The horrendous terror attack in Pulwama, which claimed the lives of 44 CRPF bravehearts, has baffled the entire nation. The ghastly image of ‘body parts’ strewn around the road will continue to haunt us for decades to come. In times like these, the resilience of a nation is put to test. In other words, the very purpose of terrorism, which is to create chaos by destabilizing the society, starts getting fulfilled, when instead of standing united in times of crisis, people start spewing venom at each other, in the name of religion and jingoism.
Immediately after the attack, some TV channels started posting on their social media handles, the promos of prime time shows, with hashtags like #indiawantsrevenge. Communal messages vilifying the Muslim community, especially Kashmiris, started circulating over WhatsApp. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, the situation is very fragile and the emotions of people are raw. The media needs to act responsibly, now more than ever, and refrain from adding fuel to fire, which is on the brink of disrupting social harmony.
Unfortunately, the damage is already done to some extent. Some Kashmiri shopkeepers from Patna were attacked and asked to leave the state or face dire consequences. In Jammu, communal clashes were reported from several areas in the city. Meanwhile, in Dehradun, around twenty Kashmiri female students stayed locked in a room, for hours, after a mob surrounded their hostel demanding the management to ‘throw them out of the place’. India might witness gruesome communal violence, as a result of divisive polarisation propagated by the media, particularly the unchecked social media.
We must remember that terrorism thrives on bloodshed, and uses religion as an unfortunate excuse. Kashmir is an integral part of India, and its people are as much citizens as you and me. It will be a blatant violation of the secular and democratic ethos of our constitution if we alienate and target a section of our society on the basis of region and religion.
‘’An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. There is a thin line between justice and revenge. Vengeance can’t bring our precious soldiers back, but we can at least honour their sacrifice by staying united, and not letting the divisive tendencies break us apart.