandipur to

Sopore Sopore, known as Suyyapur in antiquity, is a city in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is north-west of Srinagar, and north-east from the city of Baramulla. Sopore Town has Asia's second largest fruit mandi (wholesale ...

in Kashmir on 6 January 1993.

Background

is a major town in Kashmir within the

Baramulla district Baramulla district or Varmul (in Kashmiri) is one of the 20 districts in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Baramulla town is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district covered an area of in 2001, but it wa ...

, located north-west from Srinagar. On the morning of 6 January 1993, a group of 7–8 armed

JKLF The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) is a militant separatist organization active in both the Indian-administered and Pakistani-administered territories of Kashmir. It was founded by Amanullah Khan, with Maqbool Bhat also credited as a ...

militants attacked a platoon of

soldiers at Baba Yousuf Lane near Sopore and killed at least one soldier.

Firing

In this bloody Wednesday some shopkeepers were not allowed to come out and they were burned alive inside shops. In all, official

Indian Government 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, ...

reports state that 250 shops and 50 homes were burned down although other sources claim as many as 450 buildings were burned down by the border security force. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' reported:

The Border Security Forces sprayed a public coach with machine-gun fire, killing the driver and more than 15 civilians, said witnesses. Three other cars were also fired on, and then the paramilitary forces set the vehicles ablaze. Next, they began herding the native Kashmiris into shops and houses, said witnesses. Then the security forces shot them, splashed paraffin over the bodies and set the buildings alight.

Response

The Indian government claimed that the high casualties were the result of an intense gun battle between the BSF soldiers and militants in which an explosives cache belonging to the militants exploded and spread the fire to nearby buildings. However, the government later initiated a judicial inquiry into the matter and suspended several BSF officers due to the publicity the incident had generated. The day after the

massacre 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 ...

, thousands of Kashmiris, defying a government-imposed curfew, protested against the actions of the BSF soldiers on the streets of Sopore. The then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Narasimha Rao ordered

State Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Girish Saxena to visit Sopore and announced a compensation of for the relatives of the deceased. However, Muslim leaders,

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

politicians and human rights organizations criticized Saxena for failing to stop human rights violations by the security forces in Kashmir and demanded a parliamentary delegation be sent to assess the destruction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sopore Massacre Mass murder in 1993 1993 in India January 1993 crimes January 1993 events in Asia Massacres in 1993 1990s in Jammu and Kashmir Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir Sopore Massacres committed by India

Background

Firing

Response

See also

References