When 27 people were killed for boycotting Jan 26

Kupwara, Jan 26: Sixteen years after the massacre of 27 persons by the troops for non-observance of India’s Republic Day, the residents of Kupwara on Tuesday urged that the perpetrators be brought to justice.

As many as 27 persons were killed in cold blood by the troops on January 27, 1994 in Kupwara town. The latter were apparently angry over the complete strike observed by the residents a day before – on India’s Republic Day.

The bloodshed took place for about 42 minutes, according to some eyewitness accounts. Recollects Muhammad Amin, an eye-witness: “I was walking on Kupwara by-pass to attend my office at Branwari, half-a-km from the main bus stand. Just as I reached near J&K Bank, troops deployed in the market suddenly opened fire on people. I remember I started to recite verses of Holy Quran as many people around me were lying in a pool of blood, crying for help.”

As there was a pause in firing, Amin sneaked into a nearby tailoring shop, located near the crossing of Regipora Bridge. From here, he could see by-pass and the hospital road. “A jeep carrying injured Khazir Muhammad, a senior clerk at DC office Kupwara, with six other persons on board, was stopped on the hospital road by the troops. All the inmates were gunned down,” Amin narrates.

Abdul Jabar Dar of Cherakoot Lolab, remembers the fateful day when his father Abdul Wahab Dar was among those killed. “It was Thursday. My father left home early in the morning to fetch goods for the shop he used to run. By afternoon, rumours were rife that indiscriminate firing was going on in Kupwara market. As many locals had left for the market, anxious villagers assembled on the main road. In the meantime, a police truck entered our village with people atop chanting slogans. It carried the body of my father,” Jabar recalls.

According to the police FIR (Section 302, 307 RPC) of January 27, 1994 – a copy of which is lying with Rising Kashmir – the jawans of ASCI 31 Medium Regiment, who were on ROP duty and led by field officer S Bakshi – murdered scores of people in Kupwara market in indiscriminate firing, intentionally without any provocation.

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http://www.risingkashmir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20274&Itemid=1