Gawakadal massacre

The Gawakadal massacre was named after the Gawakadal bridge in Srinagar, Kashmir, where, on January 20, 1990, the Indian paramilitary troops of the Central Reserve Police Force opened fire on a group of unarmed Kashmiri protesters, including women and children. At least 50 people were killedMirza, Waheed. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6947968.stm Growing up in Kashmir's war zone] . "BBC News." August 16, 2007] however, many estimates and eyewitness accounts put the death-toll at over 100 [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/india0906/5.htm Everyone Lives in Fear: Patterns of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir] . "Human Rights Watch." 2006] in what has been described by some authors as "the worst massacre in Kashmiri history."Schofield, Victoria. [http://books.google.com/books?id=rkTetMfI6QkC&pg=PA148&lpg=PA148&dq=gawakadal&source=web&ots=2PggiAE9Ro&sig=UWRmiI6qxIqtW9-Ej-4KtCkjShw&hl=en#PPA148,M1 Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War] ]

Background

Violence erupted in the Kashmir region of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in November of 1989, though unrest had been building in the state since the 1987 elections, which were widely believed to have been blatantly rigged by the Indian government and the National Conference to ensure the defeat of a coalition of pro-independence and pro-autonomy parties. Following the December, 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of Indian Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the government decided to take a harder stance against the separatist rebellion. To that end, despite fierce opposition from the state government, New Delhi appointed Jagmohan, an known forceful administrator, governor of the state. As a result, the state government, then lead by Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah resigned, and the state went under President's rule.

On January 19, 1990, the night Jagmohan was appointed governor, Indian security forces conducted extensive, warrant-less, and therefore illegal house-to-house searches in Srinagar, in an effort to find illegal weapons and root out any hidden militants. Hundreds of people were arrested, and many Kashmiris claimed that they had been dragged out of their homes, and were beaten and abused by the Indian soldiers. Both Jagmohan and Abdullah deny any involvement in the decision to carry out the raid.

The massacre

As word of the searches spread the next morning (January 20, 1990), thousands of Kashmiris took to the streets in protest, demanding independence. Jagmohan responded by putting the city under curfew, but people actually observed it. That evening, a large group of protesters shouting pro-independence slogans, reached Srinagar's Gawakadal Bridge over the Jhelum River. There, CPRF troops responded by gathering on both sides of the bridge and opening fire on the unarmed crowd, which included women and children. Between 50 and over 100 protesters were killed - some by gunshot wounds, other by drowning after they jumped into the river in fear.

Aftermath

The Gawakadal massacre went on to become a watershed in the Kashmiri independence movement. More demonstrations followed, and in January of 1990 alone, Indian paramilitary troops are believed to have killed over 300 protesters As a Human Rights Watch stated in a report from May, 1991, “In the weeks that followed [the Gawakadal massacre] as security forces fired on crowds of marchers and as militants intensified their attacks against the police and those suspected of aiding them, Kashmir’s civil war began in earnest.” MJ Akbar, editor of Asian Age newspaper, said of the massacre, "January 19 became the catalyst which propelled into a mass upsurge. Young men from hundreds of homes crossed over into Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to receive arms and training in insurrection…Pakistan came out in open support of secession, and for the first time, did not need to involve its regular troops in the confrontation. In Srinagar, each mosque became a citadel of fervor."

No known action was ever taken against the CPRF forces officials responsible for the massacre, or against the officers present at Gawakadal that night. No government investigation was ever ordered into the incident.

References