Meher Qadri
On March 1 leading a peaceful protest towards the office of the United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to submit a memorandum-seeking resolution of the Kashmir dispute, 26 Kashmiris were fired upon by the army convoy passing which fired from three machine guns fitted over the vehicles. Eleven people died on the spot while 15 others succumbed to their injuries on way to the Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura. All but 50 other people received bullet injuries.
The documented eyewitness accounts over the years give a detailed account of the day. Over 2000 protesters clad in shrouds were heading towards the United Nations Srinagar office to submit a memorandum seeking freedom from India. A convoy of five Army vehicles led by three Junior Commissioned Officers was passing from the same highway to find the road blocked near the Zukurah crossing. A heated argument ensued with the local police and the army.
The local police pleaded with them to wait till the road gets cleared but the Army men turned towards the demonstration and fired indiscriminately killing 15 on the spot and injuring dozens of unarmed civilians. The local administration and Police had no control over the situation. The dead and the injured were helped by the locals of the area.
The day had yet not ended for the Kashmiris. Two buses on their way to south Kashmir were fired upon by the Indian armed forces at Tengpura Byepass road on the outskirts of Srinagar killing 21 unarmed civilians the same evening.
The twin massacres spurred widespread uproars across Kashmir while the government imposed a curfew to diffuse the volatile circumstances. Amnesty International issued an appeal for urgent action on Tengpora and Zakoora massacres; however, no action was prompted against anyone
31 years on the Justice is still awaited
In India’s Kashmir War a report by Tapan Bose, Dinesh Mohan, Gautam Navlakha and Sumanta Banerjee published in Economic and Political Weekly on March 31 1990 the incident is mentioned as follows.
“The third major incident took place on March 1, when reportedly more than half a million people converged on the streets of Srinagar demanding independence. At three different places – Zakura, Tengpura – Bemina bypass and Shalimar – the Indian paramilitary forces opened fire on the people killing and injuring a large number.
The injured were interviewed in the hospital, claimed that their procession was peaceful and that the firing was unprovoked. At Tengpura, the demonstrators were returning home in buses when the military stopped them and asked them to disembark.
As they were climbing down, they were shot dead. One of the survivors Muhammad Aslam (30), gave an eyewitness account of how vehicles of the Army stopped their bus, brushed aside all pleadings by passengers and fired indiscriminately. Aslam escaped death by leaning to one side and got injured in his left ankle. He saw scores of people with bullet injuries in their throats and blood gushing out.
Following widespread protests against the killing of passengers in Tengpura, the army conducted an inquiry in the incident on directions from the government. The report of the inquiry sought to justify the killings on the ground that the people had pelted stones at an army vehicle carrying school children of military personnel.
Local people who were interviewed, dismissed the inquiry report as blatantly false since all the schools in the valley were closed at that time for the winter holidays.
Besides, there were no army schools anywhere near the spot where the firing took place. Incidentally, the JK government issues an order on February asking schools and colleges, and other educational institutions to remain closed till March 15. Surprisingly enough, the government soon ordered the resignation of the cases against the erring military personnel involved in the incident at Tengpura.
On the same day, army jawans opened fire on a procession of 10000 to 15000 people at Zakura crossing, killing and injuring several people. Bashir Ahmed (22), one of the injured told that the army vehicles forced their way into the procession and fired from sub–machine guns. His lower right arm and elbow were shattered.
According to an FIR filed by Srinagar city SSP, M A Chowdhary, four army vehicles came towards the procession as it was passing through the Zakura crossing.
A police constable Abdul Reham (No 1497/S) advised the armed men to stop or change their route. They forced their way into the procession, which according to the report was “peaceful;”.
Army personnel snatched away a flag from an old man’s hand at the front of the procession.
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The army fired indiscriminately, killing to on the spot. Others from among the army people also started firing. About 100 rounds were fired in all, resulting in innumerable deaths, FIR filed at Zakura police station on 1st March, in the presence of M. A. Abbas, deputy commissioner, Srinagar.
By all incidents, it appears that the killings on March 1, where the army personnel was involved were on a massive scale. Doctors at SKIMS told us that they saw more dead people than injured people on that day. A large number of them were children and boys in their early teens. Among the survivors, they saw a number of boys, who were extensively injured from the firing, and their legs had to be amputated.
From investigations in these three major incidents, it was found that the paramilitary forces and the army jawans had not the excuse of self – defense (as normally given when dealing with riotous mobs) when they fired upon what was a largely peaceful crowd of unarmed demonstrators.
A savage thirst for blood seemed to have gripped the CRPF, as it was evident from the calculated manner in which they were pumping bullets into bodies of injured people in the Gawkadal area on January 21″.
The Kashmiriyat has compiled the list of the people who were killed during the firing.
Ab Samad Teli Khember Telbal
Manzoor Ahmad Bhat,
Noor Mohammad Reshi,
Ghulam Ahmad Wani.
Abdul samad kathu,
Abdul Gaffar Bhat,
Farooq Ahmad Para,
Mohamamd shafi Ganai,
Abdul sardar khan Mohammad
ismail butt,
Habib reshi,
Lassa sheikh,
GhulamNabi Malik s/o Ghulam Muhamd Chatabal.
Rouf DarTargam Bud,
Suhail Wani s/o Bashir Ahmed, Pamosh colony Natipora,
Manzoor Dar s/o Ghulam Muhmmd Wanpora Bud,
Abdul Rashid Dobhi s/o Muhammad Shaban Iechgam,
Ghulam Mohammad Rather S/o: Jaffar Rather R/o: Budgam
Ghulam Ahmad Tildoz R/o: Budgam