Kashmir shuts down after years, this time to protest Pahalgam terror attack

For the first time since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019, the Kashmir Valley observed a complete hartal (shutdown) with shops and educational institutions closed and traffic off the roads on Wednesday to protest the dastardly terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam that left at least 26 dead on Tuesday afternoon.

The tourist destination of Pahalgam resembled a ghost town with businesses downing their shutters and no vehicles plying. Srinagar, including the old city, wore a deserted look. “All markets were closed in the city’s business hub of Lal Chowk. This is the first time after years that such a hartal is being observed in Kashmir, particularly after the Narendra Modi-led Centre’s crackdown on Kashmiri separatists,” said Abdul Hameed, a local resident and streetfood seller.

The incident shocked the Valley and its tourism industry after the terrorists gunned down 26 visitors in the Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday.

Union home minister Amit Shah, who arrived in Srinagar on Tuesday night, lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha and chief minister Omar Abdullah paid their last respects to the slain tourists at the police control room in Srinagar.

Expressing shock and anguish against the despicable attack, the chief minister announced an ex gratia of ₹10 lakh each for the families of the deceased, ₹2 lakh for those seriously injured, and ₹1 lakh for those with minor injuries. “This barbaric and senseless act of brutality against innocent civilians has no place in our society. We condemn it in the strongest possible terms. We mourn the precious lives lost,” he said.

He said all arrangements for the dignified transport of the victims back to their homes have been made and the injured are being provided the best medical care. “Our hearts go out to the bereaved families. We share in your grief and stand by you in this dark hour. But terror will never break our resolve, and we will not rest until those behind this barbarity are brought to justice,” he said.

All major mainstream parties, including the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party, and Kashmir chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Mutahida Majlis Ulama called the strike against the killings. “Whoever kills an innocent soul, it is as if he has slain mankind entirely. Another day of carnage in the blood-soaked history of Kashmir when visiting tourists are mercilessly killed in the most gruesome manner. Such gruesomeness is abhorred in Islam. The Islamic fraternity of Jammu and Kashmir through the MMU in support and solidarity with the bereaved families of those killed appeal to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to peacefully protest this heinous crime by observing a shutdown,” Mirwaiz said.