Kaluchak massacre

The Kaluchak Massacre refers to an incident on May 14, 2002 near the town of Kaluchak in the Indian state of Jammu when three terrorists attacked a tourist bus from the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

The massacre

The terrorists reportedly crossed the Line of Control from Pakistan and boarded the bus at Vijaypur. When the bus neared Kaluchak, they shot the driver and the conductor and opened fire on the passengers. Upon hearing the sound of fire, sentries of an Indian Army Unit located in the vicinity, opened fire in the direction of the terrorists.

The terrorists, while returning fire, attempted to escape in the direction of the Army's family quarters, located on the main road. They also threw grenades on some vehicles parked in the vicinity. Upon entering the family quarters they again fired on Army family members present in the premises.The terrorists were eventually cordoned off and killed by 10 a.m.

There were a total of 31 killed, including 3 Army personnel, 18 Army family members and 10 civilians. There were 47 wounded including 12 Army personnel, 20 Army family members and 15 civilians.

All the three terrorists killed in this incident have been identified as Pakistani Nationals. Their names were Abu Suhail of Faislabad Pakistan, Abu Murshed (Mohammed Munir) of Salamatpura ( Rahwali Canttonment) Gujranwala Pakistan and Abu Javed (Amzad Salam Bin Mohammed Gisha) of Guda Giriya Gujranwala, Pakistan. Certain food items like biscuits and chocolates found on the persons of the gunmen revealed that they were purchased from Zaffarwal, Pakistan.

Reaction in India

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee termed the massacre "a most inhuman and brutal carnage".Hundreds of army personnel and their family members held candle light prayers on Friday night in memory of those killed in one of the worst ever terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmir, in May. There was considerable anger directed at Pakistan by Army personnel at the loss of the lives of their family members.

Jaswant Singh, the then Minister for External Affairs, writes in his book "A Call To Honour - In Service of Emergent India" that the Kaluchak incident was the last straw that almost led to war between India and Pakistan (see "2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff"), and was the closest that India came to attacking Pakistan during that time.

International reactions

The President of the United States George W. Bush condemned the massacre as a "terrible and outrageous act” and said that he was “appalled at the incident”.

The Presidency of the European Union "strongly condemned Tuesday's brutal terrorist attack in Kaluchak ( Jammu and Kashmir), which resulted in the death of numerous innocent civilians" and expressed sympathy to the Government of India for its problems in controlling terrorism in Kashmir.

Similar condemnations were expressed by the leaders of Germany, Japan and Russia.

References

* [http://meaindia.nic.in/jk/kaluchak-massacre.htm]
* [http://meaindia.nic.in/jk/terrattk-jammumsgs.htm]
* [http://in.rediff.com/news/2002/may/21jk5.htm]
* [http://in.rediff.com/news/2002/jun/15war5.htm]
* [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020522/edit.htm#4]