Jammu, Apr 22 (PTI) Several organisations including the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have called for a complete shutdown in Jammu on Wednesday to protest the killing of 26 people by terrorists at a tourist destination in Pahalgam.
The bandh call was also given by the Transporters’ Association, Jammu Bar Association and the Congress party.
Terrorists opened fire at a famed meadow near south Kashmir’s Pahalgam town on Tuesday afternoon killing 26 people, mostly tourists, in what is being described as the deadliest attack in the Valley since the Pulwama strike in 2019.
The 26 deceased included two foreigners and two locals, said a high-ranking official without providing further details.
“We have given a bandh call tomorrow as a mark of protest against the killing of tourists in Kashmir. We condemn it in the strongest terms. We urge Jammu people to join in, making this shutdown complete,” JCCI President Arun Gupta told reporters here.
He demanded that the government and security forces take strong action to “eliminate” those responsible.
“We stand with the families who lost their loved ones. We urge Home Minister Amit Shah, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to ensure that those involved, along with their overground supporters, are eliminated,” he said.
Gupta said the bandh was a symbolic expression of collective outrage. “We want to send a clear message that such barbarism has no place in a civilised society. Targeting innocent tourists is not just an act of terror, it is an assault on humanity,” he added.
VHP President Rajesh Gupta, who also gave a bandh call, said it is an attack based on faith.
“It is a massacre by terrorists based on faith. They identified people by religion and killed them. We will not tolerate it,” he said.
He added that the government must take decisive steps to ensure those involved are eliminated.
“We request the people of Jammu to maintain calm, even though there is deep anger over the killing of Hindus,” he said.
All Jammu and Kashmir Transport Association Chairman Karan Wazir said, “We, the Chamber of Commerce, Transporters and Bar Association, are united in our stand on the bandh tomorrow.” Condemning the attack, he said the bandh is a tribute to those “martyred” and a show of solidarity with their families.
Shops, businesses and markets will remain closed in Jammu on Wednesday, while traffic is expected to be off the roads.
The Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) has also called for a bandh.
In a statement issued on behalf of the party, JKPCC chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma appealed to the people to observe a complete and peaceful bandh to send a strong and united message against terrorism.
“The killing of innocents and the spread of terrorism on our soil is intolerable. To send a strong message and express solidarity with the victims and their families, a complete bandh should be observed,” he said.
Political leaders across party lines condemned the killings, urging the administration to act swiftly and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Senior BJP leader Ravinder Raina said the enemies of Kashmir have once again bled the Valley by targeting innocent tourists in Pahalgam.
“Pakistani terrorists have committed a heinous crime and sin,” he said.
“They cannot face the brave soldiers of the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police, and our paramilitary forces. These cowardly terrorists targeted unarmed, innocent tourists,” Raina said.
Panun Kashmir and Youth4Panun Kashmir also expressed “profound grief and unwavering condemnation of the horrific terrorist attack”.
“This deliberate assault on unarmed tourists is a grim reminder of the persistent jihadist terrorism that continues to threaten the region. An ideology rooted in the same venom that drove the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s,” said Dr Agnishakher, Convenor of Panun Kashmir.
He said the continued denial of this genocide by successive governments, coupled with their dismissal of Panun Kashmir’s persistent warnings, has allowed such violence to fester unchecked.
“The Pahalgam massacre is not an isolated act but a chilling continuation of the jihadist violence that orchestrated the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits, forcing their exodus from their ancestral homeland,” he said.
“For decades, governments have refused to acknowledge this atrocity, ignoring our repeated alerts about the ideological forces fuelling such terror. The notion that tourism can resolve terrorism is a dangerous oversimplification that sidesteps the need for a robust confrontation with this ideology,” he added.
He said the organisation strongly urges the government to formally recognise the Kashmiri Pandit genocide and abandon the misleading narrative of normalcy in Kashmir, which obscures the region’s ongoing security challenges. PTI AB RUK RUK
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