On the evening of 25th January, 1998, 21 jihadis belonging to 2-3 jihadi groups conducted a grisly massacre of Hindus in the small hamlet of Wandhama, in the district of Ganderbal, Kashmir. Most Hindus have forgotten that massacre: of course many were not born then, but even those that were adults at the time of the massacre have likely forgotten it. After all, it was not the only massacre of Hindus in Kashmir. In fact, just 3 months later, a massacre of Hindus of similar size and brutality rocked the state again: this time in Prankote, Jammu. And a month after that, another one, at Chapneri. 1998 was a year of many massacres (I will write about the others later in this series).
Still, it was the Wandhama massacre that formed the historical basis for the final scenes in the hugely successful movie “The Kashmir Files” where Hindus are shown lined up, and shot each one, one-by-one, as they fall into a large pit dug to hold their corpses. The last Hindu to be killed this way is the boy named Shiva in the movie, shown to be, roughly, 7-8 years old. Before I continue, I would like the readers to see the real “Shiva”, whose picture is below. There was not one, but two little boys killed by the Jihadis that day: one was 4 years old (to the left), the other was not yet even 2 (to the right). Both had been shot in the head.
There were a total of 24 Hindus, of 4 families, that lived in Wandhama till that day. They had NOT left the valley in 1990-91 when most other Hindus had. They had stayed on, trusting the goodness of their neighbours. However, the Indian army had constructed a camp near Wandhama because of the Hindu population there. Just 7 months before the massacre though, the army had moved the camp elsewhere. Perhaps the army and the Hindus both had been lulled into a false sense of security, since it had been 7-8 years since the initial exodus of Hindus, and the Hindus of Wandhama were still secure.
The night of the 25th was also Shab-e-Qadr (one of the most important nights in the month of Ramadan), and all the Muslim villagers of Wandhama were at the village Mosque, and were planning to stay there till late into the night as is the custom.
The next day was Bharat’s Republic Day, and it was precisely the kind of opportunity the jihadis try to use to maximise the terror they inflict.
Into that hamlet, where only Hindus were still at home that evening, entered 21 jihadis at about 10pm, all wearing Indian army uniforms. They demanded that the Kashmiri Hindus come out of their houses, and line up. They counted them. Only 22? They had been given reliable information that there were 26 Hindus in Wandhama. Killing 26 Hindus for 26th January seemed like an opportunity too good to let up, and the jihadis had intended to have 26 Hindu kills that evening. But the initial count revealed only 22 Hindus. What a disappointment!
Just then, a child cried from the first floor of one of the houses. A little Hindu boy, not yet 2 years old, was perhaps missing his mother, and therefore had started crying. This certainly enthused the jihadis: one more Hindu to kill, bringing the toll closer to 26!
They started shooting the Hindus one by one. Some of the women wailed and begged for mercy. Some of the older men said that they had never had any problems with their Muslims neighbours. All to no avail. Each was shot multiple times. Then the jihadis went to the first floor room where the little child was crying. He too was shot in the head.
While all this was happening, one boy, Vinod Dhar, aged 14, ran from the line into the haystacks just beyond the courtyard of the houses. From there, he saw everything that happened: his entire family was shot dead. 2 little children were murdered. A total of 4 children, 9 women, and 10 men were killed in cold blood as they begged the jihadis for mercy. This boy, Vinod, hid in the haystacks till midnight, when he finally came out. In his confusion and fear, he thought that the dead bodies might be revived if only they withstood the cold of that Kashmir winter night, so he dragged heavy blankets from the houses and covered the bodies. Of course, the Hindus were long since dead, and there would be no revival.
Next morning, when the police finally arrived, the boy Vinod Dhar said “Do not let the other villagers touch any of my dead family.” Why? Because he said the mosque had deliberately played music louder than usual that evening so that the army camp would not hear the gun shots of the massacre. Vinod, the only eyewitness, was convinced that the Muslim neighbours were complicit.
After killing the Hindus, the jihadis also destroyed and burnt the small local Hindu temple, and the house of the popular physician (doctor) Moti Lal. Then they left Wandhama, leaving behind them an entire world destroyed, all in the name of jihad-fi-sabil-illah.
The two large jihadi groups of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen were responsible for the massacre, as later investigations revealed. They had also, as is their wont, claimed responsibility through a newly formed front organization called “intekaam-ul-muslimeen.” Of the 21 jihadi perpertrators of Wandhama, only 1-2 were ever brought to justice. The main accused was a dreaded terrorist Abdul Hamid Gada, the son of a man employed as watchman by Hindus at the sacred Kheer-Bhawani mandir! In other words, the food on his table came from the salary given to his father by Hindus. His family had worked in Hindu temples for generations! Gada was perhaps the only perpetrator to get justice, that too after 2 long years when he was killed by the army in an encounter.
I remember the day of Wandhama very well. Somehow, it has always moved and terrified me, unchangingly over time. I am not Kashmiri (and have never even visited the state of J&K), but I am a Hindu, and regard all Hindus as my own, regardless of caste, regardless of language, regardless of region. I have often tried to visualise how the Hindus of Wandhama were dragged from their homes, lined up, and murdered even as they begged for their lives. Here is a film which I think portrays this fairly well.
Recently, documentary maker Naveen Pandita visited Wandhama (the first such I believe) and documented the sad, empty houses that the Hindus lived in. In his documentary, called “Counting the Dead”, he spoke to the Muslim neighbours, who said that the Hindus were the best neighbours: always ready to help even in the middle of the night. But what did they get in return? What have we Hindus ever got in return for our tolerance? Massacres. Exoduses. Love Jihad epidemics. Almost daily desecration of our temples. Attacks on all our religious yatras.
Further reading: interview of Vinod Kumar Dhar (Dham) by Rahul Pandita in his book “Our moon has blood clots.” You can also read the relevant portion in the comments section of this video.
Request to readers: I have been unable to find a list of 23 names of the victims of Wandhama. If any of the readers can post it, I would be thankful. If the names of the two little children can be known, I would like to do a pooja for them.
