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Srinagar, March 21 (KMS): In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) has demanded a fresh probe into the Chattisingpora massacre.
Thirty-five members of Sikh community were killed in disguise by Indian troops in Chittisinghpora area of Islamabad district on March 20 in 2000 on the eve of the then US President, Bill Clinton’s visit to India. A few days later, Indian Army had claimed of killing five foreign militants involved in the Chittisinghpora massacre during an encounter in Pathribal area of the district. Their bodies were charred beyond recognition. However, the investigations proved that the slain persons were local youth, picked up from their homes by the Indian Army and were killed in a fake encounter. Several more people were martyred in Brakpora in the firing of Indian troops on the demonstrators who were protesting against the Pathribal fake encounter.
The APSCC Chairman Jagmohan Singh Raina in a statement issued in Srinagar on 21 anniversary of Chattisingpora bloodbath deplored that after 21 years the people of the territory, especially the Sikhs of the valley were still waiting for justice and urged the authorities to nab the culprits of the massacre.
He urged the authorities to announce a fresh probe into the incident and allow the Justice Pandian Commission to further investigate the incident as Brakpora and Chattisinghpora cases are interlinked. He also urged the people of the territory to get united for communal harmony and resolve their long pending issues.
He said that the slain people, dubbed ‘militants’ by police, were actually innocent residents of Brakpora proved by judicial enquiry of Justice Pandan Commission. He also said bodies of slain men were burnt and hastily buried in a nearby village. “The drama managed by the officials was fake as they said that the militants were caught in a burning house during a gun battle and their bodies were charred beyond recognition,” said the APSCC.
The APSCC also said that so far the Committee appointed by the authorities had failed to find out the culprits and resolve the mystery of killings of Sikhs in Kashmir.
