The Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam in Kashmir is known as the Switzerland of India. The popular tourist destination can be accessed only by foot or by pony. Every year, thousands of tourists descend upon the Baisaran valley to enjoy its lush meadows and snowclad mountain scenery. April 22 was another bustling day in Baisaran with hundreds of tourists reaching the valley led by local Kashmiri guides and pony riders. However, within minutes, a bunch of terrorists turned the site into a tale of blood-soaked horror.
Terrorists attacked unsuspecting tourists, killing 26 Indians (including a Nepali citizen), and seriously injuring over 20 others. The attack sent shockwaves across India. As news spread, there was unprecedented outrage and condemnation. Within no time, it was announced that the Resistance Front (TRF), a group linked to Pakistan sponsored Lashkar-e-Taiba had claimed responsibility. However, the TRF retracted from committing the attack adding to the confusion about the actual perpetrators.
The Indian media and the Government of India immediately accused Pakistan of masterminding the attack with local Kashmiri support. The government announced a host of measures against Pakistan, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, closure of Attari-Wagah Border, expulsion of Pakistani diplomats, cancellation of visas for Pakistani nationals, massive anti-terror search and cordon operations Kashmir and granting the Indian Armed Forces complete operational freedom to decide the timing, targets, and mode of retaliation against Pakistan.
It is important to ask the right questions after any major incident that could potentially involve war and the security of more than a billion people. This aids in accountability and transparency. It compels the government to justify its decisions and sync them with public interests. This process of questioning those in power forms the backbone of a democracy and its absence leads to an erosion of public trust and the development of authoritarian tendencies.
Questions over Kashmir Policy
One of the few critical voices after Pahalgam was that of senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai. In a hard-hitting article “The message of Pahalgam: ‘Normalcy’ and cross-border terror cannot co-exist” for India Today, Rajdeep asked a host of uncomfortable questions to the government. Starting each question with the words “How is it normal”, the popular TV anchor asked:
(1) How is it ‘normal’ when India’s only Muslim-majority state is split and downsized into a union territory by an overnight legislative firman?
(2) How is it ‘normal’ when three former chief ministers are detained and placed under house arrest?
(3) How is it ‘normal’ when thousands of Kashmiris are arrested under draconian preventive detention laws and packed off into prison?
(4) “How is it ‘normal’ when schools remain shut for months and internet shutdowns are routine?
(5) “How is it ‘normal’ when thousands of security troops are swarming across every nook and corner of the Valley, their overwhelming presence a constant reminder of how the Indian state could not afford to take any risks on the ground?”
(6) How is it ‘normal’ when Kashmiri Hindu families still can’t return to their ancestral homes?
(7) How is it ‘normal’ when young men still seek solace in the gun amidst persistently high unemployment and a growing drug menace?
Most importantly, Rajdeep nailed it when he questioned the official narrative of equating tourism with normalcy and wrote, “Normalcy’ also means the absence of fear, zero terror and the inability of terrorists to strike at will.”
Questions over the Security Lapse
Shital from Surat, Gujarat is the widow of SBI Manager, Shailesh Kalathiya, one of the 26 innocent civilians killed by terrorists in Pahalgam. Her anguish and courageous questions over the Baisaran massacre stunned the nation to silence and forced many to ponder over the issues that our godi-media refused to take up.
Speaking truth to power, Shital expressed her agony before Union Jal Shakti Minister and Gujarat BJP Chief CR Patil, local MP Mukesh Dalal, and minister of state for home Harsh Sanghavi, saying, “The govt deducts taxes from our salaries even before we receive them. We pay taxes while shopping, and we pay tolls to use roads. VIPs enjoy every facility, including security convoys and even helicopters. But when my husband needed protection, he got none. It seems only your (politicians’) life is life, and common people’s lives are ordinary. The attackers even separated tourists based on religion before opening fire. The men who were Hindus were separated and shot by the terrorists. What kind of govt is this, which cannot protect its own citizens? All politicians, officials, and security forces came only after the incident, for photo ops. No one was there when my husband needed help. We thought that Kashmir was the safest place, looking at the big number of military present there. But we were wrong. I want the govt to safeguard the futures of all those who lost their loved ones.”
The right to ask right questions
Given the climate of sorrow and revenge in the country, post-Pahalgam, it was not surprising to find a well-known critic of the government like Yogendra Yadav saying, “This is not the time for political allegations and counter-allegations. This is not the time to demand accountability or resignation from anyone.” As expected, the tone and tenor of the mainstream media in India that has all but become the spokesperson the government, is, “The nation is under attack, and our armed forces have been given a free hand to retaliate. Those questioning the government’s security measures are playing into the hands of our enemies, let’s trust our leaders and crush terrorism together!”
However, in this age of absolute acquiescence to the official version of events, it would be prudent to remind ourselves of what Ravish Kumar said in his book – The Free Voice, ““News channels have worked tirelessly to kill India’s democratic ideals, with the result that vast numbers of the Indian people follow channels that ask no questions of the government. These channels have trained their viewers to watch only a particular kind of TV where nothing is demanded of them, except a willing and complete suspension of belief. And absolute amorality. Elected representatives can garland killers, ministers can lie, news anchors can read out government press releases as news. It bothers no one enough.” It is time to follow what George Orwell said – ““In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”