Pahalgam: Amid 'Revenge' talk, many questions arise

“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist,” Indira Gandhi had famously said in 1982, in the context of the secret talks initiated by her government to try and resolve the impasse in the historically troubled region of Kashmir.

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The idea was “to give peace a chance” as P. Chidambaram and Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq attempted to tackle what was seen as a near impossible challenge of settling the Kashmir issue, once and for all. Didn’t happen. Hasn’t happened. But it can happen... and the time is now. The unspeakable tragedy that shook the country (and the watching world) on April 22, when 26 innocents were mercilessly gunned down by heavily-armed terrorists, will never be forgotten or forgiven. This is the lowest form of “warfare”, contemptible and abhorrent in the extreme. Men of honour don’t stoop to killing unarmed civilians, no matter what ideology or religion they follow.

The important story is just starting: how will India respond? Who can obliterate the tragic images of victims cold-bloodedly shot at point-blank range in the presence of horrified family members pleading with the monsters to spare the lives of loved ones. A tranquil meadow was converted into a blood-soaked battlefield as the cowardly killers retreated into the woods after shooting macabre videos of their targets.