It was when the clock struck 3:10 on that unfortunate and wretched afternoon of 14th February in Pulwama when a suicide bomber rammed into a CRPF convoy on a south Kashmir highway resulting in the untimely death of 44 CRPF soldiers. As the ripples of this news spread around the entire nation a strong gale of anger, tears, and disbelief clouded over us. The nation wept with the families of the fallen soldiers, we stood with fear, and we stood with a vengeance in our eyes. An attack that should have brought us all together, in totality drifted us away from each other, and it was almost as if a sudden jolt broke this democracy into two; those who wanted to avenge the death of these soldiers, and those that spoke in a language of warmongering and advocated for the isolation of Kashmir and its people. The attack might have originated from foreign soil but it was those within that inflicted the wounds.

Over a week has passed since the attack, and although the anger remains it is time we start asking a question about the failure that cost us those brave soldiers. The suicide bomber Adil Dar was a local south Kashmiri boy who joined the terrorist outfit sometime back. This was the first suicide bombing attack in Kashmir, which has now become the worst terrorist attack in the valley. So what caused a local youngster to give up his life? What was the anger that is smoldering within him and a thousand other local kids that they cared little about their own lives and inflicting pain on our security forces become their only aspiration? I am aware of the complexity of these question and the controversies around them, and many of the readers might disagree with my viewpoint, but that is your prerogative, and to tell you mine is my prerogative. The most complex of questions seldom have the most simpleton answers; thus I shall attempt to be as elementary as possible.

The fire that sparked this attack was lit hundreds of miles away unknowingly in the small town of Alwar in Rajasthan in 2017 when a cattle trader named Pehlu Khan was lynched by a Hindu rightwing organization for allegedly transporting cattle’s for slaughtering. The truth; however, was different. Khan was a dairy farmer from Haryana who was bringing these cows to his village to help him increase his milk supply, but the jury on the road that day decided otherwise, and Pehlu khan was lynched on the open expanses of a highway. The authorities remained mum; the government did little and implicitly sided with the suspects. In the coming two years more than 10 Muslim farmers were killed on suspicion of eating and selling beef. It was an all-out war where the government played a silent spectator. This incident shifted the focus of this nation from development, from economy to Hindu vs Muslim and after 70 years of independence, the debate in this nation was back to what it was in 1947. Polarisation sounds like a phenomena that exist in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, but it is a reality in the so-called “modern” cities like Gurgaon. I have personally heard MNC employs that wear ironed suits and gleaming shoes openly defending these inhuman acts of lynching. With that came the palpable fear for and in the Muslim community in this nation, and surety of safety from the government seemed like a farfetched dream. Majority of the country spoke in one voice and the voice reverberated, “Go back to Pakistan”.

From the murders of small farmers the attack advanced to college students hailing from Jammu and Kashmir. Universities like those in Aligarh, Chittorgarh, Lucknow, and even Uttrakhand saw violence against Kashmiri students, simply because the narrative was that it was terrorist sympathizers and sometimes even terrorists themselves who were coming from the valley, and these self-proclaimed patriotic citizens took it upon themselves to teach these students a “lesson”. The story behind the curtains for these Kashmiri students is a little different. Kashmir has a GDP per capita of $1200 USD and it in number 24th on this list, along with this the literacy rate of a mere 62%. So when a kid from a village in the valley fights against all odds and comes to the big city for education or job the entire village is behind him or her, and they take pride in the youngster as if it is their own child; however when these students are beaten up just because they belong to Kashmir, the blood will obviously boil back in the village. We have failed to understand the people of Kashmir for far too long we haven’t treated them like humans. Brute force cannot be our only policy to deal with the slipping valley. we need to do more and be sure of what we do, our approach cannot be like a chameleon; changing with changing situation, because this further leads to uncertainty and confusion in Jammu and Kashmir.

The apparent warmongering that is taking place in the country is helping no one, it is worsening the situation. We need to remember our fight is not against people of the same religion, it is against those who use religion as an excuse to slaughter people, who use religion to spread fear. Saying polarising comments does not help our security forces. Marching to India gate with candles after every terrorist attack does not help anyone, and shedding tears for a week and forgetting about the 44 martyrs is redundant. Ask yourselves what are you doing for the security forces when there isn’t a terrorist attack, what are you doing for them when the news of their death does not take over your TV screens. There are more than 50 cases pending where the widows of soldiers haven’t received compensation or the scholarship that the kids receive after their father lays down his life for the nation. Why are you silent then? Where is your love for this nation when the suffering suffer more?

Support the forces at all times, help Kashmiri students when they need it, don’t discriminate against them. Do your part in this fight. Help build the nation, became the voice of the isolated, advocate for the ones that keep you safe, otherwise accept the consequences of this losing war.

Jai Hind!

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