The massacre near Jammu on May Day serves to highlight the fragility of the peace in Jammu and Kashmir. The gunning down of 22 Hindus is second in scale to the killing of 24 Kashmiri Pandits in March 2003. In the latter case, Islamic militants had selected a particular community who had begun to move out from the valley in the early Nineties. This time round, the killing is more indiscriminate. The militants came into a village, rounded up the villagers and then began shooting. The timing of this massacre is significant. The prime minister, Mr Manmohan Singh, is scheduled to meet moderate Hurriyat leaders in New Delhi today. These talks are something of a prologue to the more far-reaching conference to be held in Srinagar later in May. Moreover, yesterday, Indian and Pakistani officials met to discuss new bus and truck services across the line of control. Further ahead there is the prospect of Mr Singh visiting Pakistan in July-August. The militants, aided and abetted by their sponsors in Pakistan, would like to scuttle any process that aims to bring peace and normalcy within Kashmir and between India and Pakistan. A normalcy that is secure will obviously drive militants out of business.

The massacre has another obvious and ominous dimension. The killing of Hindus is a clear attempt not only to sabotage attempts to bring back normalcy, but also to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims. The obverse side of terrorism is counter-insurgency, which will only result in further violence in the state and an increase in the level of alienation of the ordinary Kashmiri from the state administration. This is exactly the outcome that the militants want. Thus this is not an easy situation for either the state government or the Central security forces that represent the Indian state. They are caught in a vicious cycle of violence. If militancy is not quelled and if militants are not punished, terrorist violence will escalate. Curbing terrorism also involves a high level of violence whose impact cannot be adverse at least in the short term. It is a tough call. But if ordinary Kashmiris want to continue to lead normal lives, they will have to accept the reality of the violence associated with counter-insurgency. This may be easier written about than actually faced on the ground. But countering terrorism offers no easy solutions.