Hindus leave Kashmir massacre village

Hindus leave Kashmir massacre village

Fourteen Kashmiri Hindus have fled the village of Nadimarg in Indian-administered Kashmir, the scene of a massacre by unidentified gunmen two weeks ago.

Earlier this week the police had prevented villagers from leaving.

The news comes at members of the minority Sikh community in the region have expressed alarm over two incidents involving Indian paramilitary forces.

They say they will decide about whether to leave the Kashmir Valley after consultations with their leaders in the Indian state of Punjab.

No effort to stop

Twenty-four Hindu villagers were killed in the massacre at Nadimarg.

Only 28 villagers were left.

The security forces had put a barbed-wire fence around the village. But when the BBC's Altaf Hussain visited Nadimarg, he said the move had not restored a sense of security to the massacre survivors.

One villager described how a boy had been beaten up by police when he left the village to visit another village.

One policeman said that if the villagers were allowed to leave Nadimarg, it would mark a success for those who had carried out the attack.

Now the authorities seem to have changed their minds.

They made no effort to stop 14 members of the village leave on Wednesday.

Conflicting reports

Meanwhile there are reports of panic among Kashmir's minority Sikh community.

We don't know whether the militants or the Indian security forces are after us

Kulwant Singh
Sikh leader

Policemen deployed for the protection of Sikhs in the village of Charibug near the southern township of Tral exchanged heavy fire with Indian paramilitary on Tuesday night.

The authorities and the villagers have given conflicting versions of the incident.

Police Superintendent Vijay Kumar told the BBC that the paramilitary were on their way to the village of Simu for a counter-insurgency operation.

"As they passed through Charibug, dogs barked at them." He said the Sikh residents panicked and raised an alarm.

The police guards in the village opened fire which was returned by the paramilitary, Superintendent Kumar said.

But Jathedar Jagir Singh, an ex-soldier of the Indian Army, says armed men banged on his door asking him to open it.

"I refused to open the door and raised an alarm. They fled after the police opened fire."

There was a similar incident in the village of Kanglora earlier in the week.

Police said paramilitary border guards on a search operation got lost and approached the residents of Kanglora to guide them.

This caused panic among the Sikh families who raised an alarm.

A Sikh political leader, Kulwant Singh told BBC: "We don't know whether the militants or the Indian security forces are after us. But Sikhs across the (Kashmir) valley fear for their lives."

He said Sikhs would decide about whether to stay or leave the valley in the next few days after consulting the party leaders.