2006 Doda massacre
2006 Doda Massacre refers to the massacre of 35 Hindu civilians by terrorists in Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir on 30 April 2006.
Background
Prior incidents like the Wandhama massacre had forced majority of Hindu population of Kashmir valley to leave the area and seek refuge in Jammu and elsewhere. Doda, Jammu and Kashmir's second largest district, had the highest concentration of militants in the state-an estimated 200 of the 1,500 who are active.[1]
The Attack
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Two separate attacks took place that day in neighbouring areas. In the first attack twenty two unarmed Hindu villagers, mostly shepherds or their families, were lined up and gunned down by suspected terrorists in Thawa village in Kulhand area of Doda district on the night of 30 April 2006.[2] The victims included a 3-year-old girl.[3] 10–12 militants wearing army uniforms perpetrated the massacre. The doctor who was sent to do the post mortem examination suffered a heart attack on seeing the bodies and was admitted to the hospital.[4]
The second attack in the neighbouring Lalon Galla village in Basantgarh area of Udhampur district, 13 Hindu shepherds kidnapped by suspected terrorists were shot dead on the same day.[3]
The aftermath
The attacks were an attempt to derail the upcoming talks between Indian government and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.[5] India blamed Pakistan based separatist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and called it "cross border terrorism".[6]
In 2007, Australian government in declaring Lashkar-e-Taiba a Terrorist organisation attributed this massacre to it.[7] The killings received widespread condemnation including from President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Bharatiya Janata Party accused the terrorists of carrying out ethnic cleansing.[8]
References
- ↑ "The Doda Deathtrap", India Today, 15 May 2006.
- ↑ "34 killed in held Kashmir", Dawn, 2 May 2006.
- 1 2 "Serial terror strikes claim 35 lives in Doda and Udhampur", The Hindu, 2 May 2006.
- ↑ 22 Hindus massacred in Doda, the bodies of 9 kidnapped from Udhampur found, The Tribune, 2 May 2006.
- ↑ Militants massacre 34 Hindus in Indian Kashmir, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1 May 2006.
- ↑ 'Militants' kill Kashmir Hindus, BBC, 1 May 2006.
- ↑ CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2007 (NO. 12) (SLI NO 267 OF 2007)
- ↑ "Doda massacre part of ethnic cleansing", The Hindu, 2 May 2006.