We have been writing it time and again that there is a war on the religion of Kashmiris. We have been telling you as to how they have first started to domesticate our religion in various forms only to push for the complete de-islamization of our land. The war is directly on our Muslim identity, values, culture and everything we hold dear and everything that defines us in our homeland – Muslim, a Muslim Kashmiri or Simply a Kashmiri! So, the incidents like Gulmarg nude fashion show are part of the war on Islam in Kashmir! Opening of alcohol shops, supporting and sponsoring immorality, financing Bhagva love trap in Kashmir, transformation of tourist destinations into hubs of moral corruption, gaining control of mosques and shrines and dictating the syllabi in our educational institutions are all part of this war.

To understand this war, one needs to be no scientist for this is no rocket science. The only hidden thing about it is the official declarations. Everything else is evident and any sane person with a working brain can feel, see and realize it. Since the occupying state cannot declare it officially, boost about success results and deploy troops in its name, it always carries different preliminary tests before launching the major offensives. Even if the results are not in their favour, they do not stop the war. The war continues in different ways. Gulmarg nude fashion show, I believe, was a test to see the reaction of Kashmiris. They first gained control of mosques, controlled waqf board, banned religious organizations and hounded religious leaders. I don’t know whether the response was too weak to be registered or whether the climate of fear made Kashmiris to delay their reaction or forced them into silence. But one thing is clear: emboldened by the lack of substantial resistance, the occupiers have now grown more blatant in their actions. They are aware that even if Kashmiris react, they hold the upper hand, fully equipped to suppress any dissent on the ground.

Nude fashion shows, in any part of Kashmir and in any month – whether in Ramadhan or otherwise – are not mere cultural provocations; they are direct attacks on our faith and identity. Even as I write this, another video has surfaced where Indian women can be seen dancing in front of Dargah Hazratbal. And on top of it, the police has now decided to take action against those who spread “misinformation” claiming that it was old! Their justification? That the video was “old.” Old as in December 30, 2024! As if something despicable, once it crosses a certain expiration date, ceases to be offensive. Had they not recorded a video of the despicable act and uploaded on social media, perhaps it would have gone unnoticed. But the fact that such acts are recorded and deliberately circulated on social media shows the intent behind them. And these are only the ones we manage to see. How many such incidents go unnoticed? Such incidents have become a new normal in Kashmir.

This is the new normal they want to impose on Kashmir. A land where Islam is pushed to the margins and sanctity is desecrated in the name of ‘modernity’ and ‘progress,’ where the occupier decides what is acceptable and what is obsolete. A slow, systematic erasure, where every passing day inches us closer to a reality where our religious and cultural existence becomes a mere footnote in our own homeland. The question is not whether this war is happening. The question is how much more must they strip away before the weight of it becomes unbearable?