Kashmir Bulldozer Action After Pahalgam Terror Attack: Risks Of lienating Locals and Fueling Communal Divide

The bulldozer action against homes of militants in Kashmir in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people and left several others injured may prove to be counter-productive. The brutal terror strike, in which tourists identified as non-Muslims were ruthlessly shot dead, has created shockwaves in Kashmir, and there has been a spontaneous outpouring of grief and outrage.

Downtown Srinagar and other areas in the Kashmir Valley observed shutdowns, and Kashmiris rose as one to condemn the terror attack. However, the spate of demolitions in violation of Supreme Court guidelines prohibiting such punitive action has triggered fear across the Valley. The demolition of family houses of militants, who no longer reside there, has led to resentment among their kin.

During the demolition process, adjoining houses have also been severely damaged, causing a great deal of inconvenience to people. Kashmiri politicians, such as Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, have cautioned the Centre against arbitrary action that will only succeed in alienating the people.

Do not allow Kashmiris to become collateral damage, they have warned. Attacks on Kashmiri students in other states are completely unwarranted, and the authorities must crack down immediately on such divisive attempts.

The government must, no doubt, swiftly identify and hunt down the perpetrators of the dastardly attack and ensure that they are punished to the fullest extent of the law, but bulldozer justice, which has become the norm in the BJP-ruled states, serves little purpose other than to intimidate and terrorise.

Sometimes innocent citizens are penalised as due process of law is not followed. The Pahalgam attack was a tipping point in Kashmir’s fraught and messy history, as it was seen as unacceptable and beyond the pale of human decency. Many were the tales of Kashmiri Muslim pony drivers, vendors and others associated with the tourist trade rushing to the help of the victims, ferrying them to hospital and assisting distraught widows, mothers and children.

They were the first responders even before the police and paramilitary forces reached the incident spot, and their help was invaluable, as survivor after survivor has recounted. It is, therefore, important not to view the Pahalgam attack through the narrow prism of religion. It has to be emphasised that terror has no religion, and to give it such a colour is playing into the hands of the terrorists.

Pakistan’s footprints in the Pahalgam attack are clear, and it only suits the military establishment there and the ISI to create a communal divide in India. Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir’s recent incendiary speech supporting the two-nation theory and stating that Hindus and Muslims can never co-exist was ominous, to say the least, in the context of Pahalgam.

The government, no doubt, has a plan of action to hit Pakistan where it hurts the most, but it must also ensure communal harmony in the country. Fringe elements that target minorities cannot be allowed to have a free rein. In this context, the media, too, has to play a responsible role and not give in to the temptation of TRP-boosting communal rhetoric.