'Kashmiris are Not Your Enemy'

Kashmir is not broken. It is resilient. It is humane. It is proud. And it will rise again

- Tanvir Sadiq

IT was a regular spring afternoon in Srinagar when the news from Pahalgam shook our souls. Ironically, that very day, a BJP MP was in the city, loudly celebrating the “return of tourists” as a marker of “normalcy.” As he spoke of packed gardens and bustling hotels, I sat restless and uneasy.

Just then, a journalist from a national channel walked into my office:

“We need your reaction.”

“On what?” I asked.

“Some tourists have been attacked... some are injured.”

At that moment, I couldn’t help but think, why is peace in Kashmir always reduced to tourist numbers? Why is our dignity, our collective yearning for normalcy, so narrowly measured by hotel bookings and garden footfalls? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand: when you keep shouting about peace in a land that still bleeds, you endanger the very people you celebrate. Our enemies, always watchful, see it as a challenge, and they strike.

And then, the unimaginable happened. The terror attack in Baisaran Valley on April 22, 2025, was unlike anything we have seen in recent years. In one brutal, senseless moment, 26 precious lives, most of them tourists, were lost. It wasn’t just an attack on individuals; it was an assault on our collective soul. The scenes were horrifying. They sent shivers down the spine of the nation. The country was angry. So were the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The hurt was personal. The pain was ours too.

Yet, amid the grief, something extraordinary unfolded. Without a call, without a slogan, without a leader’s command, Kashmiris spontaneously shut down. Shops closed, businesses fell silent, schools mourned. The entire Valley, from villages to towns, descended into a collective moment of sorrow.