It said killing unarmed civilians in a conflict is not a demonstration of militancy or revolutionary politics; it is an act of spreading terror at the cost of innocent, unarmed human lives
NEW DELHI — The Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) on Wednesday strongly condemned the brutal massacre of innocent civilians in South Kashmir’s Pahalgam and urged the government to engage in dialogue with all the stakeholders.
In a statement, the forum expressed deepest solidarity with the families of the victims and also the people of Jammu & Kashmir, both of whom have been subjected to unimaginable suffering and trauma through this latest dastardly attack on civilians.
It said killing unarmed civilians in a conflict is not a demonstration of militancy or revolutionary politics; it is an act of spreading terror at the cost of innocent, unarmed human lives. “Such actions only perpetuate a cycle of violence and suffering. There cannot be any defending of such brutal acts of state or non-state terror,” it said.
The forum warned that the inhuman killing of innocent civilians, particularly those targeted for their religious identity, plays into the hands of majoritarian right-wing forces.
“It makes it easier for Hindutva forces to portray all Kashmiri Muslims as violent terrorists, while in reality the local Kashmiri Muslim population was seen risking their own lives to save the lives of the guests, who got targeted,” it said.
It further underlined that “The brutal silencing of Kashmiri voices through incarceration, especially of youth, journalists, and human rights activists, is a stark reality that cannot be put under the carpet. This approach by the Indian government has further pushed the youth towards more extreme ideologies and influencers, making a peaceful resolution increasingly difficult.”
As John F. Kennedy aptly said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable,” the statement said.
“The terror attack, described as one of the deadliest targeting of civilians in recent years, has left the region in mourning and sparked outrage across the country, as reported by Kashmir Times. The mourning and protest shutdown call jointly issued by the Chamber of Commerce and Industries Kashmir (CCIK), Jammu and Kashmir Hoteliers Club (JKHC), All Travel Associations, transporters, restaurant owners, and civil society groups is a testament to the widespread condemnation of this attack,” the statement read.
The forum also said that opening Jammu & Kashmir for tourism, while quelling independent, critical, popular voices, is insensitive, provocative and is bound to backfire. It amounts to celebrating amidst the grief of others, inviting counter-violence and further destabilising the region. The attack has already had a chilling effect on the tourism industry, with many bookings being cancelled. This will lead to loss of livelihoods and income for the local population, already denied life with dignity and resources, it added.
The PIPFPD has consistently affirmed that Jammu & Kashmir is not a real estate tussle between India and Pakistan, that it involves the democratic aspirations of the people of the region foremost. Armed Indian and Pakistani repression on either side of Jammu & Kashmir needs to stop, and a dialogue made possible, also by strengthening the state and local governance. The Indian government ought to prioritise this, rather than expecting the military to solve an age-old political conflict.
The forum has also historically condemned violence against citizens and advocated for peaceful dialogue with the people of Jammu & Kashmir. While this is not a time for blame-calling, certain urgent and practical issues must be addressed.
It calls for an immediate cessation of violence, release of political prisoners, and initiation of a genuine dialogue process to address the grievances and aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir. “The PIPFPD reiterates that the conflict must be addressed with patience, systematically and practicably – not obfuscated, denied and repeatedly buried by the use of raw power,” the statement said.
