Chittisinghpura massacre

Chittisinghpura massacre
Location	Chittisinghpura, Anantnag district, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Date	20 March 2000
Target	Sikhs
Attack type	Mass murder, spree shooting
Deaths	36
Perpetrators	Lashkar-e-Taiba, Pakistan

The Chittisinghpura massacre refers to the fatal shooting of 36 Sikhs on 20 March 2000, in the Anantnag district of the State of Jammu and Kashmir in India. The Indian government asserts that it was conducted by the Islamic Fundamentalist militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba which is based in Muridke in Pakistan and is listed on U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations Mohammad Suhail Malik of Sialkot, Pakistan confessed while in custody about participating in the attacks at the direction of Lashkar-e-Taiba in an interview with Barry Bearak of The New York Times although Bearak questioned the authenticity of the confession. Suhail Malik is a nephew of Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of Lashkar-e-Taiba. He was however later acquitted of these charges by a Delhi court. Some other observers like Bruce Riedel have also attributed this massacre to Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Wearing Indian Army fatigues to avoid detection, the killers came into the village in two groups at separate ends of the village where the two Gurdwaras were located. They first lined up the Sikhs, who had been celebrating the Holi or Hola Mahalla Festival, in front of their Gurdwaras and opened fire, killing thirty-six people.

The sole survivor of the massacre was Nanak Singh, who was first saved by falling under someone who had been shot and then was wounded in the pelvis. Lying still and managing not to scream, which would have revealed his being alive, he recalled hearing the terrorists laughing over their deeds while sending a 'mission accomplished' message over their walkie-talkie. His sons Gurmeet Singh (16) and brother Darbari Singh (30) and three first cousins were among the dead. His oldest son was away at the time.

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