Hope Amid Hatred

Perhaps, the liberals of the country should, for a change, stop viewing Kashmir from an ultra-nationalist lens and instead respond to the candle lit by Kashmiris in this darkness

- Anuradha Bhasin

WHEN terrorists opened fire and began to spray their bullets by singling out tourists on the basis of their religion in Kashmir's idyllic Baisaran meadow on April 22, chaos followed, with everyone desperately running away in a bid to save their lives.

However, 29-year-old Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a local pony operator who made his living guiding tourists, chose to confront the attackers instead of fleeing. Some reports suggest he questioned the gunmen about why they were killing innocent people and some pointed out that he even tried to snatch their rifles in an attempt to protect the tourists. In reaction, they snuffed his life out by pumping bullets into his body.

In a region long scarred by violence, Adil's final act of courage stands as a powerful reminder of humanity in the face of terror. But these are stories that the media dwarfs out. Multiple replays of eyewitness accounts talking about the men being targeted after asking them their identity and compelling them to recite Islamic verses—which they failed to do—are being amplified to create a unidimensional narrative and manufacture consent that all of Kashmir's Muslim majority is complicit in the killings.

All the tourists killed are reported to be Hindus and while it seems apparent that they were targeted for being so, this fact is being weaponised by the frenzied Hindu Right Wing to inject hatred, brand every Muslim—particularly brand every Muslim—particularly Kashmiri—as a terrorist, promote rabid calls for ‘revenge’ and emulate the Israeli model of military control. The target is not only Pakistan but all of Kashmir's population. By extension, this also adds to the vulnerability of the Indian Muslims who will be viewed with even more suspicion and derision after this incident.