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Why the killer of Kashmiriyat remains an unidentified gunman

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Aabid Rehman Pala
Aabid Rehman PalaJun 21, 2018 | 19:35

Why the killer of Kashmiriyat remains an unidentified gunman

The real legacy of a nation is not its riches, but its people. Sadly, the Kashmiri lives never mattered much. It has always been about Kashmir (who rules it), not Kashmiris.  

The conflict-hit state has seen many Kashmiris, including prominent leaders and intellectuals, falling prey to guns and the gunmen.

The assassination of Syed Shujaat Bukhari is not the first incident of this kind. From Mirwaiz Molvi Farooq to Abdul Ghani Lone and from Molvi Showkat to Mirwaiz Qazi Nisar, Kashmir has witnessed it all. And every time, the assailant is an unknown gunman — a faceless man.

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He comes in broad daylight in high security areas amid strict CCTV vigil and guns down one after another, and people watch him escape and disappear over the horizons until his next kill.

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Front pages, the day after. [Photo: Screengrabs]

What happens next is a probe ordered by the authorities that never reaches its conclusion. The common man hardly gives a hoot about the stances taken on the unfortunate incidents and the so-called probes. He knows on what grounds was the assassination made. If the deceased happened to be a pro-Indian and anti-freedom element, then the killer was a militant or a Pakistani agent. Similarly, if the deceased happened to be pro-Pakistan and a freedom sympathiser, the killer is never an alien. And sometimes for political gains, things happen the other way around as well. That is what conflict and insurgency is all about. It is synonymous to confusion, insecurity and unpredictability.

The question here is not who killed whom and why, but the reason why such killings haven't stopped? Why were there enough gaps left for the unfortunate incident to occur? You can't always pretend to be a mute to blurt out the reason behind it, especially when you see a peacenik like Bukhari being murdered in cold blood.

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You can't watch like a mute spectator when you seen a man of such potential being silenced by a volley of bullets. No matter how susceptible you are, you would never hesitate to point fingers at the conflict in which Kashmir is wallowing for decades. Because if you bring together all the murderers and make them stand in a same line, they will only coincide at the point of conflict. It is the sole reason behind every atrocity happening across in the strife-torn Valley. The blame game is merely a political drama, nothing else.

Living in strife and turmoil gives one a kind of experience to recognise who is friend and who is an enemy. People are now mature enough to unveil the one behind the mask holding the gun with vicious intentions.

It's no one, but the conflict which sometimes take the shape of an Indian agent and sometimes of a Pakistani. The two keep reaping their fruits with Kashmir starving, and at the receiving end. In other words, they fight their gory war in Kashmir where nobody else but the Kashmiris suffer.

The benefit or loss of one country is always the loss of Kashmir, which remains stuck in between with no one willing to cut the Gordian knot.

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Following such assassinations, condemnation and probe ordered by the authorities mean nothing, and instead feel like salt rubbed on fresh wounds.

A fully conscious Kashmir always knew that such measures (read hogwash) was going to yield nothing. It is nothing but mockery of justice and political show-off. When justice was not done to a teenage boy who was shot dead at point-blank range by the men in uniform, or to a young man mowed down by their vehicle, how could you expect justice for someone whose killer is not known?

How could probing in the dark lead to justice?

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The face of conflict. [Credit: Reuters photo for representational purpose]

What happened to the probe into the double rape murder case of two young women in Kashmir's Shopian district.

To blame one any state agency or the militants is futile. It seems peace in Kashmir is an impossible dream and such incidents would continue to happen.

The Kashmiri would continue to seethe in anger and the ones at the helm would continue to condemn and order probe while nothing will change at the ground level.

The attack on Bukhari gives us an idea of how grim the situation is in the war-torn Valley. Be it the killing of an armyman Aurangzeb, or a militant in the frontiers district of Kashmir. Be it the assassination of a senior journalist in the heart of Srinagar, or of a common man anywhere in the Valley. It is only Kashmir's loss — a threat to Kashmiriyat. This makes one more thing clear — that you don't always need to be a militant or an Army personal to get killed, the identity of being a Kashmiri is enough.

As the wave of mourning keeps ambling from house to house each mourner is silently waiting for his turn.

The assassination of Bukhari on the eve of Eid was more than just unfortunate. The pouring of condemnation from across the world points towards the capabilities he possessed. He was one of the moderate voices representing Kashmir at the international level. Concerned about the cultural degradation of the Valley, he had started a newspaper in Kashmiri, Sangermal.

In him, Kashmir has lost not only an intellectual, but a precious jewel — a friend, philosopher and guide in the real sense. He was the epitome of courage and bravery.

From Lal Chowk to London, his voice for peace in Kashmir will keep reverberating. Rest in peace, brave son of Kashmir!

Last updated: June 21, 2018 | 19:35
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