Kashmir survivor tells of massacre

Jill McGivering BBC correspondent in Nadimarg

One of the pledges of the new government in Indian-administered Kashmir was to bring the exiled Hindu community back to the Kashmir Valley. It was one of a series of measures designed to restore a sense of normality.

Bodies of the victims are laid out

But the plans suffered a severe setback with the brutal killing 2 weeks ago of 24 villagers in the Hindu community of Nadimarg.

We found 63-year-old Chunni Lal lying in a corner of his shadowy room, covered with blankets. The only light came from a broken window, smashed, he said, by the armed men.

His leg was encased in plaster. He gestured to show us the path a bullet had taken through his ankle. A second bullet hit his shoulder.

Above him hung a brightly coloured picture of an angelic Lord Krishna as a boy, tending sheep.

Of the 25 villagers ordered from their houses by gunmen, lined up outside and shot, Mr Lal was the only survivor.

'I held my breath'

"They came in army uniforms," he said. "I don't know who they were. They ordered us out of the house, saying they were searching for militants."

Mr Lal and his wife were told to line up outside with others from the village, 25 of them altogether including women and children. He remembers seeing a flash, like a camera bulb, and then the gunmen opened fire.

"I was hit by two bullets and fell to the ground. When they came to check the bodies, I held my breath and pretended to be dead," he told me.

"When I heard from the sound of their voices that they'd moved off, I looked up. There was blood everywhere and dead bodies lying round me. They'd killed everyone, including my wife."

Mr Lal's son, Deepak, is 25 and studying computers. He sat cross-legged in the opposite corner, wearing a baseball cap and listening to his father.

Deepak survived because his father told him to run and hide as soon as he saw the men approach.

We had everything here... but now we'll have to leave it all behind

Rita Pundita

Their family has lived in Nadimarg for as long as they can remember.

Would they leave? Father and son both shrugged their shoulders. They haven't decided yet.

"We don't want to stay," said Mr Lal. "In my heart, I feel we should leave. I don't feel safe here."

Deepak agreed. "We feel very unsafe here," he said. "But we've lived here for generations. How can we bear to leave?"

'We'll be exiles'

The family in the large house next door have already decided. We found them cleaning and making arrangements to leave the following day.

A relative of one of the victims grieves

Rita Pundita, 30-years-old, told us five members of their family were killed - her father in law, two sisters in law and two of their children, both of them still toddlers.

Now they're planning to resettle in Jammu. She sees no other choice.

"We had everything here, land, orchard, jobs," she said. "But now we'll have to leave it all behind and sit by the roadside in Jammu. We'll be exiles. Who knows what the future holds for us?"

Today about 10,000 Hindus still live in the Kashmir valley. The new government promised economic support and security to those who return.

But the killings in Nadimarg have sent a loud and terrifying message. At the moment the only movement of Hindus is not back to the Valley but out of it.