2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre

The 2000 Amarnath pilgrimage attack on 1 and 2 August was the massacre of between 89 to 105 people, with 62 others injured in at least five different coordinated attacks by Islamist militants in Anantnag district and Doda district of Indian administered Kashmir.^[1]

Pilgrims at Cave shrine of Lord Shiva.

Out of these, 32 were killed on 2 August in 2000 in a massacre at Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam. The dead included 21 Hindu pilgrims, 7 local Muslim shopkeepers and 3 security officers. 7 other people were also injured.^[2][3]

Details

A total of 89 people (official count) to 105 (as reported by PTI) were killed and at least 62 were injured in five separate coordinated terror attacks, including the following partial count on the morning of 3 August 2000.^[1]

• On 2 August, at least 32 people were killed, who were mostly unarmed civilians. 21 were Hindu pilgrims, 7 were Muslims shopkeepers and porters, and 3 were security officials. The pilgrims were on their way to Amarnath cave shrine on annual pilgrimage. Many of those killed were local Bakarwal, Gurjar, Muslim men and porters hiring their horses and services to ferry the pilgrims to the site.^[4] Subsequently, then the Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Pahalgam and blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba for the killings.^[5]
• At least 27 civilian migrant labourers from the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, were killed in similar simultaneous terror attacks in Mirbazar-Qazigund and Sandoo-Acchabal in Anantnag district.^[1]
• At least 11 unarmed civilian people were killed in a pre-dawn terrorist attack in a remote village in Doda district.^[1]
• At least 7 unarmed civilians were killed when around the same time as Doda attack, another group of terrorists simultaneously attacked another remote village in Kupwara to seven Muslim members of a family of a surrendered former militant.^[1]
• At least 8 unarmed civilians were killed and 2 more were injured in an ambush by terrorists on a group of Village Defence Committee patrol party members of Kayar village of Doda district.^[1]

Aftermath

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee blamed Pakistan for being determined to sabotage democracy in (then) Jammu and Kashmir.^[5]

See also

• Kanwar Yatra
• 2017 Amarnath Yatra attack
• 2003 Nadimarg massacre
• Amarnath land transfer controversy
• Islamic terrorism
• List of massacres in India
• List of terrorist incidents in India
• List of Islamist terrorist attacks
• List of terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir

References

1. "Night of massacres leaves 105 dead in valley. Army out in Jammu. Central team in Srinagar". Tribune India. 3 August 2000. Archived from the original on 13 February 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
2. "Amarnath Yatra devotees have faced repeated terror attacks: Here's the blood-soaked history of pilgrimage". Firstpost. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
3. "Amarnath pilgrimage resumes". BBC News. 4 August 2000. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
4. Mackinnon, Ian (2 August 2000). "Muslim militants kill 21 Hindu pilgrims in Kashmir". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
5. Bose, Adrija (11 July 2017). "A Look At The Bloody History Of Terror Attacks On Amarnath Yatra Pilgrims". Huffington Post India. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.

Further reading

• "Lok Sabha Debates. Motion regarding expressing anguish and deep sense of grief over the incidents of killing of innocent persons in Jammu and Kashmir and urging to appoint commission of inquiry". 21 August 2000 – via indiankanoon.org.

External links

• Official website
• Amarnath: Journey to the shrine of a Hindu god, Boston Globe news story in pictures, 13 July 2012.