Pahalgam: Days after terrorists killed 26 people in the green meadows of Baisaran Valley, Pahalgam wears a deserted look. The chaos that unfolded in the immediate hours of the attack has died down a bit, and tourists in Jammu and Kashmir have either returned home, cancelled their plans, or are avoiding Pahalgam entirely. But Kashmiris are not keeping still.
On 23 April, a day after the attack, in Pahalgam town, a protester angrily screamed, “Hindustan ke gaddaro ko,” and the crowd around him responded, “goli maro saalon ko” (shoot down the traitors of India)—using a slogan coined by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Anurag Thakur ahead of 2020 Delhi polls in an apparent attempt to polarise voters along communal lines, and turning it on its head.
Dozens of local residents, trade bodies, and civil society members were marching in the main bazaar to protest the terror attack.
The protests are not limited to Pahalgam. Kashmiris are taking to the streets across the valley. Since the attack, there have been bandhs (strikes), candlelight vigils and silent marches.
Targeted killings, since around the time militancy took root in J&K, have forced Kashmiris to stay quiet out of fear of retribution.
Among those killed for their affiliations or views by separatist-militants were BJP leader Tika Lal Taploo in 1989, Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo in 1989 for sentencing the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Maqbool Bhat to death, and Qazi Nissar, Mirwaiz of South Kashmir in 1994 for his anti-militancy views.
Over the last two decades, many have been targeted in the valley for their political, religious, professional or ideological views. In May 2024, Aijaz Ahmad, who had reportedly gone from stone pelting to admiring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was killed by militants allegedly over his association with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In May 2017, militants killed an India Army officer Lt. Ummer Fayyaz while he was on leave in his native village in Kulgam district.
But this time, protests have even been announced using loudspeakers of mosques in multiple localities across Kashmir, according to local media reports.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Democratic Progressive Azad Party president Ghulam Nabi Azad told news agency ANI that this was the “first time” he had seen the people of the Muslim-majority state out to protest a terror attack. “This is because this is the first attack on Kashmiryat and insaniyat (humanity).”
When asked why people are not scared to openly condemn the killings, Ghulam Hassan Wani, a 55-year-old transporter and protester in Pahalgam, said on 23 April, “Killing unarmed civilians is barbaric and we don’t feel scared any more. They can come and kill us as well, but we can’t stay quiet.”
The same day, a group of tourists from Tamil Nadu were clicking pictures near Lidder River. A hotelier by the name of Abdul who was accompanying them expressed optimism that the memories of tourists would bring them back, calling the current situation a “hiccup” to Kashmir’s hospitality.
“I am not of the belief that Kashmir will get less tourists after this massacre, but how can you take away the memories of crores of people? This is a grave security incident and will take some time to heal, but people will show up again,” Abdul said.
Mushtaq Pahalgami, the president of the Guest House Association, Pahalgam, said, “It’s the inverse proportionality of economics with terrorism.”
If Kashmiris themselves don’t speak up, they cannot expect people from other states to raise their voice against any bigotry or violence against Kashmiris, he added, reciting poetry by Nawaz Deobandi:
“Jalte ghar ko dekhne vaalon, phoos ka chhappar aapkaa hai:
aag ke peechhe tez hawaa hai, aage muqaddar aapkaa hai.
uske qatl par main bhi chup thaa, meraa numbar ab aayaa
mere qatl pe aap bhi chup hain, aglaa numbar aapkaa hai”
(Oh those of you who stare at the burning house, note you too have a thatched straw roof. Fire rages aided by the wind, will you be lucky and survive. When that man was murdered, I failed to speak up and do my human duty. You are quiet about my murder, remember you’re next in line).
“Our children are studying in the multiple states of India, they are hosted and treated fairly,” he added.
Speaking to ThePrint, MLA Pahalgam Altaf Kuloo said the economy of Pahalgam was completely dependent on tourism. “If anyone tries to snatch the livelihood of my constituency, they will have to face us.”
Referring to the locality of Yenner, some 14 km from Pahalgam on the banks of the Lidder River, which has a lot of hotels and homestays, he said, “If I just speak about Yenner, there has been more than Rs 10,000 crore investment last couple of years because of the increased tourist inflow.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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