The shock and horror of the Anantnag terror strike may also have brought in its wake a steely political resolve to turn back the clock in Kashmir
Srinagar has turned sombre. The July 10 attack on a bus ferrying pilgrims back from the Amarnath shrine in Anantnag ominously signals that the new breed of militants in the Valley are intent on pushing boundaries that have long been held sacred amidst Kashmir’s syncretic Sufi traditions.
Dangerously pushing the ‘threshold of tolerance’ in the Valley, the incident, coming in the wake of the lynching of a police officer in Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid mosque, the disfigurement of six policemen at Achabal and the cold blooded murder of a young army officer while on leave, raises concerns on the efficacy of New Delhi’s muscular Kashmir policy as well as the Mehbooba Mufti government’s capacity to deliver on the ground.
Seven pilgrims from Gujarat and Maharashtra, six of them women, were killed in what is the fourth major terror attack targeting the sacred Hindu pilgrimage since 2000, the year the Jammu & Kashmir government handed over administration of the pilgrimage to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, with the state governor as its chairman.
On August 1, 2000, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants used hand grenades and Kalash nikov rifles to kill 27 people, including devotees, porters and police personnel, at a yatra base camp in Pahalgam. Thirteen more people were killed in a grenade attack en route to the shrine, at Sheshnag, on July 20 the following year. And in a repeat of the attack in 2000, eight pilgrims were gunned down in their sleep at the camp at Nunwan on August 6, 2002.
This story is from the July 24, 2017 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 24, 2017 edition of India Today.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Silent Revolution
A Growing Force, The Woman Elector In India Is Realising The Power Of Her Vote And Using It To ***direct Her Own And The Nation's Destiny
The Forbidding Fruit
The disturbed snow cycle, the price of imported urea, cheaper imports from the South Asian neighbourhood-the whole world, it would appear, has been conspiring against the apple farmers of Himachal Pradesh.
Chicken Soup for the Heart
Former veejay, actor and now travel influencer, Shenaz Treasury is out with a book based on past romances-All He Left Me Was a Recipe
CITY OF DREAMS
This anthology of stories about Mumbai is like the city itself-crowded and chaotic, but ultimately illuminating
Diverse Vignettes
Edited by Arunava Sinha, The Penguin Book of Bengali Short Stories is a landmark new anthology which includes several previously untranslated works
A BREATH OF FRESH PERSPECTIVE
Ganesh V. Shivaswamy brings a sharp and balanced approach to his three volumes on Raja Ravi Varma
Time Travel
An exhibition in Bengaluru is showcasing an unseen artwork by legendary artist Raja Ravi Varma
INDIA AT CANNES 2024
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival marks the first time in 30 years that India has a feature film in the Palme d'Or competition section. And there's lots more...
Cusp of Greatness
Shriya Pilgaonkar comes into her own as an intrepid reporter in Zee5's The Broken News
THE GREAT DISRUPTOR
Rapper SlowCheeta is trying to shake things up with his EP, Scene Mein Bawaal