PAHALGAM: Not long ago, a bandh in J&K would invariably mean a protest against the government orchestrated by a terrorist or separatist group. The page turned Wednesday, the morning after the horrors in Pahalgam, as the valley shut down to disown the perpetrators of what many termed “murder of Kashmiriyat” and an act that had heaped “shame” on Kashmiris.
Shops didn’t open, traffic was off the road, and schools and colleges remained closed amid protests resonating from south to north Kashmir against Tuesday’s terrorist attack on a throng of tourists at Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow.
In Srinagar, PDP chief and ex-CM Mehbooba Mufti led a protest against the killings at the historic Lal Chowk. She had given the strike call along with the separatist Hurriyat chief and J&K’s head cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
“We want to convey to the people of the country that we are with you in this hour of sadness. We are ashamed that it has happened in Kashmir,” Mehbooba said. “I want to apologise to the people of my country.”
Hundreds of civilians converged on Srinagar’s Batmaloo neighbourhood for another protest. “Humanity is ashamed over this attack. Kashmiris are ashamed,” an elderly protester shouted.
At Makka Market, protesters said the attackers had killed “Kashmir” and sullied Islam in targeting tourists who were in the valley to enjoy its famed hospitality. “There is mourning in the whole of Kashmir,” the market union’s president said. "Our guests have been killed. We hang our heads in shame,” another protester said.
South Kashmir’s Pulwama, Tral and Shopian and other areas were shut through the day. At Tral, residents of the area said what the terrorists did at Pahalgam was a crime against humanity.
In north Kashmir, a protester said what rankled the most is that the attackers carried out a heinous act in the name of religion and J&K. “Imagine the trauma of a child whose father was killed in front of him,” he said.
The J&K unit of BJP said the “strong and united response” to the killings from the public was a warning to the terrorists not to take people in the valley for granted.
BJP organised a protest march at Srinagar’s Jawahar Nagar, led by J&K party president Sat Sharma and other senior functionaries. Sharma said it was heartening to see the “entire valley rise as one against terrorism” for the first time.
Shops didn’t open, traffic was off the road, and schools and colleges remained closed amid protests resonating from south to north Kashmir against Tuesday’s terrorist attack on a throng of tourists at Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow.
In Srinagar, PDP chief and ex-CM Mehbooba Mufti led a protest against the killings at the historic Lal Chowk. She had given the strike call along with the separatist Hurriyat chief and J&K’s head cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
“We want to convey to the people of the country that we are with you in this hour of sadness. We are ashamed that it has happened in Kashmir,” Mehbooba said. “I want to apologise to the people of my country.”
Hundreds of civilians converged on Srinagar’s Batmaloo neighbourhood for another protest. “Humanity is ashamed over this attack. Kashmiris are ashamed,” an elderly protester shouted.
At Makka Market, protesters said the attackers had killed “Kashmir” and sullied Islam in targeting tourists who were in the valley to enjoy its famed hospitality. “There is mourning in the whole of Kashmir,” the market union’s president said. "Our guests have been killed. We hang our heads in shame,” another protester said.
South Kashmir’s Pulwama, Tral and Shopian and other areas were shut through the day. At Tral, residents of the area said what the terrorists did at Pahalgam was a crime against humanity.
In north Kashmir, a protester said what rankled the most is that the attackers carried out a heinous act in the name of religion and J&K. “Imagine the trauma of a child whose father was killed in front of him,” he said.
The J&K unit of BJP said the “strong and united response” to the killings from the public was a warning to the terrorists not to take people in the valley for granted.
BJP organised a protest march at Srinagar’s Jawahar Nagar, led by J&K party president Sat Sharma and other senior functionaries. Sharma said it was heartening to see the “entire valley rise as one against terrorism” for the first time.
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