In Pahalgam shadow, Sikh village relives own massacre

Less than 50 km from Baisaran, where 26 persons were brutally gunned down by terrorists, the wounds of another village have reopened after 25 years.

Chittisinghpora, a Sikh-dominated village in Anantnag district, endured a horrific massacre on March 20, 2000, when terrorists dressed in army fatigues stormed in, rounded up villagers, both young and old, near a gurdwara and opened indiscriminate fire, killing 35 persons.

One of the worst massacres in the state’s violent history, it instilled deep fear among the Sikh community, who had chosen to stay in the valley despite the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.

Now, as the state and nation reels from the Pahalgam attack, the pain and terror of the past have resurfaced in this village of around 2,000, mostly Sikhs. For 70-year-old Nanak Singh, the sole survivor of the 2000 massacre, the recent killings have brought back the trauma of that night two decades ago. He lost seven members of his extended family, including his son, in the carnage.

“We couldn’t eat that night when news of the Pahalgam attack came in and images of the carnage flashed on TV. It felt like March 20, 2000, was being played out yet again. My son was also killed in cold blood. They didn’t even spare a 17-year-old boy,” Nanak, a retired government employee, told The Tribune.

Since the Tuesday’s massacre, the village has been in shock. “We locked our doors that evening, too scared to step outside, even though it happened several kilometers away. But our wounds have been torn open again,” said Joginder Singh, another elderly villager.

Though the village has tried to move on, the massacre has left an indelible mark. A CRPF outpost, surrounded by concertina wire, just meters away from Nanak Singh’s home, is a grim reminder of the bloodshed the terrorists left behind.

Recently, villagers began renovating the gurdwara where the massacre took place. They, however, maintain that moving on remains beyond the realms of reality. “People say peace is returning to Kashmir, but these attacks remind us that demons in human form are still roaming around us, trying to destroy our lives,” remarked an elderly resident.

J & K