The public mood in the Kashmir valley has undergone a notable shift, with even villages once associated with the very faces of terror now joining in the widespread condemnation of the Pahalgam massacre that claimed 26 lives.
Villages once regarded as bastions or symbolic hubs of banned Hizbul Mujahideen commanders Burhan Wani and Riyaz Naikoo echoed with strong slogans of “Stop terrorism” and “Stop killing innocents” as residents came out in unified protest.
The Kashmir Valley on Wednesday saw an unprecedented wave of public outrage, with spontaneous protests erupting across the region to denounce Tuesday’s brutal killings in Pahalgam.
In the past 35 years since militancy first took root in the region, such an immediate and widespread expression of anger against terrorism has been rare.
Political leaders, including National Conference’s Nasir Wani and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, joined and led demonstrations across the valley.
Tral village in south Kashmir, once known for its intense stone-pelting protests following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016, presented a markedly different scene on Wednesday. Residents held a candlelight march to express their strong condemnation of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Villages that were previously considered bastions of terror figures like Wani and Riyaz Naikoo, both former commanders of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen group, echoed with slogans of “Stop terrorism” and “Stop killing innocents,” as locals took to the streets in a unified rejection of violence.
Tral, long known as a hub for Pakistan-backed terror outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, resounded on Wednesday with slogans of "Dehshatgadi bandh karo (Stop terrorism)" and "Masoomon ka qatl-e-aam bandh karo (Stop killing innocents)."
In a similar show of defiance, residents of Beighpora in south Kashmir—the native village of Riyaz Naikoo, a former commander of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen—took to the streets, marching through the lanes and bylanes to condemn the perpetrators of the Pahalgam massacre.
Sopore, the apple town in north Kashmir once labeled "mini-Pakistan" in the 1990s due to its ties with banned Jamaat-e-Islami cadres, echoed a new sentiment on Wednesday as residents marched through the main market, raising slogans against terrorism and condemning the brutal attack in Pahalgam.
People's Democratic Party (PDP) legislator Waheed Para described the public outpouring as a historic moment. "For the first time in the history of violence in Kashmir, we are witnessing a strong, spontaneous protest against terrorism," Para said.
He noted that people across the valley—from Lal Chowk to villages in Pulwama and Tral—stood together in grief and solidarity. Para highlighted that this collective denouncement of violence, even in regions previously associated with militant leaders, represents a "significant shift" at a time when "the people are united in denouncing violence and standing with the nation".
The mass protests throughout Kashmir, especially in those places once considered the stronghold of militancy such as Tral and Beighpora, indicate a possible turnabout, where society itself is spurning the violence that has seen the region tormented for so long.
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