Stop Innocent Killings in Kashmir

It is after two months when two carpenters were shot dead in Srinagar by terrorists to create the fear psychosis among the non –locals who work in Kashmir to earn their livelihood that another gruesome incident of targeting non locals has taken place. A non-local driver was shot at by the terrorists in Heerpora village of the South Kashmir district Shopian. Terrorists barged into the resort and targeted the driver and the guide. He had brought two foreign tourists to visit Kashmir. Driver has been seriously injured and has been shifted to hospital. Injured has been identified as Ranjit Singh a native of Dehradun in Uttrakhand. He was staying with the tourists at a resort on the Mughal Road. It is at a distance of 3 kilometre from Shopian. This incident raises many questions as far as the security of the tourists visiting Kashmir is concerned. It will harm the tourism business and create fear psychosis. By targeting the people who are involved in tourism business terrorists are not only disturbing the peace in the valley but also subjecting the people dependent on tourism to desperation. This will end in creating negative word of mouth about Kashmir and will stop tourists visiting Kashmir. This is a calculative move to kill two birds with one stone by the terror networks operating in Kashmir. One, they want to send a signal to non-local people to stay away from Kashmir. Two, they want to disturb the Lok Sabha Elections. Recent infiltration bids on the borders should be seen in connectivity with this targeting of the non locals.The message is clear that terrorists will not shy away from targeting the innocent people in Kashmir. This will end up creating a negative impression about Kashmiris. Thus leading to devastation of economic prosperity that Kashmir is witnessing from 2014 due to the encouragement of entrepreneurship and other business ventures by the Modi Government for the Kashmiris. It is the responsibility of the civil society in Kashmir to assert and exert its influence so that a sense of security is infused among the non-locals who are facilitating the business and other economic activities. Otherwise it will lead to the worst economic regression that Kashmir has witnessed in the aftermath of the escalation of terrorism. Youth of Kashmir must be given a chance to evolve at par with their counterparts in rest of India and that is possible only when there is smooth business interaction with Kashmiris and the rest of India. So that Kashmir can witness the benefits of the economic multiplier effect. Security agencies will have to keep added vigil not only on the borders but within the valley where sleeper cells act as the launching pads for the terrorists. These subversives leak information and make innocent people vulnerable. This has to stop. It can be materialised only when there is a complete coordination among the intelligence agencies and the security forces. These targeted killings have to be pre-empted. These continued targeted killings will have an adverse impact on the security of the minorities. It will stall the return and rehabilitation of the internally displaced Kashmiri Pandit refugees. The continuous efforts of the Central Government to encourage the return of the Kashmiri Pandits will be hit by these terror activities. As such the policy makers will have to analyse the situation in totality. If these targeted killings of innocent people are not stopped then it will surely have a devastating effect on the ground gained in Kashmir in the previous years. Targeted killings of innocents must be condemned by one and all. Kashmir wants peace and economic prosperity. Killing of innocents has no place in a progressive society.