Why Pahalgam terror attack rekindles chilling memories of Chittisinghpura Sikh massacre of Kashmir

Pahalgam Terror Attack: The terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's picturesque Pahalgam hill station on April 22 that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, is among the deadliest assaults on civilians in the Valley, where an armed insurgency broke out in 1989.

Tuesday's attack was carried out in the fabled Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam on a day when United States Vice President JD Vance was in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a state visit to Saudi Arabia.

The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, is believed to be behind Tuesday's attack, a claim that Mint has not been able to verify so far. Some reports even suggested that a top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander, Saifullah Kasuri, alias Khalid, is believed to be the ‘mastermind’ of the attack. There has not been any official word on these claims yet.

The last big terror strike in Jammu and Kashmir was on June 9, 2024, the day of the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the third term. Unidentified terrorists fired upon a bus ferrying pilgrims, resulting in the death of at least 10 people and injuries to 33 others in the Reasi district of the Jammu region.

In another attack, terrorists struck at a construction site in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district, killing a local doctor and six migrant workers in October 2024. TRF, the banned outfit, claimed responsibility for the Ganderbal attack too.

Chittisinghpura massacre of 2000

The Pahalgam attack is a stark reminder of the Chittisinghpura massacre in which 36 Sikhs were killed by terrorists in Chittisinghpura village of Anantnag district on March 20, 2000. The attack happened on the eve of the then US president Bill Clinton's state visit to India from March 21 to March 25.

Baisaran, where the Tuesday's attack happened, is in Pahalgam — the popular tourist destination in South Kashmir's Anantnag district.

The attack comes days after 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Tahawwur Rana was successfully extradited from the US and arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi.

The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had raised Pakistan’s involvement with Clinton. Much like Vance did, Clinton toured Jaipur and Agra in 2000. Clinton was accompanied by Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, who did not travel beyond Delhi.

Two years later, on May 14, 2002, when the then US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina B Rocca was in India, a terrorist attack took place near Kaluchak in Jammu and Kashmir. Militants attacked a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus and killed seven people. 

The terrorists then entered the family quarters of the Army and fired indiscriminately, killing 23 people, including 10 children, eight women and five Army personnel. Dozens were injured in the attack.