Just like the Pahalgam attack came during US Vice President JD Vance’s visit to India, terrorists killed 35 Sikhs on the eve of then-US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India in 2000. Such attacks are seen as an attempt to bring maximum international attention to Kashmir.read moreThe Pahalgam attack is the worst act of terror in many years, but it is not the first of its kind.On at least two instances, terrorists carried out nearly identical attacks that also coincided with the visits of top US officials — the president in one case.In Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, terrorists killed at least 26 people —mostly tourists— on Tuesday. They singled out non-Muslims and shot them dead. The Resistance Front (TRF),
a front organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has claimed responsibility for the attack.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADRead our complete coverage of Pahalgam terrorist attack hereIn 2000, terrorists similarly killed 36 Sikhs in J&K’s Chittisinghpora on the eve of the then-US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India. Then, in 2002, terrorists killed 23 people, including 10 children, in J&K’s Jammu while a top State Department official was visiting India.More from India
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Terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam: 1 tourist killed, 5 injuredPakistan-backed terrorist groups are believed to be behind both of these attacks — just like the Pahalgam attack.The Chittisinghpora massacreOn the eve of then-US President Clinton’s visit to India, terrorists killed 45 ed up Sikhs in Chittisinghpora village in Anantnag district on March 20, 2000.Just like the Pahalgam attack, terrorists wore military fatigues during the Chittisinghpora attack and villagers assumed that they were soldiers.Terrorists gathered men at two gurdwaras in the village and killed them.“It was around 7.50 in the evening when we heard the sound of gunfire and the cries of those who were killed. In a matter of minutes, the village became a cremation ground. While 17 were killed in front of this gurdwara, another 18 were killed in the other. If you go out you will see the bullet marks on the walls in both places,” said Singh.Mohinder Singh, a shopkeeper in the village, told Rediff that terrorists were wearing army fatigues and they used the disguise to make two youngsters guide them through the village.Writing for Rediff at the time, Mukhtar Ahmad noted that the massacre was the first time that Sikhs had been targeted in Kashmir.Previously, minority Hindus from the Kashmiri Pandit community were generally attacked by terrorists. In January 1990, systematic and coordinated murderous campaign across Kashmir forced the majority of the Pandits in the Valley to flee for their lives. Nearly all those who fled continue to live outside of their ancestral homeland decades after terrorists forced them to flee.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADAround the same time that Sikhs were killed in Anantnag, terrorists had also attacked a police station in Kashmir’s Barramullah with assault rifles and grenades. Ahmad noted in his article that the attack in Barramullah and the massacre in Chittisinghpora were carried out despite the state being put under alert in light of Clinton’s visit.They were murdered because I was there, said ClintonWeeks after the Chittisinghpora massacre, Clinton admitted that terrorists had carried out the attacks only because of his visit to India.“I’m sure they were murdered because I was there. Those people lost their lives because I went to India and to Pakistan,” said Clinton at the time, as per UNI.It was the first visit to India by a US president in 22 years. It was also the beginning of the warming of ties between India and United States in the post-Cold War world after decades of on and off bitterness during the Cold War.In a reference to terrorists who carried out the attacks, Clinton said that those behind the attacks do not want the dispute to be solved.STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD“The most heartbreaking thing that happened on my trip to the Indian subcontinent is that about 40 Sikhs were murdered in Kashmir. People who don’t want their turmoil to be eased used my trip there as a pretext to highlight the difficulties. And somebody, we don’t know who, killed 40 perfectly innocent people — who, I might add, had never before been targeted in all the conflicts in Kashmir,” said Clinton.The Kaluchak massacreTwo years later, terrorists struck in Jammu when then-Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina B Rocca was visiting India.Terrorists on March 14, 2002, first attacked a public bus in Jammu’s Kaluchak and then attacked the family quarters of the Indian Army.Overall, terrorists killed 23, including 10 children, eight women, and five Army personnel. They also injured 34 people.As children as young as four-year-old were killed, the attack sparked considerable outrage at the time.TagsJammu and KashmirTerrorismEnd of Article
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When Pak orchestrated a Kashmir terror attack day before US President’s visit in 2000
