1993 Bijbehara massacre

1993 Bijbehara massacre
Part of Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir
LocationBijbehara, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Date22 October 1993
TargetCivilian protestors
Attack type
Mass shooting
Deaths51 killed (per Amnesty International)
35 killed (per UN Refugee Agency)
37 killed (per Time of India)
Injured200 wounded (per Amnesty International)
76 wounded (per UN Refugee Agency)
PerpetratorsIndian Army
Convicted13 Indian officers
Human rights abuses
in Jammu and Kashmir
Notes
1990
1991
1993
1995
1995 kidnapping of Western tourists in Kashmir
1996
1997
1998
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2006
2009

The Bijbehara Massacre[1][2] took place when 74th Battalion Border Security Force (BSF) fired upon protesters in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, India on 22 October 1993, killing 51 civilians. In the official version of events, BSF had only acted in self-defense when fired upon by militants; however, this narrative was rejected by Human Rights Watch citing the 1993 U.S. Department of State country report on human rights in India which said, "Despite government claims that the security forces were ambushed by militants, only one BSF sub inspector was injured."[3]

The protests had erupted over the siege of the mosque in Hazratbal.[4][5][6] The number of reported dead and wounded vary by source. Amnesty International reported that at least 51 people died and 200 were wounded on that day, which included incidents in Srinagar and Bijbehara. The UN Refugee Agency reported 35 dead and about 76 wounded, citing news reports in The Times. The Times of India reported 37 dead.[7]

The Indian government conducted two official enquiries and the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) conducted a third. In March 1994 the government indicted the Border Security Force (BSF) for firing into the crowd "without provocation" and charged 13 BSF officers with murder. A nonpublic General Security Force Court trial conducted in 1996 led to their acquittal.[7][8] When the NHRC sought to examine the transcripts of the trials in order to satisfy itself that the BSF had made a genuine attempt to secure convictions, the Vajpayee government refused. The NHRC then moved the Supreme Court for a review.[9] Faced with the Government's non-cooperation, the NHRC finally dismissed the case.[10] On 10 September 2007 the Jammu and Kashmir High Court ordered the state government to pay restitution to the victims' families.[11]

List of the Martyrs of Bijbehara town (only), buried in Mazar-e-Shuhada, Bijbehara, on the 22nd of October 1993, when the Bijbehara Massacre occurred. Out of 22 Martyrs buried, 16 are below 20 years of age, out of which a 12-year-old, a 14-year-old, three are 15 years old, five are 17 years old, and six are 18 years old.
List of the Martyrs of Bijbehara town buried in Mazar-e-Shuhada, Bijbehara, on 22nd of October 1993. Out of 22 Martyrs, 16 are below 20 years of age.
  1. ^ Gossman, Patricia (1995). "An International Human Rights Perspective". Asian Affairs: An American Review. 22 (1): 65–70. doi:10.1080/00927678.1995.9933697. : "For example, [the National Human Rights Commission] report on the October 1993 massacre of forty-three civilians in Bijbehara, Kashmir, called for the prosecution of fourteen members of the BSF."
  2. ^ 25 Years of Bijbehara Massacre: A Tale of Bloodbath, Kashmir Times, 23 October 2018: "The brutal killing of 51 civilians in the massacre is referred to as Bijbehara massacre."
  3. ^ "Everyone Lives in Fear - Patterns of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 1 September 2006. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  4. ^ "Amnesty International Report 1994 - India". Amnesty International. 1 January 1994. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  5. ^ "Rising Kashmir". www.risingkashmir.com. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  6. ^ "October 22 1993 Bijbehara bloodbath Lastupdate:- Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:…". archive.is. 24 October 2014. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BSF record: Guilty are seldom punished was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Chronology of Event: February 1991 - November1994". Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 1 March 1995. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  9. ^ "NHRC, Annual Report 1999-2000". National Human Rights Commission of India. Archived from the original on 10 September 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  10. ^ Shibli, Murtaza. "13th Anniversary of Bijbehara Massacre: 22 October 1993". Kashmir Affairs. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  11. ^ Syed, Basharat (22 September 2007). "HC directs govt to pay relief to Bijbehara massacre victim's kins". Kashmir Times. Retrieved 11 April 2009.[permanent dead link]