In the nightly hours of March 23, twenty-four men, women and children
were gunned down by unknown attackers in the village of Nadimarg
(Pulwama). The victims were all Hindu Pandits of Kashmir.

We in SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy) and
in INSAF (International South Asia Forum) utterly condemn this savage
act, this crime against humanity.

When members of any particular community are subjected to brutal
killings - whether they are Sikhs in Punjab, Christians, Dalits,
Tribals and Muslims in Gujarat and elsewhere, the fragile secular and
democratic make-up of the Indian society goes through another
challenging test.

For over twelve years now, the people of Kahmir have been subjected
to a never-ending vortex of violence. The entire people have been
turned into helpless victims of the terror inflicted by the
contending forces, while their genuine aspirations for peace,
dignity, and democratic rights of self-determination remain crushed.

It is very unfortunate that every time there is some movement toward
normalization of social relations, some movement toward peace in the
entire region, it becomes disrupted by such wanton and melicious acts
of interruption. It is obvious that there are vested interests who do
not want the Kashmir problem to be solved.

That the secular and harmonious aspects of the Kashmiri society have
yet not been destroyed is indicated by the manner in which the entire
community in the village of Nadimarg came together to mourn the
deaths of the innocents. Muslim men and women wiped their own tears
and those of the survivors of the Hindu families.

''We don't believe this could happen here,'' said Khatija Bano, a
Muslim housewife. ''I am shocked. Why will anybody kill these poor
people? They had nothing to do with anything. They were struggling
like all of us for two meals a day here in this far off village,''
she said. ''They had not left the village because they had always
felt safe here. It is their home like it is our home''.

It is noteworthy that all the Muslim, Christian, Sikh and the
democratic/secular organizations have strongly condemned this ghastly
act, and have demanded from the Government of India and of Jammu and
kashmir to find the culprits, and to take the necessary steps in
bringing security and a sense of dignity to all the people in Jammu
and Kashmir.

We in SANSAD and INSAF join these voices of sanity, and of goodwill.

Hari Sharma
president, SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy)
president, INSAF (International South Asia Forum)

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