1993 Bijbehara massacre

Incident involving Hazratbal shrine siege 1993 Bijbehara massacre Bijbehara, Jammu and Kashmir, India 22 October 1993 Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir Civilians, Protestors Massacre, Mass shooting 51 killed (per Amnesty International) 35 killed (per United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) 37 killed (per The Times of India) 200 wounded (per Amnesty International) 76 wounded (per United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) BSF Flag.svg Border Security Force 13 BSF Flag.svg BSF officers March 2018 March 2018 The Bijbehara MassacreGossman Patricia An International Human Rights Perspective Asian Affairs: An American Review 22 1 1995 65–70 10.1080/00927678.1995.9933697 : "For example, [the National Human Rights Commission] report on the October 1993 massacre of forty-three civilians in Bijbehara, Kashmir, called for the prosecution of fourteen members of the BSF."25 Years of Bijbehara Massacre: A Tale of Bloodbath, Kashmir Times, 23 October 2018: "The brutal killing of 51 civilians in the massacre is referred to as Bijbehara massacre." took place when 74th Battalion Border Security Force (BSF) fired upon Kashmiri Muslim protesters in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, India on 22 October 1993, killing 51 civilians. In the official version of events, BSF had only acted in self-defense when fired upon by militants; however, this narrative was rejected by Human Rights Watch citing the 1993 U.S. Department of State country report on human rights in India which said, "Despite government claims that the security forces were ambushed by militants, only one BSF sub inspector was injured."https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/india0906web.pdf Everyone Lives in Fear - Patterns of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir 1 September 2006 Human Rights Watch 2 October 2014 The protests had erupted over the siege of the mosque in Hazratbal.1 January 1994 Amnesty International Report 1994 - India http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6a9f56e.html 10 April 2009 Amnesty InternationalRising Kashmir http://www.risingkashmir.com/1993-bijbehara-massacre-when-playground-turned-into-graveyard/ 2019-07-25 www.risingkashmir.com2014-10-24 October 22 1993 Bijbehara bloodbath Lastupdate:- Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:... http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2008/Oct/22/october-22-1993-bijbehara-bloodbath-70.asp dead https://archive.today/20141024011021/http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2008/Oct/22/october-22-1993-bijbehara-bloodbath-70.asp 2014-10-24 2019-12-28 archive.is The number of reported dead and wounded vary by source. Amnesty International reported that at least 51 people died and 200 were wounded on that day, which included incidents in Srinagar and Bijbehara. The UN Refugee Agency reported 35 dead and about 76 wounded, citing news reports in The Times. The Times of India reported 37 dead. The Indian government conducted two official enquiries and the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) conducted a third. In March 1994 the government indicted the Border Security Force (BSF) for firing into the crowd "without provocation" and charged 13 BSF officers with murder. A nonpublic General Security Force Court trial conducted in 1996 led to their acquittal.http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6a8244.html Chronology of Event: February 1991 - November1994 1 March 1995 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2009-04-10 When the NHRC sought to examine the transcripts of the trials in order to satisfy itself that the BSF had made a genuine attempt to secure convictions, the Vajpayee government refused. The NHRC then moved the Supreme Court for a review.http://nhrc.nic.in/ar99_00.htm NHRC, Annual Report 1999-2000 National Human Rights Commission of India 2009-04-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20080910181959/http://nhrc.nic.in/ar99_00.htm 10 September 2008 dead Faced with the Government's non-cooperation, the NHRC finally dismissed the case.http://www.kashmiraffairs.org/bijbehara%20massacre%20all.html 13th Anniversary of Bijbehara Massacre: 22 October 1993 Shibli Murtaza Kashmir Affairs dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080509020443/http://www.kashmiraffairs.org/bijbehara%20massacre%20all.html 9 May 2008 dmy-all 13 April 2009 On 10 September 2007, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court ordered the state government to pay restitution to the victims' families.http://www.kashmirtimes.com/archive/0709/070922/news6.htm HC directs govt to pay relief to Bijbehara massacre victim's kins Syed Basharat 22 September 2007 Kashmir Times 2009-04-11 November 2016 InternetArchiveBot yes alt= List of the Martyrs of Bijbehara town (only), buried in Mazar-e-Shuhada, Bijbehara, on the 22nd of October 1993, when the Bijbehara Massacre occurred. Out of 22 Martyrs buried, 16 are below 20 years of age, out of which a 12-year-old, a 14-year-old, three are 15 years old, five are 17 years old, and six are 18 years old.|thumb|List of the Martyrs of Bijbehara town buried in Mazar-e-Shuhada, Bijbehara, on 22 October 1993. Out of 22 Martyrs, 16 are below 20 years of age. Background In October, 1993, the Indian army stated they surrounded the Hazratbal Shrine after they were reported that armed rebels had occupied the shrine complex and had changed the locks. For the preceding three years, insurgents in the Kashmir Valley had waged a rebellion against Indian rule. The Indian Army's siege of the holiest Muslim shrine in the Kashmir Valley reignited anger at India. As the mosque crisis deepened, there were sporadic public demonstrations. Indian authorities imposed a curfew and positioned hundreds of troopers along the town's main streets.https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/23/world/kashmir-clashes-kill-at-least-25.html?n=Top/News/World/Countries%20and%20Territories/India KASHMIR CLASHES KILL AT LEAST 25 Gargan Edward A. 23 October 1993 New York Times 2009-04-10 The shooting incident On 22 October 1993, the eighth day of the siege, around 10,000 to 15,000 protesters gathered in the courtyard of the Jamia Masjid of Bijbehara after finishing Friday prayers. The protesters marched through the streets shouting pro-independence slogans, demanding an end to the Hazratbal siege and demonstrating against an earlier incident of firing on protesters near the Hazratbal shrine . When the procession reached the main road (the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway), that divides the town, they were confronted by a large contingent of the BSF. As the procession reached the top of the road in the Gooriwan area of bijbehara, the BSF allegedly blocked the streethttp://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/467fca85c.html Human Rights Watch World Report 1994 - India 1 January 1994 Human Rights Watch 11 April 2009 and started firing indiscriminately, killing at least 48 people on the spot and injuring more than 200 others. The firing continued for nearly ten minutes.February 2010 Human Rights Watch reported an eyewitness to the incident recalled: "The people had gathered on the National Highway which passes through Beijbehara town. It was like this even then, narrow, with shops on both sides of the road. There were thousands of people shouting slogans. But it was peaceful.... The BSF just opened fire without any warning. It was terrible. There were so many people lying on the ground. Others were running in panic.... This road, this very road, was full of blood." Media blackout The Indian government was accused of a media blackout in Kashmir.http://www.kashmiraffairs.org/sajjadhaider_kashmiri%20media%20conflict%20zone.html Kashmir Perspective: Media in Conflict Zones Haider Sajjad Kashmir Affairs 2009-04-14 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100121053224/http://www.kashmiraffairs.org/sajjadhaider_kashmiri%20media%20conflict%20zone.html 2010-01-21 A local news outlet, Kashmir Affairs, reported that soon after news of the massacre went out, the Indian government barred independent local and international media from entering the town. On 23 October 1993, when a large number of local and foreign media people converged on the town, the army used violence and fired into the air to stop them from visiting the old side of the town, Kashmir Affairs also reported. Human Rights Act The Bijbehara massacre followed the September 1993 passage of the Human Rights Act National Human Rights Commission Text of Act https://web.archive.org/web/20100125031917/http://nhrc.nic.in/HRAct.htm 25 January 2010 1993, retrieved 3 March 2010 by the Indian Parliament, adopted under the pressure of persistent allegations of human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as in other areas of armed conflict in India. March 2010 The law established the NHRC, which began operations in October 1993 and promptly took up the Bijbehara massacre. However, it soon became apparent that the Commission would not be able to challenge the armed forces' effective immunity from prosecution under Indian law.https://www.hrw.org/en/node/11179/section/6 Everyone Lives in Fear 11 September 2006 Human Rights Watch 2009-04-10 https://web.archive.org/web/20090420152136/http://www.hrw.org/en/node/11179/section/6 20 April 2009 live Enquiry Commission indicts BSF The government of India ordered a magisterial inquiry into the killings and withdrew the BSF unit stationed in Bijbehara. March 2010 Director General Prakash Singh, at the time the BSF Director General, ordered a commissioner to investigate the massacre.March 2010 The local media, including KashmirWatch.com, reported that Kashmiris saw such inquiries as escapism, an 'eyewash'. Numerous enquiries in the past did not produce results that pleased local people.http://www.kashmirwatch.com/showhumanrights.php?subaction=showfull&id=1237448439&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2&var0news=value0news Probes on HR abuse eyewash, say kins of victims Syed Yasir 19 March 2009 Kashmir Times/Kashmir Watch 2009-04-11 November 2016 InternetArchiveBot yes KashmirWatch.com The Enquiry Magistrate's report was submitted to the government on 13 November 1993. It concluded that "firing upon the procession was absolutely unprovoked and the claim made by the security forces that they were forced to retaliate against the firing of militants for self-defence is baseless and concocted". The Enquiry Magistrate's report further stated that "The security personnel have committed [the] offence out of vengeance and their barbarous act was deliberate and well planned". The report indicted the Deputy Commandant of the BSF, JK Radola, for "tacit approval given by him to the indiscriminate and un-provoked firing".Enquiry Magistrate report, number EN/BFC/93/23-24, unable to locate online reference The report recommended "the immediate dismissal of the accused persons who committed this dastardly act". It further recommended that "this should be further followed up with the initiation of criminal proceedings against them and every effort should be made to ensure that justice is done and [the] maximum possible punishment under the law of the land is awarded to such malignant and sick minded individuals." Recommendations by National Human Rights Commission On 1 November 1993, the Commission, called for reports on the incident from the Defence and Home affairs ministries and the Government of J&K.http://nhrc.nic.in/ArmedForcesCases.htm Firing by Security Forces in Bijbehara, Jammu & Kashmir 1993–94 National Human Rights Commission Of India 2009-04-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20090410001259/http://nhrc.nic.in/ArmedForcesCases.htm 10 April 2009 dead The Ministry of Defence denied that the army was involved. The Minister for Home Affairs sent a report to the commission based on the Magisterial Inquiry. The commission asked for copies of the testimony given by six witnesses. On 17 January 1994, the commission concluded "...that disciplinary proceedings had been initiated under the Border Security Force Act against 14 members of the Force, and further that, on the basis of a Magisterial Inquiry, steps may be initiated to launch prosecutions...". The commission also recommended that "immediate interim compensation" be paid to the victims' families and "a thorough review should be undertaken by government of the circumstances and conditions in which Units of the Border Security Force are deployed and expected to operate in situations involving only civilian population[s]".March 2010 Acquittals By 1996, the General Security Force Court had conducted a nonpublic trial which acquitted the accused men.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/7503214.cms BSF record: Guilty are seldom punished Siddharth Varadarajan Manoj Joshi 21 April 2002 Times of India 11 March 2018 The NHRC attempted to review the court files, but was refused access. On 12 November 1996, three years after the NHRC issued its recommendations, A.K. Tandon, then director general of the BSF, told the NHRC that "a General Security Force Court trial was conducted in respect of the twelve BSF personnel involved in the said incident," but that results of the trial were "being withheld for the time being". The BSF had initially claimed that it had taken action against the responsible officials, but the only information available about this concerns one sub-inspector, who had been found not guilty. On 16 March 1998, the NHRC, while acknowledging the BSF report, said that it wanted to review the proceedings of the General Security Force Court before taking any final position in the matter. The NHRC has the right to examine transcripts of trials to ensure that genuine attempts have been made to secure convictions. The Ministry of Home Affairs refused to supply the trial records, stating in a letter on 5 May 1998, the "inability of the government of India to show records of the GSFC to any authority other than those provided under the Border Security Force Act". The NHRC subsequently tried several times to examine the proceedings of the trial. In its annual report in 1998–99, the NHRC noted that it was "deeply disturbed": "The Commission is yet to satisfy itself that justice has fully been done in regard to the tragic loss of life that occurred in Bijbehara, in respect of which incident it had made specific recommendations. The Commission is determined to see this case through to its logical conclusion. At the end of the year, it was awaiting the records of those proceedings and was contemplating moving a Writ Petition before the Supreme Court if it were denied full access to the records that it had sought".http://nhrc.nic.in/ Section 3.6, Annual Report, 1998-1999 National Human Rights Commission 2009-04-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20090426010611/http://nhrc.nic.in/ 26 April 2009 live On 8 February 1999, the NHRC told the government to preserve all related documents and then appealed to the Supreme Court "to issue a writ to make available to the petitioner the relevant records of the courts martial conducted in respect of the armed forces personnel involved in the said incident". The writ petition was later withdrawn by the NHRC, observers said this was probably because the verdict would have gone against the commission due to the restrictions imposed under Section 19 of the Human Rights Protection Act, 1993.http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2004/0504PF.htm Holy Cows, Chained Watchdog and a Banana Republic 28 January 2004 AsianCenter for Human Rights 2009-04-19 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20050319035238/http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2004/0504PF.htm 19 March 2005 See also List of Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir Gawakadal Massacre, 1990 Zakoora And Tengpora Massacre, 1990 Sopore massacre Handwara massacre Notes and references 30em Jammu and Kashmir Category:1990s in Jammu and Kashmir Category:Massacres of protesters in India Category:Indian war crimes in the Kashmir conflict Category:Indian military scandals Category:Massacres in 1993 Category:Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir Category:October 1993 in India Category:1993 murders in India Category:Massacres committed by India Category:October 1993 crimes Category:Anantnag district Category:1993 mass shootings in Asia Category:Mass shootings in Jammu and Kashmir Category:Massacres of Muslims in India Category:Massacres of Muslims in Kashmir Category:Massacres of Muslims Category:Massacres of Muslims in the 1990s