Wikipedia's first sentence called it “shot and their bodies were dumped in water canals”. Today it says “killing of 42 indian muslim men by police on or around 22 may 1987 near meerut in uttar pradesh state”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2020
Hashimpura massacre is an incident of mass murder which took place on or around 22 May 1987 near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh state, India , during the 1987 Meerut communal riots during March to June 1987 with a death toll of 350.1 It is alleged that 19 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary rounded up 42 Muslim youths from the Hashimpura mohalla (locality) of the city, took them to the outskirts of the city, shot them in cold blood and dumped their bodies in a nearby irrigation canal. A few days later, the dead bodies were found floating in the canal and a case of murder was registered. Eventually, 19 men were accused of having performed the act. In May 2000, 16 of the 19 accused surrendered and were later released on bail. Whereas, the other three accused died in the intervening period. In 2002, the Supreme Court of India ordered that the case trial should be transferred from the Ghaziabad district court to a Sessions Court at the Tis Hazari court complex in Delhi . On 21 March 2015, all 16 men accused in the Hashimpura massacre case of 1987 were acquitted by Tis Hazari Court due to insufficient evidence. The Court emphasized that the survivors could not recognize any of the accused PAC personnel. On October 31, 2018, the Delhi High Court convicted the 16 personnel of the PAC and sentenced them to life imprisonment, overturning the trial court's verdict.2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 964644228.
The opening as it stood in 2015
against Muslims in India Hashimpura massacre took place on 22 May 1987, during the Hindu-Muslim riots in Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh state, India, when 19 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) allegedly rounded up 42 Muslim youth from the Hashimpura mohalla (locality) of the city, took them in truck to the outskirts, near Murad Nagar , in Ghaziabad district , where they were shot and their bodies were dumped in water canals. A few days later dead bodies were found floating in the canals. In May 2000, 16 of the 19 accused surrendered, and were later released on bail, while 3 were already dead. The trial of the case was transferred by the Supreme Court of India in 2002 from Ghaziabad to a Sessions Court at the Tis Hazari complex in Delhi , where it is the oldest pending case. On 24 May 2007, twenty years after the incident, two survivors and members of 36 victim families visited Lucknow and filed 615 applications under The Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), at the office of Director General of Police seeking information about the case. The inquiry revealed in September that all accused remained in service, and none had any mention of the incident in their Annual Confidential Report (ACR)s. Five men who were shot and survived, later became witness for the prosecution case in 2007.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668895428.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
1987 mass killing of Muslim youths by police in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India against Muslims in independent India The Hashimpura massacre was the killing of 50 Muslim men by police on or around 22 May 1987 near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh state, India , during the 1987 Meerut communal riots . It was reported that 19 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary rounded up 42 Muslim youths from the Hashimpura mohalla (locality) of the city, took them to the outskirts of the city, shot them in cold blood and dumped their bodies in a nearby irrigation canal. A few days later, the dead bodies were found floating in the canal and a case of murder was registered. Eventually, 19 men were accused of having performed the act. In May 2000, 16 of the 19 accused surrendered and were later released on bail. Whereas, the other three accused died in the intervening period. In 2002, the Supreme Court of India ordered that the case trial should be transferred from the Ghaziabad district court to a Sessions Court at the Tis Hazari court complex in Delhi . On 21 March 2015, all 16 men accused in the Hashimpura massacre case of 1987 were acquitted by Tis Hazari Court due to insufficient evidence. The Court emphasized that the survivors could not recognize any of the accused PAC personnel. On 31 October 2018, the Delhi High Court convicted the 16 personnel of the PAC and sentenced them to life imprisonment, overturning the trial court's verdict.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1165660343.
The opening as it stood in 2025
1987 mass killing of Muslim youths by police in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India against Muslims in independent India The Hashimpura massacre was the killing of 75 Indian Muslim men by police on or around 22 May 1987 near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh state, India , during the 1987 Meerut communal riots . Around 19+ personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary rounded up 42 Indian Muslim youths from the Hashimpura mohalla (locality) of the city, took them to the outskirts of the city, shot them in cold blood and dumped their bodies in a nearby irrigation canal. A few days later, the dead bodies were found floating in the canal and a case of murder was registered. Eventually, 19 men were accused of having performed the act. In May 2000, 16 of the 19 accused surrendered and were later released on bail. The other three accused died in the intervening period. In 2002, the Supreme Court of India ordered that the case trial should be transferred from the Ghaziabad district court to a Sessions Court at the Tis Hazari court complex in Delhi . On 21 March 2015, all 16 men accused in the Hashimpura massacre case of 1987 were acquitted by Tis Hazari Court due to insufficient evidence. The Court emphasized that the survivors could not recognize any of the accused PAC personnel. On 31 October 2018, the Delhi High Court convicted the 16 men and sentenced them to life imprisonment, overturning the trial court's verdict.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1291639441. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “shot and their bodies were dumped in water canals”. Today it says “killing of 42 indian muslim men by police on or around 22 may 1987 near meerut in uttar pradesh state”. Read the current article and compare.
2015
2020
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2025
massacre
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2015, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
shot and their bodies were dumped in water canals
Now
killing of 42 indian muslim men by police on or around 22 may 1987 near meerut in uttar pradesh state
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.