Every terror attack carried out by Islamist militants emboldens the constituency of bigots and their divisive views. The carnage in Pahalgam, in which terrorists slaughtered several tourists after ascertaining their religious identity, has not been an exception. The narratives in the aftermath of the bloodshed, especially those peddled by social media handles with vested interests, have, expectedly, attempted to tarnish all Muslims as militants, endorsed war-mongering with India’s western neighbour, and even exhorted that terror has a faith — that of Islam. The communalisation of violence of all hues is by no means novel in New India. There are reports of Muslim migrant labourers from Murshidabad and Malda being assaulted in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh — both states have Bharatiya Janata Party governments at the helm — by vigilantes who accused them of being complicit in the riots in Bengal’s Murshidabad. This sectarian interpretation of bloodshed of all kinds has now been met by a potent, albeit symbolic, show of resistance from Kashmir. In a first in 35 years, the Valley observed a shutdown in protest against the killing of tourists in Pahalgam responding energetically to a call by Kashmir’s political parties, socio-religious organisations, trade bodies, and civil society groups. Consequently, normal life came to a halt, not just in Srinagar but in the headquarters in other districts as well.

One way of looking at this people’s defiance of militancy would be to attribute the protest to the anxiety of Kashmiris regarding the potential blow that state tourism and businesses are likely to suffer after the gruesome terror attack in Pahalgam. But that would be a cynical point of view, one that the Government of India should eschew. Instead, New Delhi must build on this show of solidarity expressed by the people of Kashmir so that the State can go on to dismantle the shadowy nexus between militancy and its patrons. A lesson that holds true for battle turfs against militancy around the world is that ordinary people hold the key to the outcome of such conflicts. Responding positively to the message sent out by the ordinary Kashmiri against militants would hand New Delhi such an advantage. This also means that the Narendra Modi government would have to crack down on mischievous efforts to fan the flames of communalism after Pahalgam. This will be a challenge given that the propagation of the sectarian point of view is critical to the BJP’s political dominance.