“A price which is paid by Kashmiri Muslim for being nationalist and to protect indian sovereignty— is death” 
It was 2003:
The Indian Army has killed over 60 terrorists, uncovered several bunkers and seized huge stocks of arms, ammunition and medicines in a phased operation in the remote Hill Kaka region near Surankote town in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian Army has killed over 60 terrorists, uncovered several bunkers and seized huge stocks of arms, ammunition and medicines in a phased operation in the remote Hill Kaka region near Surankote town in Jammu and Kashmir.
The operation, codenamed “Sarp Vinash”, the fourth phase of which is still continuing, started in the month of January. They are being carried out by the Romeo Force of the Rashtriya Rifles and supported by Special Operations teams.
Army officers, however, were quick to clarify that the presence of such a huge number of militants for so long a period should not be compared to Kargil intrusions.
Hill Kaka region is a remote area, occupied during summer by migratory nomads, lying close to Pir Panjal range that divides the Kashmir valley from rest of India.
The Hill Kaka area is very difficult to access with the nearest road around ten hours away by foot. "It was an ideal area for establishing safe hideouts for the guerrilla operations that they (terrorists) wanted to carry out.
When the first phase of Operation “Sarp Vinash” began on January 29, the first thing the Romeo Force did was to construct three helipads in the region, at heights between 10k and 11k feet. Twenty kilometres of mule track was also laid, besides the setting up of storage dumps.
As part of preparations for the first phase a 'deliberate misinformation' campaign was also carried out to mislead the terrorist groups.
In the second phase from April 1-15, the army set up several bases around the Hill Kaka region, while preventing the migratory population from entering the area.
Hill Kaka area is one of the permanent locations of migrant communities such as *Bakariwals and Gujjars*, who climb up during summer to graze their cattle. In winter, they vacate these places.
In this whole operation *Bakariwals and Gujjars* helped indian army in every possible manner including intelligence gathering and watchdog.
Finally operation ended on 3rd May 2003 with killing 60 terrorist and paper detailing expenditure running into almost Rs 1.8 crores.
Finally operation ended on 3rd May 2003 with killing 60 terrorist and paper detailing expenditure running into almost Rs 1.8 crores.
For being loyal to your nation and your forces Punishment came just as many had predicted. On June 26, the Marrah area saw the worst massacre in Jammu and Kashmir in recent months.
10 and 15 terrorists, believed to be from the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Hizbul -Mujahideen's Pir Panjal Regiment reached Teli Katha at about 3 a.m. Teli Katha, which is home to a large high-altitude pasture, is used by Marrah residents to graze their cattle in the summer.
This year, some 70 people from a dozen Gujjar families had made their way up to the meadows with their herds of buffaloes and goats. People were asleep in their dhokes, temporary earth-and-stone shelters used by pastoralists on the Pir Panjal range.
when the terrorists opened fire with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades.
Most of the victims were killed or injured within the first few minutes of fire. Unsurprisingly,
Most of the victims were killed or injured within the first few minutes of fire. Unsurprisingly,
most of the victims were those slow to react: children and the elderly. Among the 11 killed were two 75-year-olds, Noor Mohd and Lal Hussain, 14-year-old Parveen Akhtar and Nazaqat Hussain, eight-year-old Niaz Ahmed and four-year-old Imtiyaz Ahmed, and a three-month-old infant.
Most of the 10 injured met the same profile: two 80-year-old men and a 60-year-old woman and three children were among those who received gunshot and shrapnel wounds.
The terrorists who fired at the dhokes would have known that entire families were sleeping inside: their intention, quite clearly, was to kill.
It could have been worse if five armed “Village Defence Committee” members were not guarding the dhokes. Within 15 minutes, VDC members Lal Hussain, Mohd Aslam, Mohd Qasim, Aijaz Ahmed and Lal Din fired more than 360 rounds from their rifles.
forcing the terrorists to retreat. The nearest Army picket was several kilometres away, which meant reinforcements could not have arrived in time to stop the massacre.
It was not until the morning that members of the Marrah VDC made their way to the scene of the massacre, apprehensive that something had gone wrong. "Had the VDC members on the dhoke not fought back," said Poonch Senior Superintendent of Police Mukesh Singh.
“I doubt that anyone on the dhoke would have made it out alive. They fought like heroes."
