Members of the community in Chittisinghpora, like Sikhs elsewhere in the state, have lived in peace during the 12 years of militancy in Kashmir. It is their Muslim neighbors and the minority Hindu community of Kashmiri Pandits who suffered. On the day of the funeral as bewildered Muslims arrived at the temple gates to join the mourners, village elders sent them away for fear of reprisal attacks on Muslims. Shops in Anantnag, the nearby town, voluntarily stayed shut. Javed, speaking on behalf of the traders of the town, said, ''We're fed up of strikes.
Speculation is rife about the identity of the gunmen.
The Sikhs and Hindus are convinced that Pakistan is involved. However, Muslims in Kashmir firmly believe India stood to gain from the massacre in Chittisinghpora as it coincided with the 5-day visit to India this week by US President Bill Clinton. The whole Kashmiri community is in shock, irrespective of their faith . . . He urged the Sikhs to ''not take a hasty decision'' on leaving Kashmir. Most of the Valley's minority Hindu community fled after a series of massacres in the early 1990s.