'We know more than others how painful killings are'

As the nation stands united in grief and anger against the dastardly fidayeen (suicide) attack that killed 49 CRPF men in southern Pulwama last week, people in the Valley feel sad about the incident saying nobody can understand the pain caused by such killings than Kashmiris themselves.

DH spoke to a cross-section of people in Kashmir, who described the killings and subsequent attacks on Kashmiris in Jammu and other parts of the country as painful and wanted the mayhem, madness and terror to stop.

“This (Pulwama killings) was a moment of collective grief for all, even for Kashmir. Who can understand the pain caused by such killings better than the people of Kashmir, who have been bearing this bloodshed for the past three decades,” Waseem Ramzan, a manager at a local private firm, told DH.

He says that even separatist leaders in Kashmir mourned the killings of the CRPF personnel.

“But there are some fringe elements in every society. If some posts on social media were uploaded by these fringe elements, that doesn’t give mobs outside the state authority to attack every Kashmiri there,” he rued.

Waheed Ahmad, a government employee from Pulwama, says that a wrong notion has been created that death of soldiers is being celebrated in Kashmir.

“Kashmir has lost more than 80,000 people in the last three decades of violence. We know more than others how tragic and painful the condition of those who lose their near and dear ones. We want all this mayhem to stop,” he said.

Ahmad says that New Delhi should take concrete steps to stop this dance of death in Kashmir as only muscular policy won’t work.

“Peace can only be brought about by winning people over rather than alienating them. By resorting to jingoism, TC channels and hawks are spoiling the environment,” he added.

In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack on February 14, various parts of the country have witnessed different kinds of reactions.

In some parts of the country, protests in the name of "nationalism" took place, while in certain places, protests were deliberately turned against Kashmiri students, businessmen and employees.

“Death of civilian, soldier or militant is not a communal issue but a human tragedy. We should look at it like that only. Attacking colours to death only results in more deaths,” Raheela, a bank employee, told DH.

While expressing serious concern over the rising incidents of attacks on Kashmiris outside the state, she said, “Charred bodies of CRPF men and the grief of their families can give sleepless nights to everybody. However, the aftermath of the tragedy intensifies the quagmire we are already in. We are busy polarising the society which is most unfortunate.”

she asked the government to stop repressive measures against the common people in Kashmir.