The calm in and around Kashmir stands disturbed in the most horrible way. Although Kashmir has been through difficult times for past three decades, but an occasional spurt in violence pushes it into crises further deep. This is what we are witnessing for past some days. A run down of what happened and what immediately followed is not needed as all of us know it well. Not just the people in Kashmir, in India, and in the region, but globally the ripples reached everywhere. In this hour of momentous crisis what is the right way to approach the things. This question hits us like a ton of bricks. Those living in Kashmir and outside have one responsibility to hold in this moment of tumult; and that is to not allow the situation skid further out of control. For all the political parties, all civil society formations, the government institutions, and any individual or collective forms, that hold any kind of influence on people, it’s time to work for calm. The way we have seen tensions brewing up, and the way it all has unfolded in parts of Kashmir and outside the state sends some dangerous signals to all saner elements living in India. The way a violent and hateful atmosphere is building up, if it’s not contained, can spill into a dangerous situation that would only spell doom. God forbid, if the elements that are always on a look out for such an opportunity to serve their vested interest, succeed in creating deeper divisions among people, it would result in a long term damage to the socio-political fabric of this region. One can only hope and pray that leadership at the highest level disallow the situation from deteriorating. To this end it is crucial to actively exercise influence for maintaining calm and discouraging people from taking law into their hands. At the level of government it is extremely important that the administration is asked to keep a vigil on such elements and work harder than usual to stop the situation from going into any violent direction.
Moment of responsibility
