People on the other side of the Valley arrived in the streets to express their pain and indignation for the attack of April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 tourists | Photo credit: Getty images
Srinagar
“Tourist Hamari Jaan Hai(Tourists are our life) and “Yeh Hangama Nahi Hai” Yeh Matam Sahi Hai“(This is not a show, this is a genuine duel” is the slogan that resonated in the streets of Kashmir a day after Pahalgam’s terrorist attack.
Unlike the last three decades, when there was or with silent murmurs, the streets are classified with challenge and a unified condemnation.
For the second consecutive day on Thursday, people from all over the valley are poured into the streets to express their pain and indignation for the attack of April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 tourists
From the summer capital Srinagar to the smallest municipalities, people with black headbands hit streets and bazaars to protest the terrorist attack.
“We want to send a strong and clear message to the outside world that violence in any way is not acceptable to the cunemirs. It is against Kashmir and Cashmere,“Bashir Ahmad said, a manifesto in Lal Chowk from Srinagar.
In the cities of southern Kashmiro such as pulwama and shopian, once known as critical militancy points, people from different areas of life to the streets and protested against the attack.
“There is no place for such a bloodshed in any civilized society. Kashmir meets the victim’s families,” said Mohammad Ashraf Wani, president of Fruit Mandi Shopian, who together with dozens of fruit producers and merchants organized a protest on Thursday.
Unprecedented protest
For the first time in 35 years of militancy, the Valley saw unprecedented protests and closing calls of religious and main political leaders, which signed a rare outrage and unity against the horrible terrorist attack.
On Wednesday, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq led Mutahida Majlis-E-Uula (MMU), a conglomerate or several religious groups, asked the strike. Former main ministers Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti also issued calls for Kashmir Bandh against tourist murders. The effective strike closed life in the valley, stopping commercial perspiration and leaving the deserted streets. Althegh Life returned to normal on Thursday, protests against the attack persisted.
Professor Noor Ahmad Baba, a political analyst based in Srinagar, believes that a relative calm in the Valley stimulated people to express their outrage publicly.
“People never approved the murder of innocent people. Previously, people were trapped between weapons, so they could not express their outrage publicly,” he said.
Baba also said that, in recent years, tourism saw a revival and people developed stakes in business related to tourism and in such a situation kill a large number of tourists created waves and surprising people.
Protests for lives, no business
“We are not worried about economic losses at this time. This is not the time to talk about business. We are mourning for the loss of precious human lives. This tragic incident should never have happened,” said Javed Ahmad has, president of Cookmira Chamamber.
Posted on April 24, 2025