Massacre of Muslims in Jammu, worst form of ethnic cleansing: Saghar

Islamabad: While paying eulogizing tributes to martyrs of Jammu, Jammu Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) has said that the massacre of Muslims in Jammu was the most horrible incident of Kashmir that continues to haunt Kashmiris despite the passage seventy years.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, the DFP acting chairman Mehmood Ahmed Saghar said, “Hindu chauvinists aided and abetted by Dogra Maharaja wiped out the entire Muslim population of the entire province with a mala-fide intent to alter demography of the region”.

Terming it as a worst example of genocide and ethnic cleansing Saghar said that during the intervening period of time (27 Oct 1947 to 6 Nov 1947) thousands of Muslims were massacred in Jammu region by mobs led by the extremist Hindus, whereas tens of thousands of hapless families were forced to flee and take refuge in newly formed state of Pakistan.

He said that a chronology of key events of Kashmir history amply demonstrate the fact that changing demographic complexion of Muslim majority state of Jammu and Kashmir had always been on the cards from day one. The Muslims, he said constituted more than 60 percent of the population of Jammu region, were reduced to a minority after killing more than two lakh (two hundred thousands) Muslims.

Saghar said that stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its decades’ old special status and doing away with article 35-A was part of this sinister design to convert Muslim majority of the state into minority.