The recent dance of death has snatched children from many parents in Kashmir. These are tragedies that cannot be compensated. The vicious cycle that the killings have thrown the state into risks many more tragedies. The state needs to control the situation and prevent further casualties.
The state has a right to enforce a curfew to prevent the unrest from escalating, but that does not give it a right to wage a war against its people, whom it claims to represent.
After 11 lives lost – all of whom were lost during protests against previous killings of innocent people by state forces – governments in Srinagar as well as New Delhi should have, to say the least, tried to pacify the aggrieved population. Instead they have gone for vilification of protestors (and by extension the whole population).  After the high level meeting chaired by prime minister himself, the impression was given that protests in the streets were fomented by Pakistan based elements and Lashkar-i-Taiba. New Delhi based media, especially the television channels, propagated the government line and told the nation that it was the police and paramilitary who were the victims, and that the people were the villains.
One image of a policeman getting a backlash from protestors was enough for it to justify the killings by police, and ignore the fact that there had been no police or paramilitary causalities in the whole unrest.
Home Minister Chidambaram went on record saying that the Lashkar Taiba was behind the protests.
The state propaganda not only gave the police and paramilitary a clean chit, but also a free hand to act tough, and tougher on the population.
Rather than understanding the anger on the streets generated by the killings the state approach humiliated and insulted the sensibilities of people.
Do a people, who are losing their children and young men to police bullets need instigation by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pakistan to get angry.
The state may be able to contain violence by enforcing a strict curfew, or by using suppressive policing measures, but those measures do not help it to lessen the resentment it generates. It only aggravates it. And in that case any peace achieved will only by a suppressive one, waiting for another chance to burst.

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