It was a cold day in February. The people of Mehjoor Nagar, a quiet neighborhood in Srinagar, were busy with their daily chores. Children played in the streets, their laughter echoing through the lanes.
The Sikh families, a small but resilient community in the valley, were preparing for the evening. Shopkeepers tended to their customers, and life moved at its usual pace—until gunfire shattered the calm.
On February 3, 2001, three unidentified gunmen arrived in Mehjoor Nagar. Two of them, armed with automatic weapons, opened fire indiscriminately on Sikh men, while the third waited on a motorcycle.
The attack was swift and brutal. Before anyone could react, six men lay dead on the ground—Satnam Singh, Charanjeet Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Suraj Singh, Sumeet Pal Singh, and Balwant Singh. Five others, including two women, were seriously injured.
Panic spread through the neighborhood as families rushed to save their loved ones. The attack had targeted the only Sikh-majority street in Srinagar, leaving the community in shock and mourning. That night, grief hung heavily in the air.
By the next morning, February 4, news of the killings had spread across the valley. The Sikh community, already reeling from past violence, took to the streets in protest. Large crowds gathered, demanding answers and questioning their safety in Kashmir.
The massacre bore chilling similarities to the Chattisinghpora killings of March 2000, in which 35 Sikhs were shot dead.
The pain of that tragedy was still fresh, and now, another attack had deepened the wounds.
In response to the unrest, authorities imposed a curfew in Srinagar and deployed additional forces in Sikh-majority areas.
The victims were cremated at a local Gurudwara, attended by grieving families and a devastated community. But the anger did not subside.
Protests erupted across the region, with demonstrators demanding justice. During one such demonstration, security forces fired on the protesters, killing a Sikh man and injuring three others.
A group calling itself Al-Qasim later claimed responsibility for the attack, though its origins and affiliations remained uncertain.
Some reports linked the name to militant groups active in the region, but no conclusive evidence was ever presented.
Some residents believed the attack on the Sikh community was an act of retaliation, though no definitive link was ever established.
The police launched an investigation, but no one was ever arrested for the killings. Various political and religious organizations condemned the massacre, with the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee criticizing the government for its failure to protect the community.
For Kashmiri Sikhs, the Mehjoor Nagar massacre was not an isolated incident. The previous year had seen the Chattisinghpora massacre, and fear had been growing within the community.
The visible presence of Sikhs in the security forces—within the Army, BSF, and Special Operations Group—had become a point of resentment for some militant factions, as per officials.
At the time, the political climate was tense. Then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had been engaged in peace talks with Pakistan’s General Pervez Musharraf.
The Mehjoor Nagar massacre, occurring in this backdrop, further complicated efforts toward reconciliation.
Meanwhile, Sikh leaders in Jammu Kashmir called for political representation, demanding reserved seats in the State Assembly, arguing that their community had deep roots in the region.
Today, the Mehjoor Nagar massacre remains a painful memory for those who lived through it. It is a reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by minority communities in times of conflict and the unanswered questions that still linger.
Two decades later, justice remains elusive, and the wounds of that winter evening have yet to heal.