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1998 Wandhama massacre

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Wandhama Massacre
LocationWandhama, Ganderbal, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Date25 January 1998
TargetKashmiri Hindus[1]
Attack type
Mass murder
Deaths23 (ten women, nine men, and four children) [1]
PerpetratorsLashkar-e-Taiba
Hizbul Mujahideen[2]
MotiveIslamist Terrorism
1998 Wandhama massacre is located in India
Wandhama
Wandhama
Location of attack.

The 1998 Wandhama massacre refers to the killings of 23 Kashmiri Hindus in their homes in the town of Wandhama34°14′55″N 74°44′00″E / 34.2486°N 74.7333°E / 34.2486; 74.7333 in the Ganderbal District of Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 January 1998.[3] The massacre was carried out by the militant outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. The victims included four children and nine women.[4][5][2][6][7]

The massacre

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According to the testimony of a survivor, on the eve of Republic Day, 25 January 1998 around 8:30 pm,[8] approximately 28 armed men came to their house disguised as soldiers of the Indian Army. After a brief conversation, they rounded up all the members of the Hindu households and then summarily gunned them down with Kalashnikov rifles.[9][10]

The victims mainly belonged to four Kashmiri Pandit families who had remained in the village despite the early 1990s forced displacement of Kashmiri Hindus from the Kashmir Valley due to threats and violence of the militants in the region.[11] Five victims were relatives who were visiting from Jammu, where a large number of displaced Kashmiri Hindus live as refugees. In all, 23 people were killed, including nine women and four children.[11] The lone survivor from the four households was a 14-year-old boy, Vinod Kumar Dhar, who lost his parents, two sisters and two brothers in the massacre.[10] Dhar remained hidden in attic, while the killings happened. As per his account, after the killings, the militants set all four houses and a nearby Hindu temple on fire, and left after midnight.[8][12] As per a PTI news report, a one-year-old child victim sustained 18 bullet wounds. His mother tried to shield him in her lap, but both were killed,[13][14] their bodies were later recover by police from the burnt houses, and could not be separated initially.[14]

Initially 17 bodies were recovered, but subsequently six more bodies were discovered inside a burnt house, raising the death toll to 23.[12] A 1999-independent report by Human Rights Watch confirmed that militants had massacred 23 Hindu villagers and a Hindu temple was also set on fire.[15]

Perpetrators

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Though no group claimed responsibility for the attack,[1] the Indian government blamed the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba for carrying out the massacre.[2]

Other accounts blamed Abdul Hamid Gada of Hizbul Mujahideen. In these accounts, the massacre was timed to coincide with Shab-e-Qadar, the holiest night of the month of Ramadan, when believers stay awake until dawn.[16] Gada was subsequently killed by Indian security forces in 2000.[17]

Aftermath

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The massacre was widely condemned by Kashmiri politicians, including Ali Mohammad Sagar, Minister for Home Affairs of J&K state who said, "More than 50 attackers stormed the village and shot and mutilated the inhabitants. They were cut to pieces...What has taken place is highly condemnable. It is shameful."[3][1] The United States government also "strongly condemned" the attack and offered condolences to all victims families.[1] The day after the incident, agitating Kashmiri Hindus clashed with police in New Delhi, broke barricades and tried to force their way to the National Human Rights Commission. At least 11 protesters were injured in the clashes.[18]

Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral joined the mourners in Wandhama on 28 January, accompanied by Governor K. V. Krishna Rao, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, and Union Minister for Environment Saifuddin Soz.[19] Gujral said:

"I have come here to express my grief on behalf of the nation. The people of Punjab had unitedly defeated the nefarious designs of the enemy. The people of Kashmir will also defeat the designs".[19]

Though the Kashmir Divisional Commissioner, S. L. Bhat, claimed that no one of the Kashmiri Pandit families have left the valley, despite the scare, however reports from Ganderbal suggested that many Kashmiri Pandit familiies were preparing to leave for Jammu.[19] There were also protests in several refugee camps where Kashmiri Hindus had been living since their exodus in 1990.[20]

Subsequently, a public dispute emerged between the Jammu and Kashmir government and the Indian Army over security arrangements in and around Wandhama. India Today reported that local Kashmiri Pandits questioned the previous removal of an Army post near Wandhama, approximately a year before the massacre. Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah claimed that the Army had shifted its garrison despite his opposition, while the Army responded by alleging that the militants had political links in the area which had enabled them to operate with impunity.[21][22] A Defence Ministry spokesman said the sound of the shooting was obscured by the loudspeakers broadcasting prayers for Shab-e-Qadr, and the army troops moved in only after noticing the fire.[22]

The massacre also halted the Jammu and Kashmir government's rehabilitation plans to bring the displaced Kashmiri Pandits back to the Valley. On 28 January, Farooq Abdullah announced the plan would be postponed until security conditions improved.[23] In fact, the massacre started to the second round of exodus of Kashmir Pandits from the Valley.[24]

Investigation and reopening

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Following the massacre, an FIR was registered at Ganderbal Police Station, but the subsequent investigation were inconclusive, and the perpetrators were described as "untraced".[25] Over the years, there has been repeated demands by the Hindu community to reopen the case.[25] In 2012, the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) petitioned the Jammu and Kashmir Human Rights Commission seeking a reinvestigation.[26] In its response, the state government informed theCommission that 20 of the 21 alleged perpetrators had been killed in encounters and that one remained absconding.[27] However, the identity of the perpetrators was not revealed.[27]

On 24 August 2026, the Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) reopened the investigation into the massacre, 28 years after the killings.[28][29]

See also

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Notes

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International Terrorism. Darby, PA: Diane Publishing. 2001. ISBN 9780756701055.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 James P. Rubin (27 January 1998). "India: Massacre in Kashmir". United States Department of State. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Violent 'army of the pure'". BBC News. 14 December 2001. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  3. 1 2 "Villagers massacred in Kashmir". BBC News. 26 January 1998. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  4. ↑ "State Department comments on the Massacre". Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  5. ↑ International Terrorism p.157
  6. ↑ Kashmir Massacre May Signal the Coming of Widespread Violence, The New York Times, 2003-03-25. ProQuest 92698458, ProQuest 2230066200
  7. ↑ Kashmir Massacre Shakes Village's Sense of Fraternity, Los Angeles Times, 2003-03-30. ProQuest 421765061
  8. 1 2 Ahmad, Mukhtar (27 January 1998). "'I heard the cries of my mother and sisters'". Rediff.com. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Dutta, Pradeep (28 July 2002). "I saw them kill my entire family". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007.
  10. 1 2 Baweja, Harinder (9 February 1998). "Killing of 23 Pandits in Kashmir Valley dashes hopes of migrants' return". India Today. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  11. 1 2 Masood, Bashaarat (25 August 2026). "Cold-blooded killing of 23 Kashmiri Pandits is latest case to be reopened in J&K". The Indian Express. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 "WORLD DATELINES". SFGATE. 26 January 1998. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  13. ↑ "J-K: SIA reopens Wandhama massacre probe nearly three decades later". Orissa Post. Press Trust of India. 25 August 2026. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  14. 1 2 Handoo, Bilal (28 January 2019). "21 years later, Wandhama massacre's "untraceable" closure still evokes conflicting memories". Free Press Kashmir. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Behind the Kashmir Conflict: Abuses by Indian Security Forces and Militant Groups Continue (Report). Human Rights Watch. July 1999. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Swami, Parveen (April 2000). "The killing of Hamid Gada". Archived from the original on 1 October 2003.
  17. ↑ 'Top militant' killed in Kashmir, BBC, 14 March 2000
  18. ↑ Wandhama's endless night The Pioneer - 24 June 2008
  19. 1 2 3 Ahmad, Mukhtar (28 January 1998). "Gujral visits Wandhama". Rediff.com. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  20. ↑ "Migrant Pandits voted for end of terror in valley". The Tribune. 27 April 2007. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  21. ↑ Baweja, Harinder (9 February 1998). "Killing of 23 Pandits in Kashmir Valley dashes hopes of migrants' return". India Today. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  22. 1 2 "Pandits's killers identified: army". Rediff.com. United News of India. 28 January 1998. Retrieved 30 August 2026.
  23. ↑ "'We are not going to bring the migrants back soon'". Rediff.com. United News of India. 28 January 1998. Retrieved 30 August 2026.
  24. ↑ Kumar, Mayank (25 August 2026). "As J&K reopens 1998 Wandhama massacre, a look back at dark night that sparked exodus of Kashmiri Pandits". ThePrint. Retrieved 31 August 2026.
  25. 1 2 Masood, Bashaarat (7 August 2017). "Why Kashmiris want a fair probe into the killings of Pandits, prosecution of guilty". The Indian Express. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  26. ↑ "Kashmiri Pandits seek re-investigation of Wandhama massacre". India Today. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  27. 1 2 Kumar, Mayank (25 August 2026). "As J&K reopens 1998 Wandhama massacre, a look back at dark night that sparked exodus of Kashmiri Pandits". ThePrint. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  28. ↑ Masood, Bashaarat (24 August 2026). "Cold-blooded killing of 23 Kashmiri Pandits is latest case to be reopened in J&K". The Indian Express. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  29. ↑ Wani, Fayaz (25 August 2026). "Jammu & Kashmir SIA reopens probe into killing of 23 Kashmiri Pandits in Wandhama in 1998". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
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