https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=1998_Wandhama_massacre1998 Wandhama massacre - Revision history2026-07-31T21:19:01ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=1998_Wandhama_massacre&diff=391709&oldid=prevMetaBOT at 16:00, 8 July 20232023-07-08T16:00:37Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}<br />
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{{Infobox civilian attack<br />
| title = Wandhama Massacre <br />
| image = <br />
| caption = <br />
| location = Wandhama, [[Ganderbal District|Ganderbal]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[India]]<br />
| target = [[Kashmiri Hindus]]<br />
| date = 25 January 1998<br />
| time = <br />
| timezone = <br />
| type = [[Mass murder]] <br />
| motive = [[Islamist Terrorism]]<br />
| fatalities = 23<br />
| injuries = <br />
| perps = [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]]<br>[[Hizbul Mujahideen]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/865818.stm |title=Violent 'army of the pure' |date=2001-12-14 |newspaper=[[BBC News]] |accessdate=2009-11-25}}</ref><br />
}}<br />
{{Violence against Hindus in independent India}}<br />
{{location map+|India|float=right|width=168|caption=Location of attack.|places={{location map~|India|label='''Wandhama'''|mark=Red_pog.svg|position=bottom|lat=34.2486|long=74.7333}}}}<br />
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The '''1998 Wandhama massacre''' refers to the killings of 23 [[Kashmiri Hindus]] in the town of Wandhama{{Coord|34.2486|N|74.7333|E|format=dms|region:IN-JK|display=title}} in the [[Ganderbal District]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], India on 25 January, 1998.<ref>{{cite news |title=Villagers massacred in Kashmir |newspaper=[[BBC News]] | accessdate=26 November 2009 |date=26 January 1998 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/50620.stm }}</ref> The victims included four children and nine women.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://usembassy-israel.org.il/publish/press/state/archive/1998/january/sd4129.htm |title=State Department comments on the Massacre |accessdate=25 November 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204224347/http://usembassy-israel.org.il/publish/press/state/archive/1998/january/sd4129.htm|archive-date=4 December 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Diane">''International Terrorism'' p.157</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/865818.stm |title=Violent 'army of the pure' |date=2001-12-14 |newspaper=[[BBC News]] |accessdate=2009-11-25}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/world/kashmir-massacre-may-signal-the-coming-of-widespread-violence.html Kashmir Massacre May Signal the Coming of Widespread Violence], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 2003-03-25. {{ProQuest|92698458}}, {{ProQuest|2230066200}}</ref><ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/2003/mar/30/news/adfg-indiakill30 Kashmir Massacre Shakes Village's Sense of Fraternity], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', 2003-03-30. {{ProQuest|421765061}}</ref><br />
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==The massacre==<br />
According to the testimony of one of the survivors of the incident, a 14-year-old Hindu boy named Vinod Kuman Dhar{{cn|date=February 2021}}, the gunmen came to their house dressed like Indian Army soldiers{{cn|date=February 2021}}, had tea with them, waiting for a radio message indicating that all Hindu families in the village had been covered{{cn|date=February 2021}}. After a brief conversation they rounded up all the members of the Hindu households and then summarily gunned them down with [[AK-47|Kalashnikov]] rifles.<ref name="Indian Express">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/archive_full_story.php?content_id=6689|title=I saw them kill my entire family|work=The Indian Express|date=28 July 2002|first=Pradeep|last=Dutta|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929123548/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/archive_full_story.php?content_id=6689|archive-date=29 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><br />
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== Perpetrators ==<br />
The Indian government has blamed the militant outfit [[Lashkar-e-Taiba]] for carrying out the massacre.<ref name=":0" /><br />
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Other accounts blamed [[Hamid Gada|Abdul Hamid Gada]] of [[Hizbul Mujahideen]]. In these accounts, the massacre was timed to coincide with [[Laylat al-Qadr|Shab-e-Qadar]], the holiest night of the month of [[Ramadan]], when believers stay awake until dawn.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1707/17070360.htm|title=The killing of Hamid Gada|last=Swami|first=Parveen|date=April 2000|archive-date=1 October 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031001044607/http://www.thehindu.com/fline/fl1707/17070360.htm|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Gada was subsequently killed by Indian security forces in 2000.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/677004.stm 'Top militant' killed in Kashmir], [[BBC]], 14 March 2000</ref><br />
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==Aftermath==<br />
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 of India|National Human Rights Commission]]. At least 11 protesters were injured in the clashes.<ref>[http://www.sandhyajainarchive.org/2008/06/24/wandhamas-endless-night/ Wandhama's endless night] The Pioneer - 24 June 2008</ref><br />
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Indian Prime Minister [[Inder Kumar Gujral]] joined the mourners in Wandhama on 28 January,{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} accompanied by Governor [[K. V. Krishna Rao]], Chief Minister [[Farooq Abdullah]], and Union Minister for Environment [[Saifuddin Soz]]. Gujral said:<br />
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{{quote|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.}}<br />
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There were also protests in several [[Refugee camp|refugee camps]] where Kashmiri Hindus had been living since their [[Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits|exodus]] in 1990.<ref name="Tribune India">{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040428/j&k.htm#1|title=Migrant Pandits voted for end of terror in valley|work=The Tribune|date=27 April 2007|archive-date=12 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312071516/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040428/j%26k.htm#1|url-status=dead|access-date=2 September 2018|df=dmy-all}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[2003 Nadimarg massacre]]<br />
* [[1998 Prankote massacre]]<br />
* [[Chittisinghpura massacre]], another massacre in Kashmir where perpetrators wore Indian Army uniforms<br />
* [[List of massacres in India]]<br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=International Terrorism |location=Darby, PA |publisher=Diane Publishing |date=2001 |isbn=9780756701055}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wandhama Massacre}}<br />
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{{#seo:<br />
|keywords=1998 murders in India, Massacres in 1998, Mass murder in 1998, Crime in India, Crime in Jammu and Kashmir, Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmir conflict, Religiously motivated violence in India, Violence against Hindus in India, Persecution of Hindus, Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir, Massacres of Hindus in Kashmir<br />
|description=<br />
}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:1998 murders in India]]<br />
[[Category:Massacres in 1998]]<br />
[[Category:Mass murder in 1998]]<br />
[[Category:Crime in India]]<br />
[[Category:Crime in Jammu and Kashmir]]<br />
[[Category:Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir]]<br />
[[Category:Kashmir conflict]]<br />
[[Category:Religiously motivated violence in India]]<br />
[[Category:Violence against Hindus in India]]<br />
[[Category:Persecution of Hindus]]<br />
[[Category:Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir]]<br />
[[Category:Massacres of Hindus in Kashmir]]</div>MetaBOT