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Photographs of 35 Sikhs massacred in Chattisighpora village on the wall of central gurdwara.

March 20, 2000, was a bloody day in the life of Narinder Kour when she lost 11 members of her family. Mere pati, do devar, bade devar ke do bache, pati ke mama, mama ka pota aur do ladke, aur nanad ke do damad mare gaye, she recalls with a heavy heart.

Forty-two-year-old Kour is one of many widows in the Chattisighpora village in south Kashmir where death came gamboling when then US President Bill Clinton was touring India. She lives with her two daughters - 11-year-old Navreet and nine-year-old Harleen. She works as a school teacher, the job given to her on compassionate grounds. We live our life but cant wipe out the scars. I cannot think of a reply whenever my daughter asks about her father,

she says. The mystery shrouds the carnage even after five years and neither the Government nor the villagers have any answer about the identity of the killers who dragged people out of their houses and killed them in cold-blood. The five foreign mercenaries killed by the security forces at Pathribal in the vicinity of Chattisighpora village, for allegedly being involved in the killing turned out to be local civilians. Mohammad Yaqoob Wagay alias Chatta Guru, who was earlier alleged to have guided militants to Sikh houses, was also released as innocent.

The carnage changed the lives of 150 families living in the village and sent a message to the Sikhs, scattered in 102 villages of the Valley,

that they are not safe. Chittisighpora resembles a garrison with heavy presence of police and para-military personnel. The village is visible after negotiating a bumpy road, which belies official promises of development. There is a check-post to keep track of anyone entering the village. The outer wall of the Gurdwara, in the middle of the village, still bears the bullet marks. The villagers were lined up against the same wall and killed mercilessly. The Gurdwara compound houses a CRPF company, meant to ensure safety of the villagers. On the periphery of the village are pickets manned by Rashtriya Rifles personnel. If securitymen are withdrawn, we will leave the village the same day, said Giani Bakshi Singh who leads morning prayers in the Gurdwara. He is sore over the Governments apathy after the carnage. Everyone came to shed crocodile tears when

Temple without worshippers A view of Martand temple (south Kashmir)

the carnage took place, but no one bothered to turn up later. All the promises of turning Chattisighpora into a model village have proved hollow, he says. Estimates say there are around 40,000 Sikhs in the Valley and most of them live in North Kashmirs Baramulla district. A sizeable population lives in Srinagar besides Beerwah (central Kashmir) and Tral in south Kashmir. Contrary to Kashmiri Pandits, who left the Valley en mass after the onset of militancy in 1989, the Sikhs chose to remain neutral and stayed put. We couldnt associate with the pro-Pakistan movement and, thus, refused to side with the separatists. But we also didnt go against them. We turned down Governments proposal to take up arms against militants, said Dr Joginder Singh Shan, a noted scholar who runs Guru Nanak College of Education at Awantipora in south Kashmir.

Narinder Kour A victim of Chattisighpora massacre teaching in a classroom.

A bevy of problems hamper the progress of this miniscule minority in the Valley. Apart from security concerns, we are facing a shortage of jobs, rampant poverty and an absence of sincere leaders, said Ravinder Singh, a science graduate from Tral who is looking for a job. The Sikhs in Kashmir are restless and depressed, observes Dr Shan. Our future is not secure. Most Sikhs have purchased land in Jammu and Punjab and are moving out of the Valley in search of a better future. He said the Government has failed to trace those responsible for the killings in Chittisinghpora and Mahjoor Nagar, where seven members of the community were killed in March 2001. One major disadvantage with the Kashmiri Sikhs, who speak a blend of Punjabi and Pahari, is that they are not

concentrated at a place. Therefore, their vote share doesnt affect the election results. The political parties havent nominated any Sikh candidate from their areas of influence. This is the reason why Valley Sikhs are not represented in the State Cabinet or the Legislature, complains Shiromini Akali Dal president Janak Singh Sodhi. Sodhi complains that the authorities adopt a step-motherly attitude towards them. Neither do we receive a fair share in recruitment nor are Sikh officers being suitably placed in the State bureaucracy Give me one instance where the Army or the education department has sponsored an all-India tour of a Sikh child as they to Muslim children, he asks.

Gloomy faces children in a classroom at Chattisighpora.

Congress minority cell chairman Surinder Channi concedes the Government needs to do more to alleviate the sufferings of the Sikhs. The Sikhs of the Valley are voiceless as they have no representation in the echelons of power. I have brought this to the notice of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Chief Minister. They appreciate the concerns of the community, he added.
Channi says that Kashmiri Sikhs enjoy full support of the majority Muslim community. I got the Congress mandate from my constituency (Tral) and lost by a wafer-thin margin, he says, adding that a large number of Muslim voters turned up to cast votes in his favour.
The Sikhs believe that it is the cooperation of the Muslims that ensures their safety. Security arrangements by the Government are an eye-wash. In many cases, security pickets are outside villages. If something untoward happens at night, security men will come to know about the incident only the next day, says Hakomat Singh Mehta, a villager in the Beerwah pocket of central Kashmir.
He said that security pickets have, in fact, added to their problems. These pickets are intruding in our private lives, he complains. (Under Charkha Sanjoy Ghose Fellowship 2004-05)

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