Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has called January 21 “a very dark day” in the recent history of Kashmir.
As commercial hubs, including Lal Chowk, were shut down and protests broke out in many parts of the city on Tuesday, state chief minister Omar Abdullah took to micro-blogging website Twitter to comment on the events.
“Today marks the anniversary of a very dark day in the recent history of Kashmir. The Gawkadal killings symbolise much of what went wrong,” he wrote.
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Srinagar traders’ protest marks Gawkadal incident anniversary
“Though violence levels are at a record low memories of incidents like Gawkadal reinforce why Kashmir has to be freed of violence and guns,” he added.
On this day in 1990, 51 civilians were allegedly killed after security forces fired on protesters in Gawkadal area of the city.
According to various eyewitnesses, security forces fired at unarmed peaceful protesters while they were crossing a bridge.