Terror Has No Religion? A Record of Targeted Killings of Hindus and Sikhs by Islamic Terrorists in Kashmir
- MGMMTeam
- 19 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Whenever an Islamic terrorist attack occurs in the country, the familiar machinery of terror apologists quickly springs into action, recycling their well-worn narrative that these attacks have no connection to religion. From the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits to the horrific attack on Hindu tourists in Pahalgam on April 22nd, the same narrative is applied to every act of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir or anywhere else in the country.
They rely on the same tactics of whitewashing, attempting to generate sympathy for terrorists by highlighting their impoverished backgrounds. Additionally, they point to isolated instances of local Muslims condemning the violence or participating in candlelight vigils to promote a message of fraternity, all in an effort to further their apologetic stance.
Since the 1990s, Jammu and Kashmir has endured a string of communally motivated attacks targeting Hindus. A quick look at the history of these incidents makes it clear to anyone paying attention that these attacks are deeply rooted in religious motivations. Here’s a list of terrorist attacks that expose the flaws in the terror apologist narrative.
1993 Kishtwar terrorist attack
On August 14, 1993, three terrorists armed with AK-47s hijacked a bus carrying Hindu passengers in the Sarthal area of Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir. The terrorists ordered the women and children to disembark, taking all the male passengers as hostages. They separated the men into two groups at a different location before shooting them at close range. All the male passengers were killed. This brutal act of terrorism marked the onset of widespread violence in the Jammu region and led to the forced migration of Hindus from the area.
1998 Wandhama massacre
On January 25, 1998, in the town of Wandhama, Ganderbal district, Jammu and Kashmir, 23 out of 24 Kashmiri Pandits from one family were brutally murdered by terrorists. The victims had reportedly chosen to remain behind after the majority of Hindus had migrated. Locals, who arrived after hearing gunshots, found the 23 bodies lying in pools of blood, while a temple was set on fire. One family member managed to escape the massacre.
The sole survivor later recounted that the terrorists entered the home disguised as Indian Army soldiers, armed with AK-47s. They engaged with the family, gathered them together, and then opened fire.
1998 Prankote and Daikote massacre of Hindus
The 1998 Wandhama massacre was followed by another brutal terrorist attack on Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir. On the night of April 17, 1998, 29 Hindus, including 13 women and children, were ruthlessly killed and beheaded by Islamic terrorists in the villages of Prankote and Dakikote in Udhampur district (now part of Reasi district). These Hindu villages were located along a route commonly used by Pakistani terrorists for infiltration. A survivor reportedly recounted that the terrorists forced the Hindus to convert to Islam and eat beef. When they refused, the terrorists executed them. After the killings, the terrorists set fire to the homes of the victims. One woman reportedly managed to escape but later died from burn injuries, with her body found in a gorge.
Authorities learned of the massacre after 10 hours, and security forces arrived the following day. It took around 48 hours for the J&K police to reach the site. A police official described the scene as a "ghost area," with beheaded bodies scattered across the ground. In the aftermath of the massacre, the Hindu families living in the villages fled in large numbers.
2000 Chittisinghpura massacre of Sikhs
On March 20, 2000, approximately 15-20 Islamic terrorists posing as military personnel brutally murdered 36 Sikh men in Chittisinghpora, a village in the predominantly Sikh area of Anantnag district in south Kashmir. This attack took place just hours before U.S. President Bill Clinton’s visit to India. Upon entering the village, the terrorists split into two groups and stormed two Gurudwaras—the Shaukeen Mohalla Gurudwara and the Singh Sabha Sumandri Hall Gurdwara, located just 150 meters apart. They rounded up all the Sikh men present and opened fire on them without warning. A survivor, Nanak Singh, recalled that the attackers, disguised as soldiers, lined up the Sikh men under the pretense of questioning them about a group of terrorists that, they claimed, were planning to enter the village. The government later attributed the killings to the Islamic militant groups Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen.
Terrorist attacks on Amarnath Yatra
In a horrific terrorist attack on Hindu pilgrims during the Amarnath Yatra, approximately 89 people (media reports claimed 105) lost their lives in five coordinated attacks on August 1st and 2nd, 2000, in the Anantnag and Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir. On August 2, 2000, 32 Hindu pilgrims and 7 security officers were killed during a two-hour shootout at the Nunwan base camp in Anantnag district, as they made their way to the Amarnath Cave Shrine. Around 27 migrant workers were also killed in Mirbazar-Qazigund and Sandoo-Acchabal in Anantnag district. Additionally, 11 unarmed civilians were murdered in a village in Doda district. The Hizbul Mujahideen was responsible for carrying out this attack.
In July 2001, terrorists attacked the Amarnath Yatra again, infiltrating the security perimeter at Sheshnag Lake. They threw grenades at Hindu pilgrims and detonated two IEDs, killing 8 Hindu pilgrims and 2 security personnel, among others.
Another attack occurred on August 6, 2002, when al-Mansuriyan, a front group of Lashkar-e-Taiba, carried out a brutal assault at the Nunwan base camp, killing 9 Hindu pilgrims.
The Amarnath Yatra was targeted once more on July 10, 2017, when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims was attacked en route to the Amarnath Cave Shrine. The attack killed 8 pilgrims and left 19 others injured.
2003 Nandimarg massacre
On March 23, 2003, the Nandimarg massacre in Pulwama district saw the brutal killing of 24 Kashmiri Pandits. Terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba, disguised as military personnel, carried out the attack. The victims, comprising 11 men, 11 women, and 2 boys, were forcibly taken from their homes and shot.
2006 Doda massacre
The Doda massacre, a tragic event in which 54 Hindus were ruthlessly murdered by Islamic terrorists, occurred in two separate attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba on April 30, 2006, in the Doda and Udhampur districts of Jammu and Kashmir. In the first attack, terrorists disguised as Army personnel lined up approximately 22 Hindu villagers, primarily shepherds and their families, in Thawa village in the Kulhand area of Doda district and opened fire. Among the victims was a 3-year-old girl. The doctor assigned to perform the postmortem on the bodies reportedly suffered a heart attack after witnessing their condition.
On the same day, another attack took place in Lalon Galla village in the Basantgarh area of Udhampur district. In this assault, terrorists abducted 35 Hindu shepherds from the village before executing them.
2021 Terrorist Attack: School Principal and Teacher Killed
On October 7, 2021, terrorists assassinated a principal and a teacher at a school in Srinagar. Principal Satinder Kaur and teacher Deepak Chand were shot at close range at the Government Boys Higher Secondary School in Idgah, Sangam. Satinder Kaur was from the Sikh minority community, while Deepak Chand belonged to the Kashmiri Pandit minority. They were targeted because of their religion, as the terrorists had separated them from the Muslim staff before opening fire.
These attacks leave no room for doubt about their religious motivations. They were driven by communal hatred, with Hindus deliberately targeted and murdered by Islamic terrorists. Yet, the religious motivation behind these attacks is rarely acknowledged in public or political discussions. Debates surrounding such incidents tend to focus on the "how" rather than the "why" behind the attacks. In the aftermath, governments, security forces, and even the victims are blamed, while the terrorists and the ideology fueling their murderous actions are largely overlooked. The recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam follows this troubling pattern.
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