India, particularly Jammu and Kashmir has suffered greatly due to the terrorism inflicted by Pakistan for many decades. The Hindus have borne the brunt of this violence. They have been expelled from their homes at gunpoint, subjected to merciless killings, rape and forced to migrate, all in the name of jihad, fueled by a blind hatred for Hindus and an incessant ambition to snatch the Muslim-majority valley from India, by any means necessary.

Kashmir has perpetually been a focal point of the dispute with the Islamic Republic but its sinister motives have led to the loss of innocent Hindu lives throughout the region. While Kashmiri Pandits were slaughtered and thrown out of their homes, the Hindus in the Jammu division, especially in the lesser-known Doda district were also targetted by terrorists. Hence, the region which was not officially a part of Kashmir eventually became a casualty of the Islamist movement in the 1990s.

The vulnerability of the region

Over time, the region that is now divided into Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban has experienced progress in connectivity and infrastructure, however, there was a period when it was just a secluded and mountainous area which was surrounded by Himachal Pradesh, Udhampur, Ladakh and Anantnag.

It was mostly inaccessible due to its rough terrain and many of its rural areas were only connected by footpaths and mule tracks. The strategic significance of Doda as a perfect stronghold was immediately recognised by the Pakistani establishment. The area only had 5 Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) units in 1991, reported Abhimanyu Singh in Swarajya.

The minimal military presence only added to the appeal as Indian forces continued to concentrate on fortifying their position in the valley. Doda was almost the size of the valley and covered 11,691 square kilometres as well as 26% of Jammu and Kashmir’s forested land.

On the one hand, the rough and deeply wooded mountains made operations tiresome as well as required a large number of troops. On the other hand, they also allowed terrorists to operate freely and create “liberated zones.”

According to the 1981 census, Muslims comprised 57.3% of the population (almost 90% of them were Kashmiris), followed by Hindus (42.22%) and Scheduled Castes (8.74%) which exacerbated the region’s vulnerability. Moreover, terrorists would be able to sabotage India’s primary lifeline to the valley due to Doda’s proximity to Kathua and Udhampur as well as the crucial National Highway (NH)-1A.

Pakistan’s sinister plan in motion

Compared with the valley, the area was home to a relatively small number of terrorists. However, it would later experience a violent and mainly unreported ethnic cleansing attempt in which terrorism consumed at least 310 members of the minority group between 1993 and 2001.

The massacre which targeted Hindus in particular were not isolated occurrences but rather a planned approach to change the demographic composition of the area south of the Chenab River. The situation ultimately escalated to the point where some local Muslims, excited by the possibility of impending azaadi and awaiting Hindu exodus similar to that of the Kashmiri Pandits, had already split Hindu houses and properties among themselves.

The plot to exploit the already defenceless Hindus and inundate the region with even more jihadis even garnered support from the United Nations. Owen Dixon, a United Nations mediator even tried to divide Jammu and Kashmir in 1950 via a plebiscite. He wanted to merge Muslim-majority regions like Doda, Rajouri, and Poonch with the valley while creating a boundary to the north of the Chenab River.

The goal of orchestrating a Hindu displacement was to tip the population balance in favour of future separatist narratives, specifically in cases where the territory was to be divided geographically.

Pro-Pakistan terrorists plague Doda

Doda saw a slower influx of terrorists than the Kashmir valley. Despite occasional events like the kidnapping of a French engineer or the assault on Minister BA Kitchloo’s home and Personal Security Officer (PSO), the area was largely peaceful in 1990 and 1991. Nonetheless some young men did cross the border for training in Pakistani terror camps.

At first, terrorists entered Doda mainly to avoid the Army and utilize it as a training field and a place to rest. Nevertheless, the destiny of the Hindu community took a tragic turn as the region transformed into a slaughterhouse soaked in their blood. No one was exempt from the venomous fangs of terrorism, whether they were Hindu politicians or civilians.

On 19th December 1992, Santosh Kumar Thakur, the district general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was assassinated outside his home in Nagri, starting the cycle of targeted attacks against minorities in Doda.

Terrorists kidnapped Mohan Singh from his Bijrani home on 18th February 1993 and tortured him. His lifeless body was left hanging next to the Bhagwah cooperative store after being tied to the back of a horse.

Kashmira Singh was kidnapped from his Bhaderwah residence that same day. Six days later, his body was found in a nearby canal with clear evidence of torture. Just two days later, BJP member Diwan Chand was shot and killed.

The nephew of former BJP member and Janata Dal politician Mast Nath Yogi, met the same fate in Bhaderwah on 14th April 1993. The attempt was, in fact, on the latter’s life because he supported Army intervention to quell terrorism in Doda.

The Hindu Raksha Samiti’s leader, Satish Bhandari was slain in Doda on 10th May, only a month later. Three Hindu youngsters were kidnapped and tortured in Bhaderwah at the end of June on alleged suspicion of being informants. On 30th June, one of them managed to flee but the other two were put to death.

Unfortunately, the worst was still to unfold as the Hindu community was set to endure even darker days at the blood-soaked hands of the jihadis.

More brutality and blood-shed awaits Hindus

Five armed terrorists stopped a passenger bus travelling from Kishtwar to Jammu on 14th August 1993, the day of Pakistan’s independence. The Hindu male passengers were then separated by the attackers who then steered the four-wheeler into the remote Sarthal highway. There indiscrimate fire was opened on the victims beacuse of faith, in a shocking yet unsurprising act of deliberate savagery, akin to Pahalgam terror attack and the Reasi terror strike where even Hindu children were not spared.

The terrorists killed fourteen people and seriously wounded two more, one of whom passed away in the hospital. Arif Hussain, the son of a local government official was the leader of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen jihadists that carried out the attack. It was the first of many mass murders that would follow.

The Islamic insurgency in Doda intensified into a full-blown crisis by 1994 after the region which was almost the size of the entire valley had only two battalions of the Army, seven of the BSF and one of the CRPF. Meanwhile, the local authorities and administration provided no protection or assurance to the frightened Hindu community.

Two terrorists were shot dead in May after they tried to storm Kartar Singh and Man Singh’s houses in Goha but were met with resistance. Fearing retaliation and without confidence from the local administration, 822 inhabitants of Goha alongside nearby hamlets of Kaljugasar, Seeru and Kuthera in Gundoh tehsil fled to Chamba in Himachal Pradesh.

On 20th May, a Muslim mob of about 2,000 people from the surrounding districts walked 4-5 hours to Goha, torched 13 houses of Kartar Singh’s relatives and took one terrorist’s body with them.

BJP leader Balwant Singh barely avoided being assassinated on 27th May but his security guard was wounded. Furthermore, three Dalit brothers were murdered by jihadists in Hadyal-Grabha on the same day. According to reports, extremists decapitated three persons in Sumber.

Swami Raj Katal, the BJP district vice-president was shot dead on 30th May in Bhaderwah with two other people, including a woman. Katal had escaped an assassination attempt the year before. On 7th June, three terrorists wielding AK-47s murdered Ruchir Kumar. He was the tehsil president of the saffron party.

This led to communal violence in Vasak Dera of Bhaderwah which left one person dead and four others injured. Ten Hindu residences in the Muslim-majority neighbourhood of Qila Mohalla were looted and destroyed. A junior engineer at Zealana’s Public Works Department was killed less than a week later.

The Bharatiya Janata Party expressed outrage over the gruesome killings of Hindus. On 23rd June, BJP leaders launched a protest as part of their “Save Doda” demonstration, calling for region to be designated as a “disturbed area” in reaction to the aggravating circumstances. BJP workers, MPs, MLAs along with party president Lal Krishna Advani were incarcerated as part of a “jail bharo program.”

However, the killings persisted as six Hindus from Batholi village in Gandoh were slaughtered on 18th September and BJP activist Sumit Kumar was gunned down in Pushal village on 19th December.

Hindus show courage, try to resist and retaliate

The Hindu community in the area refused to remain idle while terrorists perpetrated atrocities. They took the matter into their own hands instead of succumbing to their deadly circumstances. Angry Hindus set fire to a terrorist’s home in Monda village, close to Bhaderwah. They also started arming themselves for self-defence in some places.

The spirit was evident even among those who had relocated to Chamba in May. The majority had returned to their hamlets by 30th June but they insisted on having rifles for protection.

The government resurrected the Village Defence Committee (VDC) program which arms ex-servicemen and vulnerable communities in high-risk areas in an effort to stop the Hindu exodus amid growing Islamist violence. Approximately 330 communities in the Doda district were covered by VDC initiative by the end of 1995.

Additionally, the troops were increased Doda to support successful counterinsurgency operations. The CI (Counter Insurgency) Force (Delta) was raised in September 1994. 35 CRPF companies, six BSF battalions, and four Rashtriya Rifles (RR) battalions had been assigned to it.

As a result, several notorious terrorist leaders had been killed by early 1996. Zulkar Nain, a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) district commander, Raja Daud Manhas, a Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA) district commander and Javed Qureshi, the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) provincial commander were among those neutralised. However, although the terror groups were severely weakened by these eliminations, the barbaric executions of Hindus never stopped.

Hindu dead bodies continue to pile up

The terrorists utilized any fabricated suspicion and spurious charge to kill Hindus, not that they needed any, since their hateful ideology was ample motivation for them to slaughter the innocents.

15 Hindus met their demise in Barsala on the intervening night of 5th-6th January under the pretext of retaliation because a local Hindu named Swami Raj was a purported security force informant. On the night of 8th-9th June, 9 villagers were slain at Kamlari and on 25th July, another 13 were butchered in Sarodhar.

However, the number of forces in Doda was reduced as six BSF battalions were later deinducted rather than more troops being mobilised. This development reportedly came at the same time as the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) changed its strategy to expand its greater export, terrorism, outside of the valley and into the Jammu region, including Doda.

The armed conflict was thus revived in Doda in 1997 and 1998 by an estimated 60 to 70 foreign terrorists who infiltrated the area. Six VDC members lost their lives at Kud Dhar in October 1997. A string of mass murders by the recently resurrected jihadist groups occurred in 1998.

On 19th June, a wedding party waiting for transportation was targeted by 5 terrorists close to Champaneri village. They forcibly separated the men from the women and then sprayed 25 of the 32 males with bullets. Twenty-three Hindus were killed in another attack in Kalaban on 19th July, a month later. On 27th July, 16 Hindus were killed in Horna and Keshwan villages which is close to Kishtwar.

The tentacles of terrorism extend to Himachal Pradesh

The terror was not limited to a single area or even Jammu and Kashmir. The year saw equally horrifying massacres of minorities in Prankote, Dakikote and Thub in nearby Udhampur as well as in Wandhama, outside Doda. Furthermore, on 27th June, terrorists from Bhaderwah killed four herb pickers in Himachal Pradesh. Nevertheless, the most dreadful events were still ahead and manifested in the Chamba massacres.

The regions were new but the same jihadi playbook was implemented. Hindus were predictably killed while Muslims remained untouched because of their religion. The terrorists targetted labour camps along the Baragarh-Pangi route as they moved from Doda into Chamba district on the night of 2nd and 3rd August.

Once the Muslim labourers were separated from the Hindus in Kalaban, the latter were bound with the ropes of their tents. Afterward, they were either shot-dead or their throats were sliced. 

They then moved in the direction of Satrundi where they killed 11 more labourers and wounded 12 others. Nine workers were also kidnapped as porters and 3 of the Muslims were subsequently set free. On 4th August, 35 victims were cremated in the villages of Teesa and Shimba.

Tensions between the Muslim Gujjar grazing groups and the Hindu Gaddi followed the incident. They took advantage of this horrific opportunity to paint an even bigger target on the backs of the Hindus. Three Gaddis were kidnapped, tortured and executed on 18th August when a Gujjar who owed them Rs 56,000 told terrorists that the former were involved in the discovery of an arms cache concealed by them.

Pakistan enters Kargil, brings even more dread for the Hindu community

As time progressed, the situation continued to grow even more grim for the Hindus. “Operation Vijay” and the Pakistani invasion of Kargil in 1999 had even more profound and unanticipated repercussions for the far-flung hinterland. Considering the possibility of Pakistani offensives in the Rajouri-Poonch area, troops from the 9-Sector had to be moved from Kishtwar to Rear Area Security duties there.

The assaliants took advantage of this fresh movement and drop in the numbers. Hence, countless Army sources and informants were targeted and killed as a result of the CI grid’s removal. They encountered unparalleled suffering and endured dreadful consequences, with some individuals even being flayed alive.

Terrorists targeted 15 Hindus, including eight women, in Liyota village on 20th July 1999. Afterward, 9-Sector was reinstated into Kishtwar but with two battalions from the Rashtriya Rifles which were later strengthened by the 5th Battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry. 43 terrorists were also killed in that year, despite the reduced number of forces and the diversion of resources for more than three months.

The Hindu minority endured a wave of jihadi violence in the year 2000. On 1st August 2000, 5 Hindus were killed in Murlakot, 12 Hindus in Kunda and 4 more in Dhammota. The next day, lives of 8 Hindus were claimed in Kiar.

On 21st November, 4 Hindus were massacred and on 24th November, 5 others met a similar end in Khanpura. The six mass murders had been discussed in Major General DG Bakshi’s book “Kishtwar Cauldron.”

The brutality against Hindus stretched into the subsequent year and the chilling killing spree persisted. The first notable of 2001 occurred on 10th May, when terrorists declared that the local police post should hand over its weapons after kidnapping the residents. However, the cops did not comply and as a result three hostages were injured and seven were put to death.

On 20th July, four villagers were killed in a pasture above Tagood village and the following day eight more were executed close to Cheerji. Nevertheless, the most tragic event took place in the form of the Sarhot Dhar massacre on 3rd and 4th August.

22 Dalits and Rajputs from Ladder had brought their cattle to Sharot Dhar, a high-altitude pasture. They were sleeping in two different dhokes that night when terrorists attacked them, stole their possessions and made them form a queue. They even made fun of the Hindus and stated, “If he knew what the gun was,” and further mocked, “If he knew what came out of guns?”

The terrorist hissed, “Have a close look at a bullet,” after a victim responsed “bullets” and started showering them with fire. 13 people lost their lives, however, 5 managed to survive by pretending to be dead and hiding among the corpses of their peers.

The year 2002 did not provide any respite for the Hindus either. 8 Hindus were slain in Luddu and Ramsu on 6th January and five family members, two women and three children were butchered in Nagni of Doda on 9th April.

Tharva and Kulhand would host the final significant massacre, in 2006. On 30th April, terrorists dressed as members of the Indian Army, surrounded the area and told the locals to gather at the village headman’s house. The terrorists fired till their ammunition ran out as they lined up and executed the innocents at close range. The 22 victims included a 3-year-old girl and the chief of the hamlet.

The same evening, two local shepherds, Mohammad Siraj Ud-din and his son Rukun-Ud-din were asked by another group of terrorists at Basantgarh in the Udhampur district to lead them to a neighbouring meadow called Lalon Galla. Several Hindu shepherds had set up camp for the summer there. 13 Hindu shepherds were summoned and they were led to the woodlands where they were put to death.

On 13th May, the terrorists used grenades to attack a procession in Doda town that was arranged by BJP members and locals who had been displaced from Kulhand. As a result, two party workers died and four others were injured.

The attack was reminiscent of the Dessa massacre in May 1998 when jihadis claimed the lives of five people after they attacked a group of mourners. The latter were returning to their village with the bodies of four VDC members who were killed earlier.

Chilling admissions of barbarity towards non-believers

“The Lashkar-e-Toiba warriors have killed 19 unbelievers. Our challenge to the Indian government is this,” was the final entry in the perpetrator’s “log book” after security forces killed him after the Sarhot Dhar massacre.

“District Secretary Santosh was eliminated which has created havoc in the Indian government. The BJP and non Muslims are badly demoralised now. Bansi Lal of the BJP from Bhaderwah was killed after this,” read diary of Abdul Rashid Islahi, district commander of the HM.

Muhammad Tahir Naqqash, propaganda front of the LeT Ghaziyan-i-Saf-Shikan (Islamic Noble Warriors and Battlefronts) extolled the unbridled violence against Hindus and demeaned them, in its 2001 volume. Ghazi Muhammad Shafiq Abu Saad of Lahore also celebrated the horrific attacks on Hindus in his statements for refusing to provide sanctuary to terrorists and bragged about slaughtering them.

“Abu Abdur Rehman Ashraf walked up to the injured man and slit his throat with his extraordinarily large dagger that, up until now, has beheaded ten Hindus,” he boasted. The community is referred to in a derogatory manner with comments like “Hindu’s impure blood.”

The terrorists killed 3 Hindu leaders for opposing them. The former asked them to recite the Kalma and vowed to “forgive all their sins” However, their throats were cut because they refused.

The looting of Hindu homes in rural areas had also been mentioned and the pillage was referred to as “war booty.” Intercepted wireless transmissions disclosed that terrorist commanders asked their cadres to kill Hindus specifically, even before the 2006 Kulhand and Tharva attacks.

The violence might have seen a decline in its frequency but the fate of Hindus remain unchanged. Members of the Village Defence Committees (VDGs) Kuldip Kumar and Nazir Ahmed were discovered dead in Kishtwar on 7th November 2024, with their eyes severed.

Terrorists from the “Kashmir Tigers” claimed responsibility and warned others not to join the VDGs. Graphic pictures of the strangling of grazier Maan Singh Gaadi with a wire were later found on the phones of Pakistani terrorists slain in the Basantgarh encounter in September 2024.

The terrorist attack targeting Hindu tourists in Pahalgam along with the assault on Hindu pilgrims in Reasi, where a 2-year-old child was among the victims, exemplifies the horrific Islamist violence directed at Hindus.

Terrorists targeted Hindus across all regions of the erstwhile state, from Rajouri where Hindu men had their throats slit in October 2005 to the remote areas of Doda district. Notably, on 1st and 2nd January 2023, they again attacked Hindus in the Dangri hamlet of Rajouri resulting in 7 deaths including 2 kids and 9 injuries.

Hindu genocide haunts Kashmir

The pain of the Kashmiri Hindus is not unknown to anyone. While Hindus in the Jammu division, particularly in Doda, faced bullets and torture, their co-religionists in the valley were enduring a similar ordeal. The 2003 Nandimarg massacre is considered one of the most brutal events of violence inflicted upon the community.

24 Hindus, including toddlers, were killed on the fateful night of 23rd March when armed terrorists and even some local youths gathered Hindu families in the quiet hamlet in the Pulwama area and opened fire indiscriminately. The wicked “Raliv, Galiv, Chaliv” plan of Pakistan-backed jihadis ultimately pushed them out of their homes and into the lives of refugees within their own homeland.

Likewise, the Amarnath Yatra has also been a primary target for jihadists resulting in the tragic loss of numerous Hindu lives in horrifying attacks such as the one in 2002 at the Pahalgam base camp, where 22 pilgrims perished, among many others.

Conclusion

The impact of the terrorism on the region’s non-Muslim minorities, particularly Hindus is rarely given the attention it deserves on a global scale. The tragic fate of the Kashmiri Pandits and their expulsion from the valley receives the least amount of attention. However, the plight of Jammu and particularly Doda is severely neglected and receives barely any interest.

The terrorists aimed for Doda to become another Kashmir as a similar plot to eliminate the Hindu population through bloodshed and pressure was in progress in the region. Nevertheless, they were unsuccessful in their malicious intentions despite wreaking havoc on the Hindus in the area.

The aforementioned cases barely scratch the surface of the violence and fatalities inflicted upon the Hindu community in the region. The global community and international organizations have been preoccupied with labeling Kashmir as a political issue. However, the jihadists and their handlers in Pakistan have clearly illustrated that the matter pertains to faith rather than anything else.

More importantly, they continue to demonstrate this through sporadic killings aimed at Hindus. However, the radicals and their leftist-liberal echo chamber refuse to acknowledge the glaring reality. For them protecting the fragile sentiments of a particular community in the name of “secularism” has consistently taken precedence over confronting the actual problem and safeguarding Hindu lives.