Bijbehara Massacre

23-10-1993: In Bijbehara town about 15,000 people took out a procession after Friday prayers. Between the shouts of pro-Freedom slogans they were demanding lifting of the army siege of the Hazratbal shrine. The processionists were peaceful and no armed militant was among them.

                     According to eye-witnesses, as the procession reached on the min highway, an officer of the forces personnel took out his revolver and suddenly, without any warning, fired some shots. This seemed to be the sign for the BSF Personnel to open the mouth of their guns as immediately after the revolver shots they started firing indiscriminately into the procession from three sides. 40 civilians including a Kashmiri Hindu boy, Ravinder Koul, lost their lives on the spot. Most of the killed persons were hit by bullets on their chest and other upper portion of their bodies. Over half hundred others sustained serious injuries and around fifty were moved to hospitals in Srinagar in critical conditions. The eyewitnesses said that indiscriminate firing was resorted to absolutely without any provocation, and the claim made by the Govt. spokesman that the forces had been attacked by militants present in the procession is nothing but a bundle of lies. Some of the deceased were identified as: Mukhtar Ahmad S/O Mohd. Shaban, Ab. Rashid Vaid S/O. Hamidullah, Manzoor Ahmad S/O Qadir Joo, Mohd. Shafi Hamdani S/O Mohd. Yusuf, Ab Rehman, Fayaz Ahmad Tak S/O Ab. Hamid, Manzoor Ahmad Zargar, S/O. Ab.Ahad, Mohd. Shaban Tantrary S/O. Mohd. Abdullah. Ahmaddullah Pandit S/O Gani Joo, Gh. Hassan Waza S/O. Ab. Razaq, Mohd Sikender Ahanger, Riyaz Ahmad Gatoo S/O. Sonaullah, Khurshid Hussain Tak, S/O. Gh. Mohiuddin, Shabir Ahmad Sheikh S/O. Gh. Nabi. Mohd. Abdullah Sheikh, Gul Mohammad, Showkat Ahmad Khanday S/O. Mohd. Ramzan, Parvez Ahmad Dar S/O. Mohd. Akber, Mohd Altaf Sheikh S/O. Nazir Ahmad, Mohd Shafi Wagay, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Mohd Ashraf Zargar, Javed Ahmad Waza, Gul Mohd Zargar, Gulam Nabi Hajam, Mohd. Sultan Bhat, Bashir Ahmad Sofi, Salim Ahmad Shah, Mohd Iqbal, Mohd Nazir, Gh. Qadir, Gh. Hassan, Safad Ahmad Salroo, Manzoor Ahmad, Gowher Ahmad, Javed Ahmad, Farooq Ahmad, Bilal Ahmad, Tariq Ahmad, Sajad Ahmad Mir, Sartaj Ahmad, Mohd Ashraf, Mohd Amin, Abdul Waheed, Ajaz Ahmad, Feroz Ahmad, Ab Gani and Ali Mohd Salroo.