1998 Wandhama massacre

Militant killing of Kashmiri Hindus March 2018 March 2018 Wandhama Massacre Wandhama, Ganderbal, Jammu and Kashmir, India Kashmiri Hindus 25 January 1998 Mass murder Islamist Terrorism 23 (ten women, nine men, and four children) Lashkar-e-TaibaHizbul Mujahideenhttps://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/865818.stm Violent 'army of the pure' 2001-12-14 BBC News 2009-11-25 India right 168 Location of attack. India Wandhama Red_pog.svg bottom 34.2486 74.7333 The 1998 Wandhama massacre refers to the killings of 23 Kashmiri Hindus in their homes in the town of Wandhama34.2486 N 74.7333 E dms region:IN-JK title in the Ganderbal District of Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 January 1998.Villagers massacred in Kashmir BBC News 26 November 2009 26 January 1998 https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/50620.stm The massacre was carried out by the militant outfits Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. The victims included four children and nine women.http://usembassy-israel.org.il/publish/press/state/archive/1998/january/sd4129.htm State Department comments on the Massacre 25 November 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20141204224347/http://usembassy-israel.org.il/publish/press/state/archive/1998/january/sd4129.htm 4 December 2014 deadInternational Terrorism p.157Kashmir Massacre May Signal the Coming of Widespread Violence, The New York Times, 2003-03-25. 92698458, 2230066200Kashmir Massacre Shakes Village's Sense of Fraternity, Los Angeles Times, 2003-03-30. 421765061 The massacre According to the testimony of a survivor, on the eve of Republic Day, 25 January 1998 around 8:30 pm, 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.http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/archive_full_story.php?content_id=6689 I saw them kill my entire family The Indian Express 28 July 2002 Pradeep Dutta https://web.archive.org/web/20070929123548/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/archive_full_story.php?content_id=6689 29 September 2007 dead 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. 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.Masood Bashaarat Cold-blooded killing of 23 Kashmiri Pandits is latest case to be reopened in J&K https://indianexpress.com/article/india/jk-sia-reopens-1998-wandhama-massacre-kashmiri-pandits-tika-lal-taploo-murder-probe-10847298/ The Indian Express 25 August 2026 27 August 2026 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.Baweja Harinder Killing of 23 Pandits in Kashmir Valley dashes hopes of migrants' return https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/states/story/19980209-killing-of-23-pandits-in-kashmir-valley-dashes-hopes-of-migrants-return-825602-1998-02-08 India Today 9 February 1998 27 August 2026 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.Ahmad Mukhtar 'I heard the cries of my mother and sisters' https://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/27kash.htm Rediff.com 27 January 1998 27 August 2026 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,J-K: SIA reopens Wandhama massacre probe nearly three decades later https://www.orissapost.com/j-k-sia-reopens-wandhama-massacre-probe-nearly-three-decades-later/ Orissa Post Press Trust of India 25 August 2026 27 August 2026 their bodies were later recover by police from the burnt houses, and could not be separated initially.Handoo Bilal 21 years later, Wandhama massacre's "untraceable" closure still evokes conflicting memories https://freepresskashmir.news/2019/01/28/21-years-later-wandhama-massacres-untraceable-closure-still-evokes-conflicting-memories/ Free Press Kashmir 28 January 2019 27 August 2026 Initially 17 bodies were recovered, but subsequently six more bodies were discovered inside a burnt house, raising the death toll to 23.WORLD DATELINES https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/world-datelines-3107431.php SFGATE 26 January 1998 27 August 2026 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.Behind the Kashmir Conflict: Abuses by Indian Security Forces and Militant Groups Continue https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/kashmir/mil-abuses.htm Human Rights Watch July 1999 27 August 2026 Perpetrators Though no group claimed responsibility for the attack, the Indian government blamed the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba for carrying out the massacre. 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.http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1707/17070360.htm The killing of Hamid Gada Swami Parveen April 2000 1 October 2003 https://web.archive.org/web/20031001044607/http://www.thehindu.com/fline/fl1707/17070360.htm usurped Gada was subsequently killed by Indian security forces in 2000.'Top militant' killed in Kashmir, BBC, 14 March 2000 Aftermath 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." The United States government also "strongly condemned" the attack and offered condolences to all victims families.India: Massacre in Kashmir https://1997-2001.state.gov/briefings/statements/1998/ps980127a.html James P. Rubin United States Department of State 27 January 1998 31 August 2026 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.Wandhama's endless night The Pioneer - 24 June 2008 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.Ahmad Mukhtar Gujral visits Wandhama https://m.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/28kash.htm Rediff.com 28 January 1998 29 August 2026 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". 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. There were also protests in several refugee camps where Kashmiri Hindus had been living since their exodus in 1990.https://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040428/j&k.htm#1 Migrant Pandits voted for end of terror in valley The Tribune 27 April 2007 12 March 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20070312071516/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040428/j%26k.htm#1 live 2 September 2018 dmy-all 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.Baweja Harinder Killing of 23 Pandits in Kashmir Valley dashes hopes of migrants' return https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/states/story/19980209-killing-of-23-pandits-in-kashmir-valley-dashes-hopes-of-migrants-return-825602-1998-02-08 India Today 9 February 1998 29 August 2026 Pandits's killers identified: army https://m.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/28army.htm Rediff.com United News of India 28 January 1998 30 August 2026 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. 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.'We are not going to bring the migrants back soon' https://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/28return.htm Rediff.com United News of India 28 January 1998 30 August 2026 In fact, the massacre started to the second round of exodus of Kashmir Pandits from the Valley.Kumar Mayank As J&K reopens 1998 Wandhama massacre, a look back at dark night that sparked exodus of Kashmiri Pandits https://theprint.in/india/as-jk-reopens-1998-wandhama-massacre-a-look-back-at-dark-night-that-sparked-exodus-of-kashmiri-pandits/3024516/ ThePrint 25 August 2026 31 August 2026 Investigation and reopening Following the massacre, an FIR was registered at Ganderbal Police Station, but the subsequent investigation were inconclusive, and the perpetrators were described as "untraced". Over the years, there has been repeated demands by the Hindu community to reopen the case.Masood Bashaarat Why Kashmiris want a fair probe into the killings of Pandits, prosecution of guilty https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-kashmiris-want-a-fair-probe-into-the-killings-of-pandits-prosecution-of-guilty-4786855/ The Indian Express 7 August 2017 27 August 2026 In 2012, the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) petitioned the Jammu and Kashmir Human Rights Commission seeking a reinvestigation.Kashmiri Pandits seek re-investigation of Wandhama massacre https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/kashmiri-pandits-reinvestigation-wandhama-massacre-115690-2012-09-09 India Today 10 September 2012 27 August 2026 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. However, the identity of the perpetrators was not revealed.Kumar Mayank As J&K reopens 1998 Wandhama massacre, a look back at dark night that sparked exodus of Kashmiri Pandits https://theprint.in/india/as-jk-reopens-1998-wandhama-massacre-a-look-back-at-dark-night-that-sparked-exodus-of-kashmiri-pandits/3024516/ ThePrint 25 August 2026 27 August 2026 On 24 August 2026, the Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) reopened the investigation into the massacre, 28 years after the killings.Masood Bashaarat Cold-blooded killing of 23 Kashmiri Pandits is latest case to be reopened in J&K https://indianexpress.com/article/india/jk-sia-reopens-1998-wandhama-massacre-kashmiri-pandits-tika-lal-taploo-murder-probe-10847298/ The Indian Express 24 August 2026 27 August 2026 Wani Fayaz Jammu & Kashmir SIA reopens probe into killing of 23 Kashmiri Pandits in Wandhama in 1998 https://www.newindianexpress.com/india/2026/Aug/25/jammu-kashmir-sia-reopens-probe-into-killing-of-23-kashmiri-pandits-in-wandhama-in-1998 The New Indian Express 25 August 2026 27 August 2026 See also List of terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir 2003 Nadimarg massacre 1998 Prankote massacre Chittisinghpura massacre, another massacre in Kashmir where perpetrators wore Indian Army uniforms List of massacres in India Notes International Terrorism Darby, PA Diane Publishing 2001 9780756701055 References External links The Story of the Lone survivor Rediff Category:1998 murders in India Category:Massacres in 1998 Category:1990s in Jammu and Kashmir Category:Lashkar-e-Taiba attacks Category:January 1998 in India Category:January 1998 crimes Category:Ganderbal district Category:Terrorist incidents in India in 1998 Category:Islamic terrorist incidents in 1998 Category:Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir Category:Massacres of Hindus in Kashmir Category:Persecution of Hindus by Muslims