The recent spurt in violence in the Valley doesn’t bode well for any party concerned

The last one month has seen a sudden, seemingly inexplicable, spurt in violence in the Kashmir Valley. The Government of India had in recent months become confident that the situation there was peaceful and “under control”. However, over two dozen people have become targets of terrorists in a short span of time. They belong to all communities, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, even an immigrant from Bihar. There is a discernible pattern to this violence. There are no high-profile victims; the dead were easy, soft pickings. They are teachers or pharmacists or street vendors. They were all killed from close range. That magnified the fear. The killing of two teachers in a Government school in Srinagar’s Eidgah area looked selective because the terrorists checked the identity cards of teachers and chose two victims who happened to be a Hindu and a Sikh. If that raised fears about only minorities in the Valley being targeted, a Mohammad Shafi Lone, among other Muslims, was also shot down. It is claimed that a terrorist group, named The Resistance Front, is behind the attacks and that it is a front for Pakistan-based terror organisations. The point is, the message is as important as the messenger. The attacks, when they happened, had two things in common. The chosen targets came as a surprise, and the killers remained anonymous. The violence appears to have two ends. Show the presence of terrorists, and instil fear among the people. It is like the killing of Srinagar-based Shujat Bukhari that sent a message to the media personnel that they could be targeted anytime.

In terms of strategy, anyone can be a target and anywhere, any time. What is unclear is who is behind the violence, but what is clear is that across the board, in Kashmir, the people are upset about it. There is no public backing to the spate of violence at all. That is the biggest silver lining for the Government to hold on to as it seeks to address the issue. The people have enough reasons to be frustrated, but that has not made them shed civility and human decency. Preventing such attacks is a security nightmare. Whom will the forces protect, where, and against whom and till when? Anybody can become the target; it is impossible to provide personal security to every citizen. Rightly or wrongly, the people of Kashmir were led to believe that the abrogation of Article 370 and the division of the State of Jammu and Kashmir went against the spirit of “Kashmiriyat”. Two years down the line, during which the intense presence of security agencies clamped down on violence and disturbances, there are only two objectives to achieve. Stop the violence, however difficult a task it is, and confront foreign and non-state actors. Simultaneously, take the revival of the political process to its logical conclusion by holding elections at the earliest. Let the people find their feet again amid the welcome din of democracy.