The attack in the restive south Kashmir’s Anantnag district that left a government official and a member of Panchayati Raj dead is a deplorable incident whose perpetrators must be identified and brought to book without any haste. The two innocent men were part of teams taking the government’s ambitious program ‘Back To Village 2’ at the doorsteps of people across Jammu and Kashmir. According to reports, a large gathering of men, women and even children and elderly had gathered at a Panchayat in Hakura village of Anantnag to inform the officials about their grievances. From the lack of drinking water and proper roads to the need for more educational and medical care institutions, these are the issues that have been cropping up in these meetings. As soon as the meeting in Hakura ended and the officials were about to board their vehicles, police believes a group of militants, assisted by a network of over ground workers, surfaced in the area. At the beginning of the attack, a grenade was lobbed at the departing party and it was followed by indiscriminate firing. At least four persons were injured in the attack, according to police, while the perpetrators managed to escape from the area amid shedding of blood and tears. No one knows who the attackers are but it is clear that whosoever they happen to be, they can’t be called as friends of Kashmir. We have seen enough bloodbath over the past three decades of turmoil. Are there not enough orphans and widows in Kashmir that we are hell bent on producing another bruised and battered generation? There are more than 4.2 lakh local employees who work in different departments of the government. Targeting one such official doing his duty makes nearly half of Kashmir targets in the eyes of those who carried out the Anantnag attack. Are they going to kill all of them? The conflict has deprived Kashmir of basic necessities like drinking water supply, electricity, roads, schools and medical care institutions. Why should it be considered as a crime if the system is trying to empower people who can stand up on their own and hold the government accountable? Why is it a crime if people are being brought into the system where they can shape their destinies with their own hands? One can only hope that good sense prevails and this senseless bloodbath is brought to an end.