1998 Chapnari massacre was a massacre of 25 Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 villagers in Chapnari (also called Champanari by some sources) village in Doda

Doda

Doda is a town and a notified area committee in Doda district in Jammu & Kashmir of India.-Geography:Doda is located at . It has an average elevation of 1107 metres .-Demographics:...

 district of Jammu & Kashmir on 19 June 1998 allegedly attributed to Pakistan backed insurgent groups.

Background

In 1990 the bulk of 250,000 Kashmiri Pandits left Kashmir after being selectively targeted by the militants. Most are packed in refugee camps in Jammu

Jammu

Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...

.

The Attack

The victims were accompanying two marriage parties when they were attacked. Police sources said that five female members of the group, including children and the bride, were spared. Among those who survived Chapnari were the three primary school teachers. The two Muslims among them, not identified for security reasons, successfully begged the terrorists at Chapnari for the life of their Hindu colleague, Raj Bishan, refusing to leave without him.

Aftermath

Chief minister Farooq Abdullah

Farooq Abdullah

Farooq Abdullah , born 21 October 1937 in Soura, Jammu & Kashmir, India), is the son of Sheikh Abdullah, is a doctor of medicine and has served as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982. He is married to Molly, a nurse of British origin...

 strongly condemned the attack & described it as "yet another barbaric act of Pakistan-sponsored militants in Jammu and Kashmir". India's Home Minister, Lal Krishna Advani

Lal Krishna Advani

Lal Kishanchand Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani is a Veteran Indian politician. A former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. He also served as a Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004...

, who had recently assumed overall control of Indian policy in the state, described the killing of the wedding guests as 'a clear attempt at ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....

 and said responsibility for the attack, and the other massacres of Hindus, rested with Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

.

In September 1998 Abid Hussain of Lashkar-e-Taiba

Lashkar-e-Taiba

Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...

 who was the main accused in this massacre was shot dead by Indian security forces. Another accused Attullah of Hizbul Mujahideen

Hizbul Mujahideen

Hizbul Mujahideen , founded by Ahsan Dar in 1989, is a Kashmiri militant group active in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. Their headquarters are located in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. It is believed the group al-Badr, derived from Hizbul Mujahideen...

was arrested in June 2004.