Chattisinghpora, Pathribal, and Barakpora massacres
The Chattisinghpora, Pathribal, and Barakpora massacres refer to a series of three closely related incidents that took place in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir between 20 March 2000 and 3 April 2000 that left up to 49 Kashmiri civilians dead.
The Chattisinghpora massacre
On the evening of 20 March 2000, 15–17 terrorists of Lashkar E Taiba gunmen, entered the village of Chattisinghpora, located in Anantnag district. They ordered all of the Sikh men and boys to assemble at the village gurdwara, and systematically shot and killed 34 of them. Many others were injured in the attack, and least one man later died of his injuries. The sole survivor of the massacre was Nanak Singh Aulakh, who recounted the events to reporters. This was the first time in the Kashmir conflict that Sikhs had ever been targeted. In the aftermath of the attacks, Indian Home Minister LK Advani offered the state's Sikh population additional protective measures, however the local Sikh leadership reportedly rejected the plan, saying that the Muslim majority had not been hostile to them before and that no protection was needed. Mohammad Suhail Malik of Sialkot, Pakistan confessed while in custody about participating in the massacre at the direction of Lashkar-e-Toiba in an interview with Barry Bearak of The New York Times although Bearak questioned the authenticity of the confession. Suhail Malik is a nephew of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of Lashkar-e-Toiba.
