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print versionPeople’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS)
12 July 2017
Press Release
People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism condemns the killing of Amarnath pilgrims near Anantnag in Kashmir valley. This heinous crime has come at especially sensitive time for Kashmir and the rest of India. There is a real danger that in the aftermath of this attack both Kashmir and the rest of India get sucked into a vicious cycle of violence against innocent citizens.
A number of Indians have been lynched by mobs recently. it is essential that the state authorities in the rest of India do not allow communal elements to use this incidence to attack minorities and Kashmiris living in different parts of the country. There are still a number of pilgrims, migrant workers and tourists in Kashmir. It is necessary that they receive no harm. The small number of Pandit famiiies still living in the valley are especially vulnerable to sectarian violence. They must be provided special protection. Indian state must ensure that security forces in Kashmir do not use this incident to target ordinary Kashmiris.
For some time now both Kashmir and the rest of India are passing through a phase of heightened public violence. Much of this violence is politically motivated and perpetrated by forces which believe that terror against unarmed civilians is justified and will go unpunished. P.A.D.S. appeals to the public to be vigilant and defeat nefarious designs of all communal forces.
