Before the Pahalgam massacre of Hindu tourists on April 22, three speeches were made. All of them went viral in due course of time, the first one by Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir, lighting up debate on the two-nation theory, the foundational principle of Pakistan. The other two speeches being referred to herein above were made by honourable legislators, both Kashmiris. One a Sunni Muslim, Waheed Ur Rehman Para, MLA of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the other a Shia leader in his own right, Aga Ruhullah Mehdi, MP from Srinagar from the ruling National Conference (NC). Aga’s speech was made in a video interview some months ago in January this year.

The contents of speeches by Para and Mehdi seemed dangerously anti-Hindu, delivered in a deadpan manner with calm demeanours. The honourable MP declared Indian tourists (most of them are Hindu) to be cultural invaders, acting on the behest of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Para, on the other hand, wondered who were the “outsiders" given domicile certificates during the past two years, or more. Of course, they are all Indians, one can say without an iota of doubt. Going a step backwards, Para can check that even the State Subjects (Permanent Resident Certificates) during the Article 370 era were issued earlier to Indian citizens alone, and not Pakistanis.

Incidentally, the Ruhullah interview was given to Nous Network in January and he said: “What is happening right now, which is being called tourism, it’s not that in my view. This is a cultural invasion. It’s happening by purpose and by design. A particular set of people are being brought intentionally, by design and for specific activities which are executed as part of a cultural invasion that is currently underway in Jammu and Kashmir, deliberately, with the........

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