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What is the method in this massacre? On Saturday evening, when militants wended their way through Srinagar's Mahjoor Nagar area and traine...

What is the method in this massacre? On Saturday evening, when militants wended their way through Srinagar8217;s Mahjoor Nagar area and trained their guns on a group of Sikhs, they clearly had an extremely unequivocal agenda on their minds. It is an agenda that can be gleaned from the aftermath of the massacre. Curfew has been imposed on vast swathes of Jammu and Kashmir to contain any tragic manifestations of tension and outrage. Even so, this outrage had already claimed one victim by Monday evening when the police opened fire on a group of protesters defying the curfew in Jammu. And amidst all this, many Sikhs are now thinking aloud, wondering whether they would be better off migrating from their homes. The state is obviously on edge, and the militants8217; aim is evident: to shatter all hopes of the twice-extended Ramzan ceasefire leading to a relative calm, to provoke the people and the security forces into mindless excesses. It was a stratagem employed with a measure of success last March in Chittisinghpura onthe eve of Bill Clinton8217;s visit to the subcontinent, and then again in August when synchronised massacres greeted the Hizbul Mujahideen8217;s unilateral truce.

The anger of the people is understandable 8212; especially of the Sikhs as they attempt to gauge their vulnerability in a home state that allowed them a quiet existence through all the years of militancy till that ghastly late evening Lashkar-e-Toiba swoop in Chittisinghpura. But it would be extremely unfortunate 8212; and immensely counterproductive 8212; if the security forces commit themselves to a defensive, kneejerk response. They need only rewind to the Chittisinghpura tragedy to ascertain the perils of confrontation. The task at hand is clear, though difficult. The first priority must be to address the apprehensions of the Sikh community. This not only requires effective policing in Sikh-dominated areas, but also calls for more sensitivity in tackling demonstrations of outrage. Opening fire on protesters smacks of insensitivity. The security forces need to crack down on the militants, not on their intended victims.

The choreographers of the massacre and the resultant tension, however, appear to be targeting more than the sense of security among the Sikhs 8212; their eyes are no doubt focussed on the still precariously poised peace process. Accordingly, New Delhi must calibrate its responses. It is more than obvious that India8217;s insistence that Pakistan rein in militants operating in Jammu and Kashmir, as proof of its sincerity in calling for a resumption of dialogue, has had no effect. In fact, Pakistan8217;s Chief Executive Pervez Musharraf chose the day after the massacre to reiterate his regime8217;s support to the Kashmiris8217; struggle for 8220;self-determination8221;, a flimsy euphemism for militancy. On the other hand, it would be highly shortsighted if New Delhi failed to guard the bridges it has built over the last year with various Kashmiri leaders, whether they belong to the Hurriyat or to the relatively indigenous militant organisations. Saturday8217;s massacre has given the authorities their first major challenge since theRamzan ceasefire was announced. Their response will prove critical in determining the very future of the peace process.