Monitor News Bureau
Kashmiris in Jammu or elsewhere are under fire. The fallout of the Lethpora suicide bombing, in which 49 paramilitary troopers were killed, has made the people of the valley the main target of the right-wing violence. Incidents of arson and direct attacks on Kashmiris in the winter capital have turned the situation tense. The situation in other states, especially ones in northern India, where Kashmiris are studying or operating their businesses isn’t any better. Valleyites putting up in many states have been warned to vacate their rented accommodations by mobs, who have given ultimatums to the landlords asking them to throw out any Kashmiri tenant they have. Videos of the attacks, warnings and vandalisation are being shared online. Since Friday, Jammu is officially under curfew. However, even after that mobs on Saturday attacked a number of quarters belonging to Kashmiris, especially ones at Janipur area. A number of Kashmiris in Janipur said they were attacked by the frenzied mobs despite the presence of police. The mobs entered inside the premises and attacked quarters of Kashmiris while police, according to the callers, remained a mute spectator. Already on Friday, there was widespread violence in which mobs torched 30 vehicles and damaged over 50 of them during a strike called by the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries and Bar Association against the Thursday’s attack.
The anger that has exploded against Kashmiris has exposed the claims politicians have been time and again taking refuge in. One: The people of the valley need to be a part of ‘mainstream’ (whatever that means) and two: Kashmiris should chase their dreams in mainland India. How can they? The way the situation has unfolded after the deadly attack on Thursday reveals the vulnerability of the entire premise.
For now, the need of the hour is ensuring sanity and calmness prevails. The people in Jammu, at the majority of them, are not anti-Kashmir. They are simple, middle-class people who want to live and let live. However, at times they may be drawn out and flocked by miscreants looking to cash in on this opportunity of fomenting trouble for their own interests. Loss of lives, whosoevers’ and wherever they are lost is condemnable. Instead of falling into the trap of pitting one against another, the need to is avoid the situation getting out of control and avoiding fallouts that can snowball into major rioting or something even worse.
