The month of January is often referred to as the month of massacres in the Kashmir valley. Gaw Kadal, Sopore, Handwara, Wandhama massacres all happened in the month of January.
More than two decades ago, on an ill-fated day of 26th of January in 1998, 23 non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits were killed mercilessly by uniformed unidentified gunmen in Wandhama village of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district.
According to the locals, the massacre has left a deep scar and shall forever remind them of the loss of their Pandit brothers.
A majority of this community had migrated to Jammu in the wake of militancy and exodus in Kashmir.
The locals said that they were inside a local Mosque offering special prayers on that night as it was Shab -I- Qadr, when they heard some gunshots and cries.
“We left our prayers and rushed to towards the cries, they saw burning houses of their Pandit neighbors and their dead bodies, in a pool of blood,” a local told The Kashmiriyat.
He said that some local Muslims meanwhile rushed to seek Army and police help.
The slain included the family members of four families and at least five guests who had come from Jammu to visit their relatives in the Ganderbal area.
According to the locals, the victims were ‘symbols of communal harmony’ and had resisted migration.
According to a report by Greater Kashmir, Sajad Ahmed, a local said, “It was like the killing of the whole humanity and we still remember the ill-fated incident and we will never forget that night.”
Another local cried that they couldn’t believe their eyes were seeing their neighbors falling prey to an inhuman act. He said, “We always shared our joy and sorrow with our Pandit brothers and those are the unforgettable days they shared with us.”
The residential houses that belong to the victim of the massacre have been in damaged conditions since and all locals are disheartened to see these houses without their Pandit owners.
The locals added that many of the Pandits who had migrated from Wandhama to Jammu before the incident here, very often come to meet their (Muslim) friends and neighbors here. The count of the killed, according to reports was 23, out of which, there were 4 children, 9 women, and 10 men.
President Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) Sanjay Tikoo termed the incident as unforgettable. Although a case was registered, it was unfortunately closed in 2008 for non – availability of evidence.
Several reports and complaints were filed at State Human Rights Commission regarding the closure of the case and since they have sought a probe into the incident.
“We were provided with the details by the police department that the massacre was carried out by 21 foreign militants and 20 of them have been killed in different encounters and one is at large still,” Sanjay concluded.