Dr. Syed Mubin Zehra

Terrorists shot Kashmiri horse owner Syed Aadil Hussain Shah as he tried to save the tourists in the Pahalgam terrorist attack in which 26 persons died. The action of this brave Kashmiri man who was there serving tourists to eke out a living as the sole breadwinner of his family, is evidence enough that it’s not religion but the resistance against terror that the extremists fear the most.

I wonder what terrorists tried to convey and convince others through their gory act of killing peace-loving tourists by picking their names and checking their religion? Each tourist who was there out of love for Kashmir and had full faith that the system was taking care of his security and safety

Here, a person’s faith became the reason for his death. Thus in Pahalgam, a massacre has given a confirmed religiosity to extremism.

The world has seen the most extreme form of terrorism in the name of Islam all over and for so many years. This has given a bad name to the religion, which is depicted as and is, a religion of peace and for humanity.  What happened at Baisaran, Pahalgam?

Terrorists gunned down anyone who could not recite the Kalma, the most pious and the foundation of Islam. This way they attacked Islam and tried to portray that the terror has a confirmed religion. Extremism is not about any religion. It’s not about any faith. Extremism has nothing to do with Islam. All these and many such beliefs have been shattered and discarded with this terror attack in Pahalgam. There is no doubt that extremist religious philosophy in Pakistan is feeding terror and there is absolutely no doubt about it.

The image of a newlywed bride sitting like a shocked rock statue next to her groom who has been shot after killers knew his religion is evidence enough to believe that religious extremism has become the new religion of terror as exported by terror factories of our neighbour.

There should be no denial but an inner look and understanding of the religion. We must analyse how a religion that talks about compassion love, togetherness, and humanity has become a terror tool and a face of terror.

This takes me to an instance once when I asked an Islamic religious leader despite all the claims of Islamic scholars and responsible Muslim leaders, why is it that terror is associated with this religion only?

Today also, we should be asking the same question, not only to Islamic experts but to each Muslim. The Muslims must contemplate, ask, think, and work to prove these terror spreaders wrong. Why did the terrorists with guns in hand use religion as the pretext for their terror acts?

Why has Islamic fundamentalism become the torchbearer of terror and extremism?

The reaction of the local Kashmiri and Kashmiri population to this terror act was of mass condemnation. Announcements from the mosques against terrorism is a welcome step against terrorism.

It’s the first time that people in large numbers have come out on the streets against terrorism in Kashmir. They openly attacked Pakistan’s policy of sponsoring terrorism. However, the problem is the neighbourhood hotbed of terror schools.

There is a need to shun and bring the terror school culprits who masquerade as religious leaders and indoctrinate in the name of religion to kill terrorize and commit all un-Islamic acts in the name of Islam. I am moved by a WhatsApp post of one of my Kashmiri students who wrote that they (Terrorists) will never let us (Kashmiris) live in peace. This is the correct realization that is needed.

The common Kashmiris also have a role to play in changing the perceptions. They must overcome the fear and give confidence to the world that Kashmir is not a playground for terrorists. This can only happen when Kashmiris don’t look at this attack as an assault on their tourism and economy.

 The problem is bigger than the economy. It is an attack on their religion and their cultural identity, The Kashmiriyat. It’s high time that every Kashmiri rises against terrorism and extremism. There has to be a strong voice of nationalist identity in India and Kashmiris should stand with the defence forces and the entire India against the terrorists.

The terror attack at Pahalgam needs to be studied and introspected on paradigms of social philosophical religious and above all humanitarian specifics. There is an urgent need for inner looking and correctness by the Islamic experts whose voice is so sharp on waqf and triple talaq and the politics played all over but not at all worrisome here. It’s important for Islamic scholars and believers of the Islamic faith to please introspect condemn and also stand with humanity and try to rid the religion of this stigma of terrorism.

Kashmiri hospitality is famous and appreciated. The Pahalgam terror attack is an attack on the Kashmiris and Kashmiriyat. The victims are innocent tourists but the real suffering is for the Kashmiris. Tourism is the breadbutter for common Kashmiris. It is now the responsibility of Kashmiris to think and act and stand with the human face and the forces and the government that has been protecting them and which is their own. Every Kashmiri now must be resistant to terror and rise above everything to safeguard the Kashmiriyat that brings so many tourists and people from all over the world to Kashmir.

The people of Kashmir have to rise as a threat to terror and resist the religious faith of extremism. With its Sufi culture and tradition, Kashmir was never an extremist faith-ridden place. The Pak-sponsored terrorism has maligned that image. It is high time now for the Kashmiris to prove them wrong because they are the torch-bearers of the Sufis of Kashmir.

They need to reclaim and celebrate their heritage and legacy which is Kalhan’s Rajtarangni, Lal Ded’s passionate spiritual poetry, the teachings of Hazrat Sheikh Nooruddin Noorani, the chiming of bells of ancient temples of Kashmir, and the azaan and call for prayers from mosques of Kashmir.

Extremist Islam exported from the terror factories of Pakistan should not and, is not their religion. The resistance to terror has to be the religion as proved by the porter Syed Adil Hussain Shah who sacrificed his life in fighting the terror and trying to save innocent lives of guests in their lovely land of Sufism. 

Kashmiriyat has always fought the extremism and will certainly continue to fight it with conviction and commitment. Together we can and we will win this war against humanity.

(Dr Syed Mubin Zehra is an academician, columnist, historian, and a strong voice on Gender and Human rights and writes extensively against extremism)