2002 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre

On 30 July and 6 August 2002, in the month of Shraavana, 11 people were killed and 30 injured in a terror attack by Islamic extremists from Lashkar-e-Taiba's front group of al-Mansuriyan, on Nunwan base camp at Pahalgam of the Amarnath Hindu pilgrimage (Yatra) to Amarnath Temple glacial cave shrine in Kashmir Valley in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.^[1][2] In the spate of attacks on Yatra in the third consecutive year, 2 pilgrims were killed and 3 injured on 30 July when terrorists threw grenades at a civilian taxi of pilgrims in Srinagar. Further, 9 people were killed and 27 injured on 6 August by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists' hail of bullets at Nunwan base camp at Pahalgam.^[3]

2002 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre
Part of the Kashmir conflict
2002 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre (Jammu and Kashmir)
Location	Amarnath Temple, Jammu and Kashmir
Coordinates	34°0′7.2″N 75°19′1.2″E / 34.002000°N 75.317000°E / 34.002000; 75.317000
Date	2002
Victims	Hindu pilgrims
Perpetrators	Lashkar-e-Taiba
Motive	Islamist Terrorism

Background

The 48-days July–August annual Hindu pilgrimage, undertaken by up to 600,000 or more pilgrims to 130 feet (40 m) high glacial Amarnath cave shrine of iced stalagmite Shiv linga e at 12,756 feet (3,888 m) in Himalayas, is called Amarnath Yatra.^[4][5][6] It begins with a 43 kilometres (27 mi) mountainous trek from the Nunwan and Chandanwari base camp at Pahalgam and reaches cave-shine after night halts at Sheshnag Lake and Panchtarni camps.^[7] The yatra is both a way of earning revenue by the state government by imposing tax on pilgrims,^[8][9] and making living by the local Shia Muslim Bakarwal-Gujjars by taking a portion of revenue and by offering services to the Hindu pilgrims, and this source of income has been threatened by the Islamist Kashmiri Sunni militant groups who have banned and attacked the yatra numerous times,^{[10][11][12][13][14]} as well as have massacred at least 43 people in Amarnath pilgrimage terrorist-attack massacre (2000) and Amarnath pilgrimage terrorist-attack massacre (2001) causing death of mostly unarmed Hindu pilgrims and 10 Muslim civilians.^[1][15]

On 2 August 2000, pro-Pakistan^[16] Islamic terrorists from Hizbul Mujahideen (designated a terrorist organisation by India,^[17] European Union^[18] and United States,^{[19][20][21][22][23]}) massacred at least 32 people and injured at least 60 people in a two hour long indiscriminate shoot out at Nunwan base camp in Anantnag district, causing the death of 21 unarmed Hindu pilgrims and 7 unarmed Muslim shopkeepers, and 3 security force officers.^[1] This attack on Amarnath yatra was part of the larger 1st and 2nd August 2000 Kashmir massacre in 5 separate coordinated terrorist attacks that killed at least 89 (official count) to 105 people (as reported by PTI), and injured at least 62 more.^[24]

On 20 July 2001, a terrorist threw a grenade on a pilgrim night camp at Sheshnag near the Amarnath shrine in which at least 13 persons, including 3 women, were killed in two explosions and firing by militants, 2 were security officials and 3 of the killed person were Muslim civilians.^[1][15] 15 other were also injured in the attack.^[3]

Aftermath

Earlier attacks on Amarnath yatra and Bin Laden's September 11 attacks on USA, were some of the incidents that forced the change in global response to the Islamic terror attacks from aloof and sporadic to united and coordinated.^[25] Pakistan-backed Islamic terrorist organizations,^[16] Lashkar-e-Taiba^{[26][27][28][29]} founded by Hafiz Saeed^{[30][31][32][33][34][35]} and Hizbul Mujahideen were designated terrorist organisations by India,^[17] European Union^[18] and United States.^{[19][20][21][22][23]}

See also

• Kanwar Yatra
• Islamic terrorism
• Nandimarg terrorist-attack massacre (2003)
• Amarnath pilgrimage terrorist-attack massacre (2017)
• Amarnath land transfer controversy
• List of terrorist incidents in India
• List of Islamist terrorist attacks

References

1. Vicky Nanjappa, Amarnath yatra has been attacked thrice in the past, One India News. 11 July 2017.
2. 2003, Chronology of Major Killings in Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmir herald, Volume 2, No. 11.]
3. "Amarnath Yatra devotees have faced repeated terror attacks: Here's the blood-soaked history of pilgrimage", First Post, 11 July 2017.
4. Amarnath Yatra explained, Amarnath Yatra organisation.
5. "Amarnath Yatra Tourism Information". www.oneindiaonline.com.
6. Amarnath: Journey to the shrine of a Hindu god, Boston.Com 29 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, 13 July 20112.
7. Amarnath yatra ends, least number of pilgrims in decade, The Hindu, 18 August 2016.
8. BJP demands removal of Amarnath yatra entry fee, Times of India.
9. No Additional Tax Levied on Vehicles Going to Amarnath and Vaishno Devi, Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Finance of Government of India, 2010.
10. Carl W. Ernst, 2016, Refractions of Islam in India: Situating Sufism and Yoga, SAGE Publications, ISBN 9351509648.
11. Muslim group asks for reviving Amarnath Yatra, Times of India, 17 July 2016.
12. Expert Speak on Kashmir: No algorithm for Azadi, Observer Research Foundation, August 2016.
13. "Rediff On The NeT: Harkatul Mujaheedin 'bans' Amarnath Yatra". Rediff.com. 9 July 1998. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
14. [1] 10 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine
15. 6 pilgrims among 13 killed in 2 blasts, The Tribune, 11 July 2017.
16. Sati Sahni, 10,000 The birth of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Rediff News, July 2000
17. . 29 January 2013. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
18. "COUNCIL DECISION (CFSP) 2015/2430 of 21 December 2015". eur-lex.europa.eu. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
19. "US adds 4 Indian outfits to terror list". Rediff. 30 April 2004. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
20. "L – Appendix A: Chronology of Significant Terrorist Incidents, 2002". Retrieved 22 August 2016.
21. "N – Appendix C: Background Information on Other Terrorist Groups". Retrieved 22 August 2016.
22. "Appendix C – Background Information on Other Terrorist Groups". Retrieved 22 August 2016.
23. Background Information on Other Terrorist Groups (PDF) – via State Department of the United States of America.
24. "Night of massacres leaves 105 dead in valley", The Tribune, 3 August 2000.
25. 9/11 anniversary: How the world changed in 15 years, Indian Express, 11 September 2016.
26. Basset, Donna (2012). Peter Chalk (ed.). Encyclopedia of Terrorism. ABC-CLIO. p. 12. ISBN 978-0313308956.
27. Jayshree Bajoria (14 January 2010). . Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on 5 June 2010. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
28. Kurth Cronin, Audrey; Huda Aden; Adam Frost; Benjamin Jones (6 February 2004). "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved 4 March 2009. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
29. "Mumbai Terror Attacks Fast Facts". CNN. 19 September 2013.
30. . Brookings.edu. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
31. "Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America and the Future of Global Jihad, transcript" (PDF). Brookings.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
32. . Brookings.edu. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
33. "The 15 faces of terror". Rediff.com. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
34. E. Atkins, Stephen (2004). Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups. Greenwood Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0313324857.
35. Ashley J. Tellis (11 March 2010). "Bad Company – Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and the Growing Ambition of Islamist Mujahidein in Pakistan" (PDF). Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The group's earliest operations were focused on the Kunar and Paktia provinces in Afghanistan, where LeT had set up several training camps in support of the jihad against the Soviet occupation.

External links

• Official website
• Amarnath: Journey to the shrine of a Hindu god, Boston Globe news story in pictures, 13 July 2012.
• Chronology of major killings of Hindus by Islamic terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, up to year 2003.