Condemnable terror

More than seven and a half decades have passed since India and Pakistan became two independent nations. Yet, India's Jammu & Kashmir—a beautiful land of cultured people—remains stuck in a cycle of violence, ostensibly perpetrated by Pakistan and catalyzed by misguided militants on the Indian side.

Talks and strategies have failed, and so have iron-handed responses, in mitigating the terror in India's crowning jewel.

The fresh attack on October 24 in Baramulla is yet another brutal reminder that the region remains under constant threat. Two Indian Army soldiers and two civilian porters have reportedly lost their lives, leaving several others injured. This follows a persistent sequence of attacks—most disturbingly, the killing of six construction workers and a doctor on October 20 in Ganderbal. Even before that, the haunting attacks in Doda and Reasi had left the region in despair.

Needless to say, terrorists and militants continue to follow a sinister pattern in killing civilians and military personnel without distinction.