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Onkar Singh in Leh On the evening of July 11, Nima Gyalpo had gone to Rangdum Gompa - about 100 km from Kargil -- to perform special puja for Poornima (full moon) when the militants struck, killing three monks before fleeing in a vehicle. In a conversation with this correspondent, Lama Nima Gyalpo recalled the tragic incident which sent shock-waves through the peace-loving Buddhist community. "I come from the Zanskar tehsil of Kargil district, and was summoned to do a special puja in Rangdum Gompa. I reached there on July 10 around noon. Every month, on Poornima, a puja is performed. This time it was special because it was the first Poornima in the new year of the Buddhist calendar. The monks at the Gompa had asked for the puja saamagri to be delivered at the place of worship, and seven of us were waiting at the door of the temple for the same. Around 8.25 pm we heard a truck stopping nearby. "Four monks -- Tashi Mutup (48), Tenzen Zofpa (40), Kunchok (39) and Stanzen Tsering (25) -- went down to receive the puja saamagri with torches in their hands. As soon as they went down, two youths -- one dressed in complete white and the other draped in black - got down from the truck and ordered the lamas to fall in line. 'Hum dahshatgard hain aur hum tumhen maarne aaye hain (we are terrorists and we have come to kill you)', they shouted at the lamas. The moment we heard these words, we froze in fear. "The two then took out their guns and started loading magazines in them. In a split second they had fired more than forty rounds, killing Tashi Mutup, Tenzen Zofpa and Kunchok. Stanzen Tsering escaped as he jumped into the Kanjinala and hid himself behind the bushes. One of the torches carried by the lamas shone on the militants, and I could see that they had covered their faces with masks. One of them had a long nose, like a Kashmiri. "After this the militants started quarrelling among themselves as the engine of the truck just would not start. Once it started they got into the truck and sped away. We came out of the Gompa after this and went down to the place where the lamas were lying in a pool of blood. I spent the whole night with them. In the morning we sent a person to the nearest police post, which is 50 km away. "I don't think the militants liked the demand for Union territory status made by the Ladakh Buddhist Association. The Gujjars (Bakarwals) had a camp near the Gompa, but the next morning the camp was empty and the Gujjars had gone. They are trying to now give the impression that it was a tussle between the Bakarwals and the lamas, but essentially the killings were the handiwork of ISI-backed militants. We are a peace-loving people and do not involve ourselves in activities that lead to bloodshed. We are scared that the militants might strike again and kill more lamas." Leh continues to be tense The Rediff Interviews Tell us what you think of this interview

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