{"id":3398,"date":"2025-04-29T01:06:45","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T01:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/?p=3398"},"modified":"2025-04-29T01:07:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T01:07:32","slug":"from-the-standpoint-of-a-common-kashmiri-we-choose-peace-not-hatred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/from-the-standpoint-of-a-common-kashmiri-we-choose-peace-not-hatred\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Standpoint of a Common Kashmiri..!We Choose Peace Not Hatred"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\r\n    <div class=\"custom-author-box\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/img-20250330-wa00126079622880044327934.jpg\" alt=\"Author Image\">\r\n        <span class=\"author-name\">Ikkz Ikbal<\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n\r\n    <style>\r\n        .custom-author-box {\r\n            display: flex;\r\n            align-items: center;\r\n            position: relative;\r\n            width: 250px; \/* Set the total width of the author box *\/\r\n            margin-top: 20px;\r\n            margin-bottom: 10px;\r\n        }\r\n\r\n        .custom-author-box img {\r\n            width: 70px; \/* Set the image width *\/\r\n            height: 70px; \/* Set the image height *\/\r\n            border-radius: 50%;\r\n            object-fit: cover;\r\n        }\r\n\r\n        .custom-author-box .author-name {\r\n            position: absolute;\r\n            left: 80px; \/* Adjust if the image width changes *\/\r\n            top: 50%;\r\n            transform: translateY(-50%);\r\n            font-size: 16px;\r\n            font-weight: bold;\r\n            color: #fff;\r\n            background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7);\r\n            padding: 5px 10px;\r\n            border-radius: 12px;\r\n            white-space: nowrap;\r\n            text-overflow: ellipsis;\r\n            overflow: hidden;\r\n            max-width: calc(100% - 50px); \/* Ensures it doesn't overflow *\/\r\n            width: auto; \/* Allows width to adjust automatically *\/\r\n            display: inline-block; \/* Ensures it only takes necessary space *\/\r\n        }\r\n    <\/style>\r\n\r\n    \n\n\n\n<p>In the aftermath of the brutal attack on innocent tourists at Pahalgam, Kashmir isn&#8217;t just counting its dead; it is counting the wounds carved into its soul. Blood stained the meadows that once sold postcards of peace. In a place where every breeze once whispered welcome, fear now lingers like a bad aftertaste. Markets stayed half-shut, hearts stayed fully broken, and a question hung heavier than the mountains themselves: Who profits from the blood of guests? As families mourn strangers they had never met but somehow felt responsible for, a valley known for hospitality wrestles with a shame that was never its own doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This time, the bullets choose the dreamers.<br \/>They chose the seekers of peace, helpless tourists who had come searching for the embrace of nature, not the cruelty of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a common kashmiri, we believe the attack in Pahalgam wasn\u2019t just a crime against individuals.<br \/>It was a dagger aimed at the soul of Kashmir itself, our hospitality, our dignity, peace and harmony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who opened fire weren\u2019t resisting oppression. They weren&#8217;t fighting for freedom.<br \/>They were butchers, nothing more.<br \/>And their goal was as dark as the smoke rising from the scene:<br \/>To plant terror, breed suspicion, and ignite an unending fire of hate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But let\u2019s not be fooled.<br \/>The real danger is not just in the gunfire.<br \/>The real danger lies in what follows \u2014 when hate is recycled, magnified, and weaponized against an entire community.<br \/>When we, the victims of one act of cruelty, become participants in another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think carefully \u2014 when you target Kashmiri students, harass Kashmiri shopkeepers, mistrust the Kashmiri labourer \u2014 whose script are you acting out?<br \/>Whose evil agenda are you advancing?<br \/>Don\u2019t mourn terrorism by becoming terrorists yourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because believe me, we Kashmiris are hurting more than anyone else.<br \/>We feel the stabbing pain of betrayal as deeply as anyone else.<br \/>The attack was not only against the tourists who lost their lives.<br \/>It was an assault on our dignity, our centuries-old hospitality, our dreams for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We carry the same colour of blood.<br \/>We mourn the same way.<br \/>Our tears are not tinted differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is easy to stereotype from afar.<br \/>It is easier still to unleash collective punishment, to brand an entire people guilty for the sins of a few monsters who have no religion, no humanity, no place among us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But understand this:<br \/>The average Kashmiri is not your enemy.<br \/>The average Kashmiri carries a book in one hand and a prayer for peace in the other.<br \/>They don\u2019t dream of violence; they dream of futures where their children can live without gunfire and fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, we Kashmiris stand united in our condemnation of this barbarity.<br \/>We demand \u2014 and expect \u2014 a strong, swift, and transparent investigation.<br \/>We demand justice, not revenge.<br \/>We want the true culprits exposed to daylight, punished not by mob anger but by the cold, firm hand of law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are tired of blood staining our rivers.<br \/>Tired of carrying coffins instead of harvests.<br \/>Tired of proving our innocence every time a madman pulls a trigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, despite our wounds, we still open our hearts to those who wish to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We still believe that love is stronger than hate,<br \/>That humanity is stronger than terror,<br \/>And that the truest act of resistance today is to refuse to become what we hate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To those who feel rage burning inside them today \u2014<br \/>Channel it wisely.<br \/>Protect the innocent.<br \/>Protect the Kashmiri student far from home.<br \/>Protect the dreams that the bullets tried to kill yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because when you choose compassion over cruelty,<br \/>When you choose justice over mob vengeance,<br \/>You don\u2019t just save Kashmir \u2014<br \/>You save yourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let the memory of those lost not be dishonoured by more hate, more pain, more division.<br \/>Let their memory fuel a collective stand for humanity, for peace, for justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The valley weeps today.<br \/>Let it not weep tomorrow because we failed it once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ikkz Ikbal holds a Masters in Biotechnology and is Principal at Maryam Memorial Institute Pandithpora Qaziabad. He X&#8217;s @IkkzIkbal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the aftermath of the brutal attack on innocent tourists at Pahalgam, Kashmir isn&#8217;t just counting its dead; it is counting the wounds carved into its soul. Blood stained the meadows that once sold postcards of peace. In a place where every breeze once whispered welcome, fear now lingers like a bad aftertaste. Markets stayed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3398"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3400,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3398\/revisions\/3400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/noukeqalamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}