March 1, 1990 Zakura massacre

20 years of wait for justice; victims’ kin hope turns into despair
Courtesy: Daily Greater Kashmir dated March 2nd, 2010 by PARVAIZ RESHIFLASHBACK
Zakura, Mar 1: Exactly 20 years back on March 1, 1990, 26 unarmed demonstrators who were to submit a memorandum to United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) were killed and hundreds wounded by troops at the crossing here.
The troops aimed at the protesters to halt the uprising.
For the relatives of those who were massacred, 20 years wait for justice seems to be turning into despair with no signs of government taking cognizance of it.
“The massacre took place at around 12, leaving 26 dead on the spot and hundreds wounded,” said a local on the condition of anonymity.
He said the demonstrators were carrying green flags with many of them with shrouds and marching towards the Srinagar raising pro-freedom slogans when the massacre took place.
He claimed troops resorted to indiscriminate firing for around two hours.
“Scores of the people belonging to Telbal, Batpora, Alusteng, Danihama, Chaterhama and adjoining areas of the Pheak region were proceeding towards Srinagar via Batpora crossing road when army in three vehicles came in the opposite direction and opened fire here at the Zakura crossing, killing 26 and hundreds wounded,” said an eyewitness.
“A day after massacre, an FIR was lodged in the police chowki Zakura (now a police station) by the then DySP Nigeen, Muhammad Abass but no action was taken against the accused army men,” said the locals.
The attempts by this reporter to get an FIR copy proved futile as police officials at the police station Zakura, said the police station was a police chowki and the FIR details were not be available.