“The LG’s engagement with terror victim families and pledge of “justice, respect, and dignity” concisely reaffirms a commitment to humanity and responsive governance.”
The visit of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to Dardpora in Kupwara—a village long known as the “village of widows”—marks not just an administrative outreach, but a deeply symbolic act of acknowledgment and healing. For decades, hundreds of families in north Kashmir have carried invisible scars of violence unleashed by Pakistan-backed terrorism. Their suffering was not only the result of bullets and bombings but also of neglect, silence, and systemic exclusion. The LG’s engagement with terror victim families and his pledge of “justice, respect, and dignity” offers a renewed promise of humanity and governance. In his address at the Government Degree College Kupwara, the Lieutenant Governor reaffirmed that the administration’s foremost priority is to deliver justice to civilian martyrs and their families. “Their decades-long trauma, torment, and suffering is over,” he said—a statement that resonates deeply in a region that has endured relentless waves of loss. Sinha’s assurance that every family will receive state support to rebuild their lives represents a significant shift from the past, when victims of terrorism were often reduced to mere statistics in official files. The Lt Governor was candid in recognizing that these families did not just suffer the brutality of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists but were also victims of systemic barriers that stifled their progress. For years, they were denied access to education, employment, and welfare schemes that could have helped them rebuild. By declaring that “all obstacles are now removed,” the administration has accepted the failures of the past and opened a new chapter—one where the state is finally listening, responding, and acting. So far, around 250 families of terror victims have been provided with government jobs, and the LG has vowed that this mission will continue until every affected family receives justice.
“Lieutenant Governor’s commitment to terror victims in Dardpora must go beyond mere compensation to include sustained institutional support, psychological counseling, and community integration. A message goes out that true justice for victims requires action and empathy to restore their dignity, faith, and belonging that unfolds a new era of compassion in Jammu and Kashmir.”
Beyond employment, the signing of an MoU between the High-range Rural Development Society (HRDS India) and the Divisional Commissioners of both Jammu and Kashmir to construct houses for families who lost their homes to terror marks a tangible step toward rehabilitation. These measures are not charity—they are acts of restorative justice, long overdue. Sinha’s remarks also carried a strong message of accountability. He exposed how Pakistan and its ecosystem in the Valley perpetuated false narratives for decades, manipulating local sentiments to absolve the real culprits. “Pakistan, the breeding ground of terrorism, is exposed now,” he declared, asserting that those who peddled lies on behalf of terrorists would also face justice. His words reaffirm India’s uncompromising stand against terrorism and its propaganda machinery. Yet, beyond the political and administrative resolve lies the human story—the mothers, widows, and children of Dardpora who have lived half their lives in grief. The Lieutenant Governor’s assurance that their pain will be handled with “full sensitivity and responsibility” must translate into sustained institutional support, psychological counseling, education for children, and continued community integration. Justice for terror victims cannot be achieved through compensation alone—it must restore dignity, faith, and belonging. The visit to Dardpora is, therefore, more than an official engagement; it is a moral commitment to those who bore the brunt of a proxy war. If Government sustains this momentum, Jammu and Kashmir may indeed be witnessing the beginning of a new era of justice and compassion—one that honors its civilian martyrs not with speeches, but with action and empathy.
