1991 Punjab killings

1991 Punjab killings
1991 Punjab killings
Location	Ludhiana district, Punjab, India
Date	June-Dec 1991
Target	Hindus
Attack type	Mass shooting
Deaths	125
Perpetrators	Khalistan Commando Force
Motive	Sikh Separatism; Persecution of Hindus

30°52′59″N 75°51′00″E / 30.883°N 75.85°E / 30.883; 75.85 The 1991 Punjab killings were a series of train massacres that occurred on 15 June 1991 and 27 December 1991 in the Ludhiana district of the Indian State of Punjab. Khalistani militants killed 125 Hindu passengers^[2]^[1] in these incidents.

Events

June 1991

The militants stopped the two trains about a kilometre from Ludhiana station by pulling the emergency cords, triggering emergency brakes. They proceeded to open fire inside the trains at around 9:35 p.m. (IST), killing at least 80 passengers.^[3] After the attackers fled, the train moved back to Badduwal station, where the rescue team arrived with doctors. Local villagers helped the survivors with food, water, medicine, and mental support.^[4] The attacks came less than five hours after polling closed in a national election already marred by violence and interrupted by the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi around a month prior.^[4]

December 1991

On 27 December, four men, believed to have been Khalistani, boarded a local passenger train travelling from Ludhiana to Ferozepur at Ludhiana. They pulled the emergency cord about 7:30 in the evening near a village called Sohian. Six other armed militants climbed aboard the train at the Sohian crossing. The militants shot at passengers who appeared to be Hindu using AK-47s. All but two of the 49 victims were Hindus. After the massacre, the gunmen left the train and disappeared into the night.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "A year after Hardeep Singh Nijjar's death, mysteries remain about how he really lived". The Globe and Mail. 2024. In 1991, KCF militants boarded a train, separated Sikhs from Hindus, then slaughtered 125 Hindus, many of them children.
^ "Sikhs attack India trains, killing 126". Chicago Sun-Times. 17 June 1991. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
^ "110 in two trains gunned down by Punjab militants". The Indian Express. 16 June 1991. p. 1. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
^ ^a ^b Crossette, Barbara (16 June 1991). "Extremists in India Kill 80 on 2 Trains As Voting Nears End". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
^ Gargan, Edward A. (27 December 1991). "49 Slain by Gunmen on Train in India". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 March 2018.

External links

"74 were killed in Punjab train carnage". The Indian Express. 17 June 1991. p. 5. Retrieved 9 December 2019.