Kashmir is back on the threshold of a bloody spring as the mindless killing spree at the hands of Indian occupation forces goes on unabated and there seems no end to the sufferings of Kashmiris. During the recent couple of weeks dozens of Kashmiri youth have fell to the bullets of occupation forces, which have launched a full-fledged war against the people of Kashmir. Particularly the southern districts of the valley including Shopian, Pulwama, Kulgam and Islamabad (Anantnag) are reeling under massive violence perpetrated by the Indian military and paramilitary forces deployed in every nook and cranny of the disputed territory. In the first week of this month (April) the people of the orchard town (Shopian) witnessed one of the worst massacres, in which more than 20 civilians were put to death by Indian forces on a single day, which will go down in the history as ‘Bloody Sunday’. As the people of area were still struggling to come to terms with the shocking incident the Indian troops in a fresh act of state-terrorism on Wednesday martyred three more Kashmiris including a teenage boy in Kulgam district. The youth were killed after the troops showered bullets and pellets on people who were protesting against cordon and search operation in Khudwani area of the district.
It is quite disheartening to see that this macabre game of bloodbath goes on without in any end in sight but an even more shocking is that this sorry state of affairs in Kashmir goes unnoticed and unheard at international level. Barring a few condemnation statements no concerted effort is being made to stop this ceaseless slaughter of youths in the troubled valley or to hold India accountable for its crimes. It is incomprehensible as to why the civilized world and so-called human rights defenders remain unmoved by the sufferings of Kashmiris. One fails to understand as how long will the world watch this gory death dance in the region like a bystander and how long this bloodshed in the valley will continue? But the fact is that Kashmiris are a peaceful nation; they want peace but peace with dignity and honour. India talks much of returning peace and normalcy in the state but the problem with the Indian state is that it wants peace of graveyard in Kashmir, the kind of peace when everyone who resists its illegal and forcible control over the territory is dead and buried. War is no solution to Kashmir issue, it is a bitter reality that India is trying to run away from but sooner or later the New Delhi will have to accept this ground reality that the genuine freedom movements could not be suppressed by the use of force, killing and maiming people and snatching their eyesight. India must bear in mind the fact that every bullet fired and every drop of blood shed on the streets of the valley further cements the resolve of subjugated but determined masses of Jammu and Kashmir. Dr. Martin Luther King has rightly said that the ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and suppression by the bad people but silence over that by the good people.
