AT 7PM ON JANUARY 1, terror struck Upper Dhangri village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district. Under the cover of darkness, two masked militants attacked three houses standing 50 metres apart. The shooting lasted ten minutes, but the residents had no idea who the assailants were or why they were being attacked.
The firing ceased after Balkishen, a member of the village defence committee (VDC), grabbed his .303 rifle and fired a few shots in the air. The militants fled thinking security forces had arrived. As the people in the houses began crying out for help, Upper Dhangri’s Hindu community of more than 5,000 people soon found out that 10 of them had been injured in the shooting.
The victims were rushed to the government hospital in Rajouri. Three of them—Deepak Kumar, 23, Pritam Lal, 57, and Satish Sharma, 45—were declared dead on arrival. Pritam Lal’s son Shishu Pal, 32, died while being flown to Jammu in an Army helicopter. The others had suffered multiple bullet wounds, and are in government hospitals in Jammu and Rajouri.
The morning after the attack, an improvised explosive device went off near Lal’s house. Two cousins—Vihan Kumar, 4, and Sumiksha Devi, 16—and five others, including two children, were injured. The device was aimed at security personnel inspecting the site.
Majority of the people in Jammu are Hindus, but in Rajouri and Poonch districts, which border Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), they are in the minority. Hindus in Rajouri were last targeted in 2002, when militants attacked a wedding party killing 16 people.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 15, 2023-Ausgabe von THE WEEK India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der January 15, 2023-Ausgabe von THE WEEK India.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
