By all accounts, the 26 people killed last week in a picturesque meadow in Pahalgam in Kashmir were selected for slaughter by the militants on the basis of their religion. We’ve read heart-rending testimony of how the families watched as the men, almost all Hindu, were shot from close range. These were unconscionable killings. We’ve also read how Kashmiri tourist guides and pony operators rescued many Indian tourists, at great risk to their own lives.
Whether this attack was carried out by Pakistani militants, local Kashmiris, or both, is immaterial to the families of the dead. Their lives are destroyed, along with the Indian state’s carefully constructed facade of normality in the region – a facade sustained by the tourism boom of recent years.
