In order to halt massive pro-freedom demonstrations by the people in Kashmir, who were to submit a memorandum to United Nations Military Observers Group
in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), army opened fire at Zakoora crossing
and Tengpora bypass in Srinagar, killing 26 and 21 peaceful
demonstrators, respectively. The killings occurred on the fateful day of
March 1st 1990.
A detailed account of this massacre appeared in March 31, 1990 issue of the Bombay based Economic and Political Weekly,
which reproduced the text of “India’s Kashmir War” by a team of four
members Tapan Bose, Dinesh Mohan, Gautam Navlakha and Sumanta Banerjee
of the Committee for Initiative on Kashmir. The Committee
members while holding Jagmohan responsible for these massacres wrote
that: “Jagmohan’s return to Jammu and Kashmir as governor signalled the
unleashing of state repression on a massive scale. The government’s
tendency to treat mass demonstrations as the handiwork of Pakistani
agents and use indiscriminate force against the people has alienated the
Kashmiri public from India and pushed them into the arms of militants.
To make matters worse Jagmohan’s identification with the BJP in the
popular perception and his pronounced anti-Muslim measures has widened
the gulf between Pandits and Muslims in the state.”
The eyewitnesses and the survivors of
these twin massacres of March 1, 1990 told CNS that these carnages still
send chill down their spine when they try to recount them. “It was a
time when people hit roads on daily basis seeking freedom from India.
Protests would rock every nook and corner against the repressive
policies of the then Governor Jagmohan.”
“Amid massive pro-freedom slogans over
2000 protesters clad in shrouds were heading towards Srinagar office of
the United Nations to submit a memorandum seeking freedom from India. A
convoy of five Army vehicles led by three Junior Commissioned Officers
was returning from Sonamarg to Srinagar but found the road blocked near
the crossing.
After exchanging heating arguments with
local police when the later requested them to wait till road gets
cleared near Zakoora crossing, the Army men turned towards the
demonstration and allegedly opened fire from three machine guns fitted
over the vehicles. Eleven people died on spot while 15 others succumbed
to their injuries on way to SK Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS)
Soura. All but 50 other people received bullet injuries,” said
eyewitnesses who alleged that the retaliation from Army was unprovoked
as protesters had not resorted to any clash or argument with them.
“The local police had little or no
control over the affairs of the state that time and same was the case
with civil administration and it was the reason civil administration did
not visit the spot and the job to ferry injured to hospital was done by
local population,” they said and added that Army resorted to unprovoked
firing to “demean the position and status of local police officials
present on the location who had requested them to wait till the
protesters passed off the road”.
On the same day, in evening hours 21
more unarmed civilians were killed when Army targeted two buses near
Tengpora Bypass. The dead included five women.
Eyewitnesses said that the passenger
buses were on way to South Kashmir when they were targeted. “Some of
people were chanting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans on the roof top
of these buses. It was their only crime they were targeted.”
The twin massacres sparked widespread
protests across Kashmir while authorities imposed curfew to diffuse the
volatile situation. The global human rights watchdog Amnesty International issued an appeal for urgent action on Tengpora and Zakoora massacres.
The Article was originally posted at Web version of Kashmir life (http://www.kashmirlife.net/march-1-1990-twin-massacres-in-srinagar-leave-47-dead-2-98102/)
