B L Saraf
The brutal terrorist attack in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam which snatched 26 innocent Indians from us has thrown entire nation in the state of mourning , from where it will take long for it to come out and regain composure . But the scars left on the soul and psyche won’t heal so easily. The enormity of the act and the behavior of the murderers displayed before pouring bullets on the helpless victims leaves no space to philosophize or intellectualize the matter. It was mainly dictated by the communal considerations. There may be other reasons also which, surely, will be analyzed sooner than later. However , a little consoling part of the horrific incident was that the un holy consideration abated once the innocent victims fell on the ground and the real humanistic character full of compassion – devoid of any communal consideration – stepped in, when the local pony wallas, guides and other helpers , present on the spot, carried the injured on their shoulders to the nearest medical facility and escorted thousands of stranded tourist to the available places of safety . The horse man Syed Abid had to pay with his life for his attempt to save the innocent lives.
In the immediate aftermath of the horrific act , a sense of anger and outrage pervaded the whole Valley, where everyone felt that the terrorists by their barbaric act have burdened Kashmir’s soul with a sin which , to them, will take quite an effort to atone for. Then, an instant and spontaneous condemnation of the act poured from every section of the Valley’s society. People came out in large numbers to denounce the barbaric act and express solidarity with the near and dear ones of the victims. Whole Kashmir witnessed a total shut down the following day .Never before in the past was it seen when whole Valley stood up for India to share the national grief and condemn the dastardly act .
In an unprecedented move the devotees who had congregated in Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid to offer Friday prayers ,on 25th April , stood in silence to mourn the death of 26 innocent tourists and express solidarity with bereaved family members . From the Pulpit, leading the prayers, Miwaiz Ummer Farooq, in a powerful and emotionally surcharged tone expressed anguish on the tragedy that be fell tourists in Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam and condemned the terrorist act in unequivocal terms. He joined the devotees in expressing solidarity with and sharing grief of the near and dear ones of the deceased tourist.
May be, people in Kashmir have shown a way and broken from the past: now it is the turn of Government of India to take a call. We are assured that appropriate action will be taken by the GOI against the perpetrators of crime and their handlers across the border. Simultaneously, commensurate measures must be initiated to satisfy genuine demands of the people living in the UT. They don’t ask for special treatment , anymore , but deserve to be treated as equal as one is in other states of India, and allowed to enjoy rights in full available under the Constitution of India . GOI may also break from the past by placing total trust in patriotism of the people.
Their demonizing rhetoric against a common Kashmiri which one hears daily from the so called national TV channels and the shrill anchors must stop forthwith. The residents of the J&K deserve stake in running the affairs of state. The least that can be done in the prevailing situation is to save students and professionals of Kashmir studying and working in other states from the mindless attack of the lumper elements and fanatic hot heads .
Home Minister Amit Shah has dialled Chief Ministers of the stated to see that all Pakistani nationals leave the area, soon. How appropriate and reassuring would it be for the Kashmiri students studying in these states and Kashmiri business men working there if the HM would, with same seriousness, ask these Chief Ministers to ensure safety and dignity of these students and the businessmen . In the moment of national mourning and crisis peace in Kashmir is must. While security forces will do their job, a social effort is required to supplement the security action. In this regard cooperation of the local populace will be of considerable help .It will ensure readiness of the locals to provide information to the authorities responsible for maintaining law and order .In absence of local supports it is impossible to police the vast barren tracts of mountains and hills of the U T .
The dual control on the local administration is seriously telling upon the security imperatives. A clarity of sorts is required. Elected Government must have sufficient powers to respond to the situation with full police force. It makes a bad picture when elected Chief Minister is seen helpless to maintain law order, or kept away from participating in high security related meetings. After all, he is answerable to his electorate and will be asked questions as and when such horrific incidents take place in J&K. He shouldn’t have any alibi to escape the responsibility.
It is being uncharitable and insensitive to Kashmiri Muslims to say that they came out to protest the killings of innocent Indians out of fear of losing livelihood and save their economy . Be it so , they come out fearlessly against the terrorists , something unthinkable in the past. And who doesn’t care for his livelihood. Everything in today’s world is weighed in terms of economy. With the advent of leaders like Trump, Putin, Xi Peng and our own Modi Ji everything in the world of politics has turned transactional. True, the tourism is main stay of Kashmir economy but average Kashmiri has shown in the past three decades of turmoil that he can survive without tourists also. Then, the point need not to be missed: promotion of tourism in Kashmir and increased tourist flow seen in last couple of years, has been the main plank of GOI policy to usher in normalcy in Kashmir. Though debatable, for the Central Government it has become the only defining marker of normalcy in the Valley. So why see something questionable in the Kashmiri’s unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist act which doesn’t exist there. In the present situation, thinking in such terms amounts to belittling the good gesture of the locals.
(The author is former Principal District & Sessions Judge)
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