A Farcical Performance of Sympathy

When 26 tourists were killed on April 22 in the Baisaran Valley, Pahalgam, Kashmir, a photograph of a newlywed—and newly-widowed—woman sitting on the ground beside her slain husband was circulated widely.

- SHARANYA MANIVANNAN @SHE_OF_THE_SEA

When 26 tourists were killed on April 22 in the Baisaran Valley, Pahalgam, Kashmir, a photograph of a newlywed—and newly-widowed—woman sitting on the ground beside her slain husband was circulated widely. The image was even run through the AI Studio Ghibli filter by official online handles of the BJP. The deceased was Navy officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, and he was on honeymoon with Himanshi Narwal. Himanshi Narwal was initially held up by many as a symbol of collective grief over an unprovoked attack on civilians.

But once Narwal stepped out of the frame of that picture onto which so much had been projected, and emerged as a real person with reasonable opinions, she was vilified. While expressing the desire for justice and for prayers for her late husband, she told the press: "I see hatred growing, directed at Muslims and Kashmiris. We do not want this. We only wish for peace—nothing else."