Jammu Kashmir Sikh Leaders Demand Justice For Chattisinghpora Massacre Victims

Srinagar: On the 26th anniversary of the Chattisinghpora massacre in which 35 Sikhs were killed, All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) demanded that the findings of the retired Justice Pandian Commission report set up to probe the massacre should be made public.

Jagmohan Singh Raina, APSCC chairman, in a statement, said that publishing the report will expose the people who carried out the attack.

35 civilian Sikhs were killed by unidentified gunmen at Chattisinghpora village in Anantnag district on March 20, 2000. The massacre was done before the visit of then US President Bill Clinton to India, when late BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.

Jammu and Kashmir was then a state, and the government was headed by Farooq Abdullah, the president of the present ruling party, the National Conference. Farooq had announced that retired Supreme Court Judge S. Ratnavel Pandian would investigate the massacre. Pandian had submitted his report to the then state government.

Jammu and Kashmir authorities had then blamed the massacre on Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, and the security forces had claimed to have killed five Pakistani terrorists in an encounter in Panchalthan-Brakapora villages of the Anantnag district, involved in the massacre. However, they later turned out to be five local civilians after their families reported them missing and protested about their whereabouts.

Raina said that the motive behind the setting up of the Pandian Commission has been lost, as nobody knows about the findings of the report of the Commission.

He said the Committee had time and again demanded that the findings should be made public, but no heed was paid to such demands. He said once the findings come out, people would come to know about the killers.

Paying his tributes to the 35 victims, Congress vice president and All India Congress Committee (AICC) member Surinder Singh Channi, said the incident will be remembered as a dark day for Sikhs.

"We remember with deep pain and anguish the innocent lives lost in the barbaric massacre. On the eve of Holi in 2000, 35 innocent Sikh men were brutally dragged out of their homes and massacred in cold blood. Even after decades, the pain remains unbearable. The cries of families who lost their fathers, sons, and brothers still echo in silence. What is deeply disturbing is that justice continues to be delayed, and the truth remains buried under unanswered questions,” Channi said.

"Today, we do not just mourn, we question, we demand, and we remember. This tragedy is a stain on humanity, and forgetting it would be the greatest injustice. The nation must not remain silent. We stand in unwavering solidarity with the families of the martyrs and the community. Their blood calls for justice. Their sacrifice demands remembrance. Their story must never be erased," he added.

Harbaksh Singh, Apni Party leader, said the justice for the victims and their families has eluded them in these 26 years. "Many governments came and went in these 26 years, but it is very unfortunate that no agency, government has identified the culprits. This massacre is still shrouded in mystery as to who did it and why 35 innocent Sikhs were killed. We demand justice for the victims and their families," he said.