1990 Zakoora and Tengpora massacre
Background
In order to halt massive demonstrations by the people, who were to submit a memorandum to United Nations Military Observers Group on India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), Indian army opened fire at Tengpora bypass and Zakoora crossing in Srinagar, killing 26 and 21 demonstrators, respectively. [1]
The Zukoora And Tengpora Massacre happened in the afternoon of March 1, 1990 when the entire Kashmir Valley was up in arms demanding freedom from India and protesting against atrocities by the Jagmohan regime when a group of about 2,000 people decided to rush to Srinagar office of the United Nation’s Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to submit a memorandum. [2][3]
Comprising young and old, the protesters, many of them clad in shrouds, were raising slogans for freedom at the Zakoora Crossing. In the meantime 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.
Initially, three policemen who were guarding the crossing told the soldiers to wait for sometime till the protesters pass. “This led to a heated argument between the policemen and the soldiers,”
Unprovoked firing
Three Army vehicles were fitted with light machine guns (LMGs) and the convoy turned towards the demonstration, the soldiers opened fire. In all, 26 civilians fell to the soldiers bullets while 50 more were injured in the incident that later came to be known as the Zakoora massacre.
The mayhem continued for more than two hours, with the injured, helpless and hopeless, watching the bloodbath from a distance. None from the civil administration came to their rescue.Only the locals rushed there ferrying the injured to hospitals.
Another massacre: Tengpora Massacre
On the same day, 21 more Kashmiris were killed at about 5 pm by the Indian Armed Forces who fired at a bus near Tengpora, Bye-Pass. They too were unarmed. The dead included five women.This came to be known as Tengpora massacre.
Next day, global watchdog, Amnesty International issued a second appeal for urgent Action on Kashmir pertaining to Tengpora and Zakoora. A detailed account appeared in the March 31, 1990 issue of the Economic and Political Weekly of Bombay, which reproduced the text of “India’s Kashmir War” by a team of four members of the Committee for Initiative on Kashmir.
S. Mulgaokar quoted excerpts from the same report in the “Diary of a Recluse” in April 7, 1991 edition of The Indian Express.
References
- ^ http://www.kmsnews.org/databank/a-bloody-account-mass-massacres | A bloody account of mass massacres
- ^ http://www.greaterkashmir.com/Home/Newsdetails.asp?newsid=4615&Issueid=162&Arch=, | March 1, 1990: When 47 civilians were massacred for Azadi by Mir Faheem Aslam, Print Edition of Greater Kashmir on 28 Feberuary 2007
- ^ http://kashmirmedia.wordpress.com/2007/03/01/zakoora-and-tengpora-massacare-by-india/ | Zakoora And Tengpora Massacre By India