Pahalgam Tragedy: What’s the Way Ahead for Peace?

The killing of 26 tourists and injuring of many more in Baisaran in Kashmir’s Pahalgam was a tragedy beyond words. The terrorists claimed to be part of Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s front ‘The Resistance Front’. They identified people by religion and brutally fired upon them. One of the people killed was Syed Adil Shah, the one who used to take the tourists on his pony to Baisaran.

The rescue was done mainly by Kashmiri Muslims, till the helicopters arrived, and the injured were treated by a team of Kashmiri doctors. Entire Kashmir observed a bandh the next day and slogans of ‘Hindu-Muslim Bhai Bhai’ (Hindus and Muslims are brothers) were raised.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at that time was in Saudi Arabia; he returned and instead of visiting the site of terror, went straight to Bihar, where elections are due later this year. Modi did not chair the all-party meeting, as he had gone to Bihar where he was seen in media photographs, sitting on the dais and smiling away with Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ally, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. All the Opposition parties, very correctly, pledged their support to the ruling coalition in countering the after-effects of the terror attack.

This strategy of Modi (of going straight to Bihar) was in contrast to his visiting Godhra in Gujarat, when he had rushed to the site of the burning coach within half an hour of the disaster and had directed that the victims’ bodies be taken to Ahmedabad, where allegedly a procession was taken out with the dead bodies.

The social media was abuzz with messages demonising the terrorists as Muslims. ‘They asked the religion first,’ was the central point of spreading hate against Muslims. This trend is still prevalent where Muslims are killed on the pretext of carrying beef and ‘love jihad’. They are denied (sale or rent) houses after asking their names. Many times, they are denied jobs because of their religion.

In the case of Pahalgam, ‘godi media’ (pliant media) has over-projected the ‘Muslim angle’ of the terror attack. The government has totally blanked out the alleged failure of security and the absent role of intelligence in the incident.

The situation reminds one of the Pulwama case in 2019 when a “mass hysteria” was created about the terror attack but failed to take up the issue of how so much RDX could come in despite heavy security already in place. This time there are reports that there was some indication of an impending attack, what was the government doing to prevent it? One has to cross so many military barricades to reach Baisaran, how could terrorists do that?

After the Pahalgam tragedy, local Kashmiris, the pony handlers, the auto rickshaw drivers and hotel owners (mainly Muslims) helped the travellers and decided not to charge them any money. The airlines on the contrary made hay by increasing the airfares taking advantage of the situation. Many Kashmiri students faced harassment in their hostels (were asked to leave) and continue to face harassment in different parts of the country, as per reports.

The Indian government decided to take measures to stop the Indo-Pak water treaty. The Pakistan leadership stated that violating the water treaty was like an “act of war”. The clouds of confrontation are uncomfortably very much there in the sky.

Terrorism is a bane of Kashmir. Its genesis has been a complex phenomenon. The dissatisfaction among the Kashmiris began with the dilution of the Treaty of accession, when Sheikh Abdullah, the ‘Lion of Kashmir’, started feeling discomfort due to that. He started loud thinking if it was a “mistake to accede to India”. This dissatisfaction had a Kashmiriyat colour. Kashmiriyat is a culture that synthesises the Vedanta Tradition, Buddhist values and Sufi teachings.

The situation got complicated with Pakistan’s promotion of dissatisfaction and giving it a violent form. In the 1990sm as Al Qaeda terrorists became stronger, similar elements turned the purely Kashmiriyat resistance into a communal issue. Kashmiri Pandits were harassed and emigrated from the Valley when the VP Singh government, supported by BJP, was in power in the Centre. The pro-BJP Governor of J&K, Jagmohan, continued to oversee the operations in Kashmir when the Pandit exodus took place. He provided facilities for them to emigrate. The move of locals to ensure security and protection to Pundits was reportedly thwarted.

BJP leader and former PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, coined ‘Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat and Jamhiruyat’ (Humanism, Kashmiriyat and democracy), which was the best formula coined to ensure peace in the region. The democratic process in Kashmir has been thwarted for years. Earlier, too, elections in Kashmir were not so fair, that is true.

With Modi coming to power, initially demonetisation was put forward as a panacea for controlling terrorism. But demonetisation was an all-round failure. Then came the abolition of Article 370. This, along with demoting Kashmir from statehood to Union territory was touted as the solution to the problem of terror. Claims were made by Home Minister Amit Shah that there is peace, and terrorism has been curtailed, which encouraged tourists from all over the country to travel to Kashmir.

Read also: Composite Indian Nationalism Vs. ‘Two Nation Theory’

Sporadic acts of terror against Kashmiri Pandits and others kept occurring and tormenting the spirit of Kashmir. Now a UT, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is not a part of the security system. The last time Shah called a high-level security meeting, Abdullah was kept out of the process. It is the Central government that is totally controlling the law and order!

How can terrorism be eliminated? The high-handed approach to divert locals from managing the affairs of the UT is a big obstacle to countering terror. The repeated failure of security, Pulwama and now Pahalgam, is a matter of deep concern. Kashmir, as part of India, deserves full support from all over India to walk on the path of peace, where Vajpayee’s ‘jamhuriyat’ has to play a big role.

The statehood of Kashmir and strengthening of the democratic process is the need of the hour. Our fellow citizens in Kashmir need an atmosphere where due security is provided and tourists can keep flocking to Kashmir fearlessly. Tourism being the lifeline for survival of the locals, deserves utmost consideration in any Kashmir policy.

As the nation stands solidly with the ruling government, the government in turns needs to take suggestions of the Opposition in a serious manner. As someone said, ‘war is no solution, war itself is a problem.’

The writer is a human rights activist, who taught at IIT Bombay. The views are personal.