Heartwrenching cowardly attack

The terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir has shaken the heart of the country. The incident of shooting 28 innocent tourists after asking them about their religion and confirming that they were Hindus is not something that can be ignored. The terrorists will not be shaken by anything other than a retaliation that eliminates the lairs of those who planned and implemented this attack. There is no justification for this incident. India has not given a cross-border retaliation to any terrorist attack except Pulwama. While the terrorists targeted CRPF soldiers in Pulwama, they mercilessly killed ordinary people who had come for a vacation in the attack in Pahalgam. This is an act that can never be forgiven. Creating communal tension in India by hunting down and killing only Hindus should also be considered one of the goals of the terrorists.

It cannot be considered a coincidence that the terrorist attack was carried out during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia. The terrorists must have had an agenda of not allowing Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia to be completed. And they succeeded in that. Beyond that, it must be assumed that their main goal is to bring India into a direct confrontation with Pakistan. The possibility that this attack, at the very least, is to create a situation that will tempt the Indian Army to make a move to cross into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and through that there will be an outcry against India in the international arena, cannot be rejected. All the leaders of major world countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, have condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. They have all described this terrorist attack as a heinous act that demands a befitting response.

28 people, including a Malayali, lost their lives in the massacre carried out by four terrorists dressed in military uniforms in Baisaran in Pahalgam, Anantnag. The men, who had come to celebrate a holiday with their families, were shot dead in front of their own family members. Ramachandran, a native of Kochi, was killed in front of his daughter Arathy, who was with him. The slain Kochi Navy officer, Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, a native of Haryana, had not even completed a week of his marriage. More than twenty people were injured in the terrorist attack. The death toll is likely to rise further as some of them are in critical condition.

Baisaran is an area that can be reached only on foot or on horseback. The terrorists chose this place to carry out the massacre, taking advantage of the possibility that the armed forces would not be able to reach here immediately if they carried out an attack here. It is also said that one of the four terrorists was a local. The attack could not have been organized so precisely without the help of the locals. Whether they had arrived at the place days before the attack, etc., will have to be revealed in the ongoing investigation.

The Resistance Front, an affiliate of the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The possibility of them getting help from the Pakistani spy agency ISI cannot be ruled out. The NIA has taken over the investigation. In this era of modern technology, no one can do anything without leaving any evidence. Therefore, there is no doubt that in the coming days, the picture of those who carried out the terrorist attack, those who planned it and those in India and Pakistan who helped will become clear.

Terrorists usually attack the military groups and camps in Jammu and Kashmir. The tourists were targeted this time with the intention of putting a sudden brake on the tourism business in Jammu and Kashmir, which is progressing at a rapid pace. The foundation of the terrorists will also wash away when the tourism sector progresses in this way and Jammu and Kashmir achieve huge economic development and its indirect and direct benefits are received by the people there. Therefore, stopping the growth of the tourism sector by any means is a need for the survival of the terrorists. The total number of tourists who came to see Kashmir in 2023 alone is about 2 crore 11 lakh. On average, between one million and two million tourists visit every month. Families even from the villages of Kerala go to see Kashmir. The attraction of Kashmir is that one can enjoy the natural beauty that beats foreign countries at a low cost. The influx of tourists to Kashmir started after the revocation of the special status of Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution in 2019 and the restoration of democratic rule there. Elections were held peacefully in Kashmir last year. Many major development projects are being completed in Kashmir with huge financial assistance from the central government. If Kashmir develops in this way, even the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will demand to join Kashmir. This planned terrorist attack was to prevent all this from happening.

The extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, one of the main planners of the Mumbai terror attacks, from the United States to India for trial, and the information coming out through him, will expose Pakistan's hypocrisy in the international arena. At the same time, Pakistan suspects that those who hijacked trains in Balochistan and carried out terrorist attacks received Indian assistance. Diplomatic experts point out that such a dreadful attack was carried out in Kashmir as a response to all this.

Prime Minister Modi has responded that those who carried out the terrorist attack will not be spared. He gave a similar response when the Pulwama attack took place. There were reports that eyewitnesses said that one of the terrorists said, "Go and tell Modi." The Prime Minister has convened a high-level meeting of the National Security Council in Delhi. An attack reminiscent of Hamas's Israeli attack in response to the Gaza war has taken place in Kashmir. Therefore, it will not be surprising if India decides to teach a lesson to those who have wounded the country. All measures, including high compensation, that can provide relief to the families of those killed in the terrorist attack should be taken by the central government.