In one voice

The people, political parties and the government in Jammu and Kashmir took a united stand against the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent loss of innocent lives. The message from all corners of Jammu and Kashmir was loud and clear - We denounce the attack and that we are not with such inhuman and barbaric acts. The bandh, the protests, the all party meeting, convening of special session of legislative assembly and the passing of the resolution there reflected in one voice the mood of the people on the ground.

This outrage was not because the tourism sector, which had largely flourished for last several years, will be badly hit but against the killing of 25 innocent tourists and a local person, who laid down his life while saving the visitors. These visitors had come with their families from different parts of the country to Kashmir.

Besides strengthening the tourism sector, the increasing rush of visitors had helped in re-establishing a connection between the people in Kashmir and rest of the country. The hospitality not only by the people associated with tourism but others also to these tourist families, was helping to remove the misgivings in the minds of tourists about Kashmir and Kashmiris, being created by certain quarters.

In past also there were attempts to attack the tourists and disrupt tourism season. But magnitude and impact of such attempts was not as big as happened in the Pahalgam. One such grenade attack had occurred when Ghulam Nabi Azad was the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. Several years after that incident, the prime minister Narendra Modi during his speech in Rajya Sabha recalled the incident and praised Azad for his handling of the  situation at that time. PM Modi was himself the chief minister of Gujarat at the time of incident and a few tourists of Gujarat had lost lives in the attack.  The prime minister recalled how Azad gave him the details of the incident on phone and how he was crying as if  the killed persons belonged to his own family.
After the Pahalgam terror attack the special session of the J&K assembly was summoned to condemn the attack and offer condolences to the bereaved families and pay tributes to those who lost their lives. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the security and law and order is not responsibility of the elected government but still he owns the responsibility as the chief minister and tourism minister of the union territory. “As tourism minister I had invited the tourists to visit Kashmir. It was my responsibility as the host to ensure that they are safe  here and return their homes safely,” he said.

Omar Abdullah stated that terrorism can be controlled by security measures but finished with public support only. He described the anger among people against Pahalgam terror attack and the bandh and protests as beginning of the end of the terrorism. He stated that doing politics and demanding statehood at this tragedy will be cheap politics. “We have demanded statehood in past, will demand so in future also but not this time. This is not the time for such things or demands,” he said.

Opposition parties including BJP, PDP, People’s Conference, Apni Party, Democratic Progressive Azad Party and Awami Ittihad Party supported the government moves in condemning the terror attack and showing solidarity with the affected families. Several political parties demanded that while the guilty should be punished, the innocents must not become the targets of counter measures and reaction.

The government closed several tourist destinations as a precautionary measure after Pahalgam incident. Nasir Aslam Wani, the advisor to chief minister, said that this is a temporary move and the closed destinations would be reopened after some time. As per reports more than 90 percent tourist bookings were cancelled after the attack even some tourist movement is visible on some of the famous and major tourist places including Pahalgam.

Author is senior editor,

Greater Kashmir