Amarnath attack: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said nobody can kill Kashmiriyat.
Unprecedented protests erupted in Kashmir Valley on Wednesday after terrorists attacked a bus at Anantnag district carrying dozens of pilgrims from Amarnath Yatra, killing seven of them and injuring 20 others on Monday evening. Anger poured on the streets as civil society groups and traders came together to denounce the attack and demanded stern action against the killers.
"It is unprecedented because such an attack hasn't happened before," said Siddiqui Wahid, an analyst and academician.
The outraged Kashmiris also took to social media to express their ire demanding justice for the victims. "I CONDEMN - Amarnath Yatra Attack," many posted this photo message on social media.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, seeing the public anger against the attack, said nobody can kill Kashmiriyat.
"It's good to see that people of Jammu and Kashmir are together. When the incident took place, the people of Kashmir went to give blood. This was a direct attack on our brotherhood. Nobody could kill Kashmiriyat, I salute our Kashmir people", said 58-year-old Ms Mufti.
Praising Chief Minister Mufti and Kashmiris for standing up against violence, Minister of State, PMO, Jitendra Singh said, "There are certain elements who fish in the troubled waters of Jhelum and hope something goes wrong, but the civil society has proved every mischief wrong."
The bus, which had pilgrims from Gujarat and Maharashtra, was on its way back from the Amarnath shrine located in a narrow gorge at the end of a valley nearly 50 km from Pahalgam. Police sources say the rules of the pilgrimage bans buses from travelling on a highway after 7 pm for security reasons but the bus had been delayed because of a breakdown. The bus was also reportedly not part of the official tour, which means that it did not have the standard police escort.