Spirit of India

Harvinder Ahuja

NEW DELHI: Kashmir just got truly integrated with the rest of India – albeit in tragic circumstances. The outpouring of pain and anguish in the Valley over the Pahalgam massacre has united it with the people of India as never before. Alongside, a majority of Indians has started seeing an average Kashmiri as much a victim of terrorism as themselves. The distinction between the perpetrators of violence and members of a particular community, or region, has become stark, thankfully so! Still there is no dearth of voices – primarily from among social media warriors and ultra-nationalist news TV anchors – that are bent upon giving a communal colour to what happened at the picturesque Baisaran Valley on April 22. But their designs are bound to flounder, and the reason for that is not hard to find – it’s the way Kashmir, its people, politicians and Government, have responded to the Pahalgam carnage. Without doubt, India has forged a united front to fight against terror, and Kashmir has shown that it is an integral part of this front.

Pony-wallah’s sacrifice

To begin with, it was the pony guide Syed Adil Hussain Shah, whose sacrifice for the ‘guests’ brought the much talked-about Kashmiriyat to national acclaim. This 30-year-old sole breadwinner of the family grappled with the desperate gunmen and tried to save some people, but became a casualty himself, the only one from Kashmir. Besides, there have been reports about how the local people – in the absence of the police and security forces – carried some tourists on their backs and brought them down to safety, or rushed the injured to nearby hospitals. The conduct of doctors and paramedics in Anantnag, Srinagar and other places has also come in for much appreciation.

Collective shutdown

The second conspicuous development that didn’t go unnoticed was the shutdown across Kashmir, a day after the tragedy. In sharp contrast to the hartals observed earlier in the Valley at separatists’ diktat, the April 23 shutdown was a collective effort by political parties, traders’ unions, and civil society to show solidarity with the Pahalgam victims and their families. The Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Association, one of the region’s most prominent business bodies, spearheaded the call for the shutdown, which was supported by the local unit of the PHD Chamber and other business bodies. According to reports, similar shutdowns were also observed in other parts of Jammu & Kashmir, including in Poonch.

Denouncing the Pahalgam attack as an “act beyond belief” and “totally unacceptable”, Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, “The killings have pierced our hearts.” The Mirwaiz, who is also the leader of the Hurriyat Conference, was allowed to offer the Friday prayers at the Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta after a gap of four weeks.

He, along with those present in the mosque, observed a minute’s silence to express solidarity with the affected families. “We heard that these people were first asked about their religious identities and then murdered in front of their families. This is an act beyond belief,” he said in his address.

But what really won the hearts of the entire nation was the passionate and politically matured speech by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at the special session of the J&K Assembly. The conciliatory manner of the speech and his firm refusal to exploit the Pahalgam tragedy for statehood demand endeared him to the powers in New Delhi and sent the social media abuzz with admiration. “With what face will I use the Pahalgam incident to tell the Centre to give me statehood? Is my politics so cheap? Do I have so little regard for the lives of the 26 men?” the CM said in an emotive address.

Special session

The J&K Assembly session, as a prominent daily put it, resembled a microcosm of Indian Parliament, with politicians of all persuasions championing a nationalist agenda. The CM’s somber speech, it said, coincided with all Kashmiri politicians climbing down from their demand for talks with Pakistan and calling for justice. As PDP legislator Waheed Para told the House, this was the first time that Kashmir and the country were mourning together. “We are with the country, with the nation,” he asserted. That’s the spirit of India!

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