'Pak. bid to mislead Sikhs'

WASHINGTON, MARCH 29. The Indian Embassy here has accused Pakistan of trying to deflect the blame for the March 20 Chatti Singhpora massacre from itself to mislead the Sikh community in America and drive a wedge between the Sikhs in the U.S. and their brethren in India.

In a statement issued on Monday, it said an ``insidious propaganda'' campaign had been launched by some people in the U.S. that the inhuman killing of 35 innocent Sikhs of Chatti Singhpora in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir was the handiwork of the Indian security forces.

``It is significant that the timing of the massacre coincided with the visit of the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton, to India. Obviously, the terrorist groups and their Pakistani mentors wanted to create trouble to overshadow the visit. It is also significant that this was the first largescale attack of militants on Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir,'' it said.

It said the object was clearly to further the campaign of ethnic cleansing and to evoke communal disharmony in the State and elsewhere in India. It gave details of the investigation into the case, claiming a breakthrough with the arrest of Yakub Wagey, a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist and a resident of Chatti Singhpora.

Wagey had revealed that the massacre was the handiwork of a group comprising militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen and foreign mercenaries owing allegiance to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

It said Wagey had admitted that they were briefed to kill Sikhs. In pursuance of their plan, on March 20, the group divided itself into two and reached Akalipora and Showkeenpora mohallas of the village. Once there, they called all the males along with their local headman out and shot them.

- UNI

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