Valley on edge

The sudden spike in attacks on minorities, labourers and police personnel in the Kashmir valley is deeply worrisome. The targeted killing on Tuesday of a Kashmiri Pandit apple orchardist after he and his brother were separated from their Muslim neighbours in Shopian is equally distressing for the gruesome methods being adopted by terror outfits. As the slain Sunil Kumar Bhat’s brother convalesces after sustaining bullet injuries, the Kashmiri Pandit community is at a loss to make sense of the endless cycle of violence that puts them at the receiving end for no fault of theirs. It is difficult to discount the feeling of abandonment articulated by an organisation representing the Pandits who did not leave the Valley in 1990, when a majority of the community fled after being targeted by terrorists, as it asks them to seriously consider moving out this time.

Top leaders of the regional parties have been quick to condemn the attacks and offer condolences, but the voices of anguish and anger that need to be heard are those of the average Kashmiri. A buildup of societal resistance to violence and otherisation — something the Kashmiris themselves claim to be victims of — has been missing. Linking the haunting silence to any passive support for terror actors may not be out of line, and it does indicate a reluctance to forge a secular Kashmiri identity, even after 30 years of turmoil, with a change of mindsets and by stopping anyone resorting to or wanting to pick up the gun.

Kashmir has seen perhaps its most rewarding tourist season in decades, and it would be erroneous to lose hope in the transformational capacity of economic opportunities. A return to the political and electoral processes has repeatedly been articulated as necessary to rekindle community bonds that upstage narrow and regressive viewpoints, and offer accountability for administrative decisions. A decisive confidence-building measure in Jammu and Kashmir’s interest would be to announce Assembly elections at the earliest, while toning down any polarising rhetoric.

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