Sir — This refers to the editorial, “The dance of hatred” (June 26). The death of Mohammed Ayub Pandith at the hands of a lynch mob highlights the dangers to the police force in Kashmir, whether from gun-wielding militants or locals disgruntled with the Indian state.
That the policemen should be the target of terrorists is a well-known strategy, but people joining the lynching of someone on one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar is self-speaking evidence how far the de-humanisation of Kashmir has proceeded.
Isn’t it time for all the ‘conscience-keepers’ of Kashmir, particularly the separatist leaders and clerics, to stem this rot that threatens to tear apart an already overstrained social culture of tolerance IJ