Gaurav at 21:42, 6 March 2026

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{{Short description|Killing of passengers on two trains in Punjab}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = 1991 Punjab killings
| location = [[Ludhiana district]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], India
| date = June–Dec 1991
| fatalities = 125
| injuries =
| type = [[Mass shooting]]
| target = [[Punjabi Hindus]]
| perpetrators = [[Khalistan Commando Force]] (Alleged) <ref name="GM">{{cite news|title=A year after Hardeep Singh Nijjar's death, mysteries remain about how he really lived|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-a-year-after-hardeep-singh-nijjars-death-mysteries-remain-about-how-he/|year=2024|publisher=The Globe and Mail|quote= In 1991, KCF militants boarded a train, separated Sikhs from Hindus, then slaughtered 125 Hindus, many of them children.}}</ref>
| motive = [[Khalistan movement|Sikh Separatism]]
}}

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The '''1991 Punjab killings''' were a series of train massacres that occurred on 15 June 1991 and 26 December 1991 in the [[Ludhiana district]] of the Indian State of [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]]. Allegedly [[Khalistani]] militants killed 125 [[Punjabi Hindu]] passengers<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4059486.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110615073718/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4059486.html|url-status=dead|archive-date = 2011-06-15|title = Sikhs attack India trains, killing 126|newspaper = Chicago Sun-Times|publication-date = 17 June 1991 | access-date=21 March 2018 }}</ref><ref name="GM" /> in these incidents.

==Events==
===June 1991===
The militants stopped the two trains about a kilometre from Ludhiana station by pulling the [[Emergency brake (train)#India|emergency cords, triggering emergency brakes]]. They proceeded to open fire inside the trains at around 9:35 p.m. ([[Indian Standard Time|IST]]), killing at least 80 passengers.<ref>{{cite news |title=110 in two trains gunned down by Punjab militants |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S4xlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q54NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1867%2C3514819 |access-date=9 December 2019 |work=The Indian Express |date=16 June 1991 |page=1}}</ref> After the attackers fled, the train moved back to Badduwal station, where the rescue team arrived with doctors. Local villagers helped the survivors with food, water, medicine, and mental support.<ref name=":0">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/16/world/extremists-in-india-kill-80-on-2-trains-as-voting-nears-end.html | title=Extremists in India Kill 80 on 2 Trains As Voting Nears End | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=16 June 1991 | first=Barbara | last=Crossette | access-date=21 March 2018 }}</ref> The attacks came less than five hours after polling closed in a national election already marred by violence and interrupted by the assassination of ex-Prime Minister [[Rajiv Gandhi]] around a month prior.<ref name=":0" />

===December 1991===
On 26 December Thursday , four men, believed to have been Khalistani, boarded a local passenger train travelling from [[Ludhiana]] to [[Ferozepur]] at Ludhiana. They pulled the emergency cord about 7:30 in the evening near a village called Sohian. Six other armed militants climbed aboard the train at the Sohian crossing. The militants shot at passengers who appeared to be Hindu using AK-47s. All but two of the 49 victims were Hindus. After the massacre, the gunmen left the train and disappeared into the night.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/27/world/49-slain-by-gunmen-on-train-in-india.html | title=49 Slain by Gunmen on Train in India | newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | date=27 December 1991 | first=Edward A. | last=Gargan | access-date=21 March 2018 }}</ref>

== Preceding Historical Context ==
The idea of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, developed over time due to both colonial and post-independence events. During British rule in India, the government often treated Sikhs and Hindus as separate groups. Sikhs were heavily recruited into the British army and sometimes used against Hindu-led states that resisted British control. After India became independent in 1947, problems between the central government and the Punjab region began to grow. Many Sikhs felt politically and economically overlooked, and over time, some began to support the idea of creating their own independent nation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Khalistan Movement: History & Resurgence in the Western Diaspora |url=https://www.hinduamerican.org/khalistan/ |access-date=2025-07-28 |website=Hindu American Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[1987 Punjab killings]]
* [[List of Victims of Terrorism in Indian Punjab]]
* [[List of bus killings during Punjab insurgency]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite news |title=74 were killed in Punjab train carnage |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TIxlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q54NAAAAIBAJ&pg=766%2C3602871 |access-date=9 December 2019 |work=The Indian Express |date=17 June 1991 |page=5}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punjab killings}}
[[Category:1991 mass murders]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in India in 1991]]
[[Category:Insurgency in Punjab]]
[[Category:Mass shootings in India]]
[[Category:Ludhiana district]]
[[Category:Terrorism in Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents on railway systems in India]]
[[Category:June 1991 in Asia]]

{{India-hist-stub}}
{{terrorism-stub}}
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[[Category:Anti-Hindu violence in India]]
[[Category:20th-century mass murders in India]]
[[Category:1991 murders in India]]
[[Category:1990s in Punjab, India]]
[[Category:1991 mass shootings in Asia]]
[[Category:Railway accidents and incidents in Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Railway accidents in 1991]]

1991 Punjab killings - Revision history

Gaurav at 21:42, 6 March 2026