Yeh to bahut badi himakat hai (This is a huge blunder)' was the first reaction of a mainstream Kashmiri to the execution of Mohd Afzal Guru on February 9.
This was followed by a volley of questions: Whose decision was this? Whose agenda would it serve? Why now when not all these years? Has anyone bothered to consider what the repercussions might be on the always fragile peace in Kashmir? Does anyone care about Kashmir in Delhi?
Or, as Khalida Shah put it subsequently, Afzal Guru's hanging at a most inopportune time has delivered a huge setback to the painstaking process of normalisation. More philosophically, the Kashmiris might say that such is their luck that something always goes wrong when things look their best.
Fallout
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has had to bear the brunt of the Kashmiri ire over the hanging. It makes his position extremely vulnerable if not untenable. He had consistently argued against Guru's execution because of its ramifications and the difficult position he would be placed in.
