A Black Day for Pahalgam: The Valley That Wept

There are places in the world that feel untouched and aloof from the chaos of the other parts of the world. Where nature heals you and time slows down and people go there to find peace.

Pahalgam is one of those places, or at least it was. Today, that place is shattered.

AI generated image, it does not depict real individuals

Today, like many others, I came across this devastating news which took place in Pahalgam. This news left me speechless, shaken, and I am sure others have felt the same. Lives were lost, families torn apart, and people who went to find peace and see the beauty of Kashmir is no more.

Some tourists tried to run and saved their life. But, some people couldn't dodge the bullets. The details are still coming in the news as the day passes and the weight of this tragedy deepens. One image that has been circulating all over social media refuses to leave my mind, a woman collapsed in grief, sitting near to her husband's lifeless body. That photo isn't about just sorrow it's the echo of countless hearts breaking all at once.

What struck me most is a place which is so beautiful now it's left with blood all over, filled with loss, and it reminds me once again how life is unpredictable and how fragile life can be. You never know which moment can be your last moment. Also, you must have seen people are making Ghibli images about this incident as well. I couldn't help but wondered I mean how can some people be so reckless and insensitive?

Via Instagram

Have we lost all senses? Or have we lost humanity?

I often try to put my words together and make them sound sensible. I mean, yes, that's what you try to do when you're a writer, but today I struggled. Because how do you write about something that makes no sense and hold on to hope when you're seeing all this around you? And yet, this is why we must write. Because reflection is necessary and remembrance is resistance.

I can't imagine about the people who lost their loved ones. My heart goes out to them, and I pray for them. Let us carry this news forward and keep in mind that empathy is required. This tragedy calls for humanity, peace and change.

If you can still scroll past such stories without feeling any grief, then maybe the silence is not just in the valley of Pahalgam or Kashmir it's in us too.