2006 Doda massacre

Prior incidents like the Wandhama massacre had forced majority of Hindu population of Kashmir valley to leave the area and seek refuge in Jammu and elsewhere. Doda, Jammu and Kashmir's second largest district, had the highest concentration of militants in the state-an estimated 200 of the 1,500 who are active.[1]

Two separate attacks took place that day in neighbouring areas. In the first attack twenty two unarmed Hindu villagers, mostly shepherds or their families, were lined up and gunned down by terrorists in Thawa village in Kulhand area of Doda district on the night of 30 April 2006.[2] The victims included a 3-year-old girl.[3] 10–12 militants wearing army uniforms perpetrated the massacre. The doctor who was sent to do the post mortem examination suffered a heart attack on seeing the bodies and was admitted to the hospital.[4]

The second attack in the neighbouring Lalon Galla village in Basantgarh area of Udhampur district, 35 Hindu shepherds kidnapped by suspected terrorists were shot dead on the same day.[3]

The attacks were an attempt to derail the upcoming talks between Indian government and the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.[5] India blamed Pakistan based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba and called it "cross border terrorism".[6]

The killings received widespread condemnation, including from President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Bharatiya Janata Party accused the terrorists of carrying out ethnic cleansing.[7]

In 2007, Australian government in declaring Lashkar-e-Taiba a Terrorist organisation attributed this massacre to it.[8]