‘Not in my identify’: Kashmiris flood the streets in protest after Pahalgam assault

Protests had been additionally held in south Kashmir districts, the place locals had swarmed the streets in 2016 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.

At a protest in Kulgam, G.M. Banday, a fruit grower, stated the federal government ought to take steps to eradicate the menace of terrorism in order that incidents just like the Baisaran assault in Pahalgam don’t recur.

“Steps needs to be taken to uproot terrorism on the earliest in order that such incidents don’t occur once more… individuals of Kashmir have all the time been towards terrorism. Nonetheless, conspiracies are being hatched to malign the Kashmiri group and hit the native financial system. Such acts have an effect on the livelihood of the native youth,” Banday stated.

“We’re with the federal government in no matter steps they take to eradicate terror,” he added.

Mohammad Iqbal, a dealer from Kulgam, stated the assault was geared toward crippling the financial system of Kashmir.

“Our harmless brothers and sisters who had come to go to Kashmir had been focused. Each Kashmiri is unhappy over the killings, which shouldn’t have taken place. Our commerce is linked to tourism, and if vacationer arrivals drop, it should hit the native financial system. The native commerce has been in doldrums for the previous few years,” he stated.

Tauseef Ahmad Struggle, a social activist, was among the many protesters in Handwara city of Kupwara district in north Kashmir.

“We’re protesting right here to ship a message to the world that Kashmiris usually are not with terrorism, we condemn the assault on vacationers in Pahalgam,” he stated.