Many A Catch Between The Bolt And The Latch !

 

28.4.25

BY R.K. MISRA

There is many a catch between the bolt and the latch.

A nation numbed, still seeking to come to terms with the pulse of Pehalgam. A laughing, smiling crowd of merrymakers whose reverie was disrupted by blood and gore with 26 people succumbing to terror attacks and numerous other injured. India is a country which stands steamrollered by grief.

The pain is palpable as people line up at the Attari border in Amritsar district to scurry back to Pakistan as the deadline for departure ends. Medical visas issued to Pakistani nationals are valid only up to April 29.

The neighbours may have denied any role in the attack but India is holding Pakistan- based terror outfits complicit for the coldblooded killings and has clamped down with a set of retaliatory measures. It includes closure of the main border crossing, suspension of a landmark water sharing treaty an expulsion of some diplomats. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has threatened to pursue the agressors to the end of the world with a resolve, that he says, should leave no shred of doubt.

Pakistan too has announced retaliatory moves and sought evidence of Indian claims. It has termed Indian measures as unilateral, unjust, politically motivated, extremely irresponsible and devoid of legal merit. An offshoot of a Pakistan based group has claimed responsibility for the attack and so the lob and volley between the two countries goes on.

There are numerous questions that nevertheless, cry out for answers. The Prime Minister of the country rightfully cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia and returned home in the face of such a shocking development but what followed thereafter was flabbergasting. Instead of visiting the blood-stained valley his presence, at an election rally in Bihar had the Opposition-both the RJD and Congress- in uproar. The visuals of the rally involving the conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar on such a sombre occasion did not seem to inspire confidence in a nation which was battling gloom. The leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi who was away in the USA had cut short his tour and returned to India to remain present at deliberations that may require his presence. He also visited the injured in Hospital.

The Union Home minister, Mr Amit Shah had done a full scale security review of the prevailing situation in the valley. Officialdom, from this high perch, had time and again made it a point to scale up normalcy levels pointing to the situation being well under control. And yet when shots reverberated in the area, it caught the bulk of the tourist population off guard, even the security agencies so. ”There was no security around in the area’, went a common refrain.

Relatives of those tourists from Gujarat who had gone to the valley for a fun time breather and a respite from its heat were delirious at the loss.”Our lives are peppered with taxes and tolls at every step but when my husband needed protection and help there were none. Its the politician whose life only matters’, said an angry Shital  from Surat whose husband Shailesh Kalathiya a banker paid with his life in the valley’. She had poured out her anguish before the union water resources minister C. R. Patil, local MP, Mukesh Dalal and Gujarat ,minister of state for Home, Harsh Sanghvi. Kajal, the widow of a father and son from Bhavnagar who lost their lives in the salubrious climes of the valley is numbstruck.The temple town of Palitana remained closed as mark of respect for the deceased.

The one voice that emerges loud and clear from this entire episode is to refrain from playing cloaks and daggers with national sentiment. Electoral politics has its ifs and buts It does not work and leaves society needlessly divided. There are those who gave up their life in a desperate attempt to save the tourists. People in the valley have voiced their solidarity with the visitors and stood up to be counted as such. It is time that the ruling party stood up to shun elements who seek to divide the nation. Unity is the need of the hour and every Indian-hindu or muslim- needs to stand united for it.

Already political leaders in the valley have urged authorities to ensure caution in seeing that the rising tide of anger against the perpetrators of terror is not dissipated. There are reports of at least nine houses for ‘alleged militancy’ being targeted.Jammn and Kashmir Chief minister, Omar Abdullah has pointedly called for any misplaced action.”Punish the guilty mercilessly but ensure that the innocent do not become collateral damage’, added th chief minister.

The Opposition stands firm with the government on the issue and is reaching out for a special session of Parliament to discuss the Pahalgam attack and measures needed in the wake of such action. The leader of the Opposition has made it clear that it will support all action that the government takes on the matter.

Worst happenings open the best doors and it’s never too late to make a beginning.

 

This syndicated news column was published in the Indian newspapers Orissapost and Lokmat Times editions dated  April29, 2025  . Their links are given below:-

 

https://odishapostepaper.com/edition/5303/orissapost/page/9