The 2002 Qasim Nagar massacre was the killing of 29

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

labourers in Qasim Nagar on the outskirts of

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

city in the erstwhile

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

of Jammu and Kashmir by militants

Background

Killings of civilians had been intermittent but regular feature of the

Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir The insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, also known as the Kashmir insurgency, is an ongoing separatist militant insurgency against the Indian administration in Jammu and Kashmir, a territory constituting the southwestern portion of the larger g ...

. Several prior incidents like Gawkadal massacre,

Handwara massacre The Handwara massacre was a massacre of 21 unarmed protesters by the Border Security Force of India in the town of Handwara, Kashmir on 25 January 1990. Background On 21 January 1990, Central Reserve Police Force opened fire on a group of prote ...

and Hawal massacre are some of the brutal ones.

The attack

On 13 July 2002, around 8 pm, up to eight suspected militants walked into the Qasimnagar slum on the outskirts of Jammu Disguised as Hindu holy men. They then threw three or four grenades before opening fire with

automatic weapons An automatic firearm is an auto-loading firearm that continuously chambers and fires rounds when the trigger mechanism is actuated. The action of an automatic firearm is capable of harvesting the excess energy released from a previous dischar ...

(

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...

s). Within minutes 24 people, all Hindus were dead. Three more died later in hospital and at least 30 were injured, some critically. The dead included 13 women and a child. The gunmen escaped into the thickly wooded hills nearby. The victims were listening to the commentary of Indian-England cricket match. There was a power cut at that time and many had gathered around a radio to listen to

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

commentary being broadcast live from Lord's Cricket Ground. Most of those killed were very poor labourers who lived in makeshift sheds fabricated from discarded apple crates. The dead included two blind beggars, 13 women and one child.

Aftermath

On 15 July, a complete bandh was observed in Jammu in protest against the incident. British Foreign Secretary

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

condemned the massacre saying "Terrorism be it in Jammu, Kashmir or anywhere else only serves to renew the determination of the free world to fight this evil. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who suffered". United States, Britain, and France also condemned the weekend attack. US Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to External Affairs Minister

Yashwant Sinha Yashwant Sinha (, born 6 November 1937) is an Indian administrator and politician. He served as the Minister of Finance from 1990 until 1991 under Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and again from March 1998 to July 2002 under Prime Minister Atal B ...

and condemned the massacre which he described as a "terrorist act". The State Department also released one-para statement on behalf of Mr Powell saying:

I condemn the vicious killing of over 20 persons in Jammu yesterday. The people of this region deserve peace and development, not the suffering imposed upon them by terrorist thugs who are beyond the pale of the civilised world. The perpetrators of this heinous act are proving once again that they do not have the interest of the
Kashmiri people Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language, living mostly, but not exclusively, in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern ...
at heart, but rather seek to undermine efforts to ease tensions in the region.

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a communication with the Ministry of External Affairs here, said:

The present terrorist act in Jammu and Kashmir like yesterday's attack on a group of foreign tourists in the north of Pakistan form part of the same chain of international terrorism which present today a major threat to peace and security, including in South Asia. We emphasise that the first step in ending terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is the consistent implementation of commitments given by the Government of Pakistan for preventing activities of terrorist groups on the territory under its control.

Arrests

The Director General of Jammu and Kashmir Police said that "Pakistan-based militant outfit

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...

" is responsible for the attack. Subsequently, Indian Police arrested Mohammad Abdullah alias Abu Talah of Lashkar-e-Taiba in connection with this massacre. Seven more militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba were arrested later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qasim Nagar Massacre 21st-century mass murder in India Massacres in 2002 Persecution of Hindus Persecution by Muslims Mass shootings in India Terrorist incidents in India in 2002 Islamic terrorism in India 2002 in India Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir Violence against Hindus in India Islamic terrorist incidents in 2002 July 2002 events in India 2002 mass shootings in Asia 2002 murders in India Massacres of Hindus in Kashmir Kashmir conflict

Background

The attack

Aftermath

Arrests

See also

References