The brutal attack carried out by suspected militants on Amarnath yatris on Monday in Kashmir's Anantnag district is going to change the rules of engagement between the security forces, the militants and sympathisers of new age militancy in the Valley.
The dastardly attack, which left seven people dead — six of them women — and more than dozen injured, was carried out by militants in pitch dark. The pilgrims were sleeping inside a vehicle parked on the national highway in the Botengoo area of Anantnag after their car was punctured.
The attack seems to be a reaction to a sustained counterinsurgency campaign launched by security forces against militants in recent weeks during which more than two dozen militants have been killed.
A massive crackdown against militants and militancy sympathisers in the coming days is likely to follow after the attack as pressure builds on the security apparatus to deliver justice to the perpetrators of the act.
The attack is going to have far reaching implications not just on Kashmiris living in the Valley, but outside too. For more than two decades, the culture ethos of Kashmiris was already stained with the forced migration of Kashmiri pandits in early 1990s. This attacks is likely to further deepen the already widening divide between Kashmir and Jammu as it will pit a Hindu majority Jammu against the Muslim majority Kashmir. Traders in Jammu have already called for a strike on Tuesday.
That is the reason why Kashmiri across the political, religious and ideological spectrum have condemned the attack. There is a wave of anger and shock over the deaths of the innocent pilgrims.
The attack has come weeks after Zakir Moosa, a former Hizbul Mujahideen commander, started talking about establishing an Islamic caliphate in Kashmir. Although the investigation in the case is at the primary stage, it is already seen as an attack on Hindu Indians by Muslims of Kashmir. This is exactly the reason why majority of the people in the Valley had all along been in favour of separating religion from the political movement in the Valley.
Hardly any militant group will take responsibility for the attack as an attack on Amarnath pilgrims is already seen as an attack on thousands of Kashmiris, who have been associated with this annual pilgrimage for decades. The Amarnath shrine the very symbol of Kashmiri culture.
Senior army officers in south Kashmir say they had still been taking precautions while dealing with civilian population who throng encounter sites to give safe passage to militants but that is likely to change now. Kashmir is likely to witness another bloodshed this summer.
