The incident at a village in Bandipora, North Kashmir, has shocked one and all. The details of this incident are so unsettling for a human heart that one doesn’t want to repeat it. It’s indescribably shameful. The hue and cry this incident was followed by, across the valley, is all understandable. After all if this kind of an ugly incident happens anywhere it is bound to cause tortuous pangs in the body fabric of the society.
Kashmir, as a society is more expected to singe over such ghastly incidents. Since this society is already under a number of painful burdens, such incidents stir up the depths of our already tortured souls. In this situation it becomes maddeningly difficult for an ordinary person to decide how to respond. So the spontaneous way to express this writhing pain is to raise voice and come to the streets. This is what the people did, and it is easily understandable, given the horror of this crime and the accumulated sense of despair prevalent in this society. After all this society is confronted with the memory of many incidents where it was finally found that the cases were dealt with in a lax manner.
This adds to the public outcry. Although we have seen in this incident that all the sections of society have expressed deep anguish, and it means that as a society there is life in us. Ours is not a dead society. Similarly the political forces in the state, across all divisions, have voiced their concern, and asked for a speedy dispensing of justice.
The apparatus of the governance, presently in place, have also expressed a willingness to punish the guilty. What is now needed is that justice is actually done, and done soon. Any delay in this would add to the public skepticism. So the onus is on the concerned agencies and people are keenly watching them. At the same time it is for us as a society to take a keener look into our interiors and find out what has gone wrong. Our community leaders need to come forward and guide people in weeding out the possibilities of any crime, not to speak of such an ugly and dark act.