Srinagar: Wednesday's blast at the Delhi High Court have revived memories of similar tragedies in Jammu and Kashmir, with a cross-section of people here expressing equal condemnation and disgust.

While mainstream and hardline politicians have reacted on expected lines, condemning the act as inhuman and dastardly, the common man is stunned to see violence being perpetrated to make a political point.

"How can anyone seek mercy for someone by targeting 12 innocent people who were attending court to seek justice for themselves?" senior bank official Manzoor Ahmad said.

"We have been suffering violence for over 20 years now," college principal Muzaffar Ahmad told IANS. "It has led us from one tragedy to another. Television images of the blast victims looked exactly like the ones we have seen in Kashmir. Violence and suffering have just one face and its victims are universally bound by their common tragedy."

There is widespread sympathy for the victims and a wave of anger against the perpetrators of the blast .

"There is no way anybody can seek justice and mercy by behaving like a mindless maniac," religious preacher Nisar Ahmad, 45, said. "Islam does not permit the killing of innocent people. In fact, Islam does not permit killings of any sort except during a war declared under Islamic tenets. This is a mindless, mad and despicable massacre."

State chief minister Omar Abdullah, patron of opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, JKLF chairman Muhammad Yasin Malik and other politicians have also expressed shock.

Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

Delhi blast email traced to Kishtwar, cops hunt for suspect

Police had got vital clues about the person who had sent an email claiming responsibility for the Delhi High Court blast after raids on a cyber cafe in Kishtwar in the state, officials said Thursday.  »

Delhi explosion toll rises to 12

Delhi blast: A horror retold

Blast victims pour in at Delhi hospital

  Most Read

Palestinian official hits out at US policy on UN bid

The United States is showing “disdain” for Arabs by trying to prevent the Palestinians from gaining statehood recognition at the United Nations, a senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday.  »

UN Vote on Palestine State: US envoy 'threatens to punish' PA

An earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter Scale shook the Indian capital for 5-6 seconds at around 11.30 p.m. Wednesday, the Met department said, scaling down its intensity from the initial 6.6. There were no immediate  »

  News Pick

According to the AMU VC, he is going to retire in January 2012 so all the official formalities to open the centre at Kishanganj should be finished before he leave the university. In fact  »

Who leaked Modi's letter to PM, asks court

The Gujarat High Court Wednesday issued notice to its registrar general, the personal secretary to the chief justice and Lokayukta R.A. Mehta seeking answers on how the contents of a letter from Chief Minister Narendra  »

A day after the special screening of his film, Shafeeque Ahmed, the local hero who played the lead-role in Malegaon Ka Superman - the award winning film starring the artists from  »

Picture of the Day

The 27th of Ramadan (August 26, 2011 this year), "Laylet al-Qadr" (Night of Power), is one of the holiest nights of the Islamic calendar, the night when the Quran began to be revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him). Millions from around the world visit the Grand Mosque in Makkah from all over the world and pray over the night.