The Pahalgam Attack
The Pahalgam Attack
What happened?
The evening of April 22nd had its heart wrenching encounter of a vicious Militant Attack on tourists of Baisaran Valley, regarded as the Mini Switzerland, Pahalgam, known for its European aesthetic landscape.
The incident happened around 2.45 pm on Tuesday where 26 civilians + 2 international tourists, were shot to death and 20 were wounded by a fusillade of bullets, handled by 3 armed terrorists.
Scenes of the Survivors
The first image that would haunt the world is of an inconsolably devastated woman beside her newly-wed husband’s deadbody. The panic in the eyes of kids who watched their parents/relatives being shot is much worse. Unsettling images of the deceased victims and the tormented voices of the survivors, could leave many sleepless.
Survivors’ Statements
The first few blows of the guns took place in the blink of the eye, where people couldn’t have the reaction time to lodge themselves in safer spots. Wife of a deceased stated that she pleaded to the terrorists to kill her too, but she had “We leave you alive to tell Modi about this” as the reply!
Grandfather of a deceased Navy Officer said, “if he hadn’t been shot, he would have managed to save atleast 2 or 3.” “We were having Maggi and we heard firing. My husband was shot dead even before turning around to see what’s happening” is one horrific utterance of another woman.
Though there were claims about the terrorists wearing camouflage clothes, a female survivor confirmed that what they wore was similar to the uniforms of local police with masks.
A family of four would return as only two, who came to the valley to celebrate their son’s 97% score in his PU exam. The story of Horse-riding operator, Syed Adil Hussain is even more desolating. He fought with the armed terrorists to save some lives even after he was shot down.
Religious Polarization on Hostage
The terrorists held men in the site of horror to recite holy verses in order to confirm if they were actual Muslims. There are claims that they asked for their names and religion to which they belong before being shot.
Media Narrative
Several North Indian media agencies have been reporting the incident with a mindscrewing perspective of the attack being Anti-Hindutva. It’s truly shocking to see senior and responsible journalists addressing the victims as ‘Hindu men’ and not just men/civilians.
Godi media propaganda sees it peak here, where reports start questioning the relatives of the deceased, “despite Modi’s rule..” News bulletins bear posters of insensitive and stereotypical Anti-Pak slogans.
THIS IS HORRENDOUS!
Social Media stand
People from all sorts, from Diplomats, officials, politicians, celebrities to commoners, took social media to express their condolences where we can see a lot of empathetic posts rather than hate speech as described in the Mass Media Agencies.
Still, this incident is being seen only as a religious attack. Religion is just a feeble screen that is now being knitted stronger to divert attention from more actual concerns on the Kashmir issue.
Militancy
TRF - The Resistance Front, an extremist wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a militant organisation has claimed being responsible for the attack. Hence, the right way to address this incident is as Militant/Terroist Attack and not religious extremism nor Pakistani insurgency.
TRF was formed in 2019 immediately as a response to the abrogation of Article 370, Revocation of J&K’s special status. The main aim of TRF has always been establishing Kashmir independence and projects a secular image but is identified in being masterminds behind local religious violence and attacks.
The attackers were reported to have used AK47 and American C4 Carbine Assault Rifles and had bodycams to record the happenings of the attack! This evidently proves that this isn’t just a planned attack but a malicious attempt to create a worldwide impression about the inefficiencies of Indian National Security especially during such high international engagements it is going through.
Not a Mishap
This incident can clearly be seen as a well planned execution which does not come under a spontaneous attack, and hence it can be evidently considered as a serious Intelligence failure.
Baisaran Valley can only be accessed by foot or horses. The attackers were said to came out of the nearby surrounding forest areas. In such an important tourist attraction, given the geography, it’s actually staggering to see that there were no normal security implication and safety protocols in the Valley. It is an actual malfunction of the security planning as there were Local Police, Indian Army, CRPF, CAPF, IB etc. responsible for security in J&K.
In spite of all this, this incident is marked as an unfortunate and spontaneous religious attack rather than impeachment of the failure of the security machinery. None of the officials of either governments have bore responsibility for the safety vulnerability yet has given heroic speeches in avenging the deaths and making those terrorists’ lives a nightmare, etc.
WHERE IS ACCOUNTABILITY?
Understanding the embedded reality
A huge fraction of the population might just dismiss this as a religious riot but there’s even more. This shouldn’t be stereotyped and bore Anti-Muslim nor Anti-Pak retaliation as being held as narrative now.
The main reason, such unsettling violence being done as statements against the Indian Government by the Militant Groups, is demanding Kashmir as an independent state. Cultural identity and State Autonomy are prioritized by many those groups over religious labels.
Aftermath
Grief and panic-stricken exodus of thousands of tourists off the Valley was their immediate response of the incident. Locals indulged in peaceful demonstrations against any such violence.
There has been reports of hundreds of booking cancellations in various spots in J&K, while tour operators and travel-drivers are volunteering in sending off the existing tourists out of Kashmir to their places.
Around 1500 are held in mandatory detention as a part of investigation but what more frightens the locals is the fear of police and army brutality in the process. It’s an undeniable fact.
Capitalism at its zenith
As thousands of tourists are set to leave Kashmir, all commercial airlines vultured this an opportunity and made a highly ridiculing act of raising flight tickets by 10 times the original price. Capitalism never fails to pull you down at your lowest. Pony riders and local stall owners who helped the survivors at the site of attack hadn't even thought about their life being at stake and big corporations, shaping the economy of our nation couldn't have been such despicable.
Indian Government Retaliation
1. Indus Water Treaty is temporarily suspended until Pakistan stops backing terrorist organizations.
2. Attari-Wagah border is closed
3. Cancellation of Visas to Pakistanis and demanding them to leave India with 48 hours.
- This act is undeniably malice to banish people, even those with a valid visa. It's so because a majority of Indian Visa holding Pakistanis are medical health seekers and students.
4. Defense Advisors of each nation are to sent back
5. Overall strength of high commission had been reduced to 30 from 55.
Calling out of Indian Muslims
It’s high time that people must deliberately stop calling out Indian Muslims to be responsible for this heinous attack. Just because they share the same faith, it doesn’t give you any special access to pull them down based on who they are. This in fact is just as same as the motive of the attack itself. It’s insensitive, irresponsible and utterly outrageous!
There are also instances of Indian Muslims posting that they’re ashamed for it, or being apologetic. How is that even gonna make sense? Why would you identify as one of them? Just because a set of people follow something of their likeness, that doesn’t mean all of them are the same! There has never been a single man taking accountability for the violence against women caused by another man!
Also, none from other major religions of India have ever been called out as extremists or terrorists when attacks of similar and even scales larger have been witnessed by all of us. So, why just stereotype and hold a certain group of people who just share the same faith, responsible for extremism?
STOP DEMANDING OR TAKING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE ACTIONS OF A RADICALISED GROUP!
Survivors Guilt and PTSD
Focusing on the surviving victims here, we can’t imagine how psychologically devastated they might be, seeing their loved ones die in front of them. Survivors Guilt is a serious issue to be addressed. It’s the guilt that most victims have after escaping a serious trauma or death while others couldn’t. Terrorism has been a major factor of PTSD in survivors of such. Child survivors experiencing such life altering trauma are often left with its impact all their lives. It’s high time that we make efforts in comforting the psychological wounds of the survivors.
At last, all of us are fellow humans, indeed.
- Anisha K
Very detailed and informative post💯kudos..🤝🏻
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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