Long Island's Hindu community mourns dozens killed in Kashmir attack

A massacre in the India-administered region of Kashmir this week has left members of Long Island's Hindu population shocked and in mourning, while local Pakistanis expressed concern that heated rhetoric between the two countries could escalate to a full-scale war between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

Hindus of Long Island is hosting a candlelight prayer vigil on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, organizers said. Several hundred are expected to attend, they said.

On Tuesday, gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in the mountainous destination of Pahalgam, killing 26 — all but one of whom were Indian citizens — in one of the deadliest assaults on civilians in the country in years. Witnesses reported that the gunmen singled out non-Muslims and executed them.

India's Hindu nationalist government immediately blamed Pakistan, a Muslim majority country, for the attack and suspended its role in a decades-long water sharing treaty between the two nations. Pakistan has denied a role in the attack and responded by halting trade with India. 

And on Friday the Indian military reported an exchange of gunfire with Pakistani soldiers across the border of Kashmir.

Kashmir Resistance, also known as The Resistance Front, claimed responsibility for the massacre. The group, experts said, is considered an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist organization behind the deadly Mumbai attacks in 2008.

Dr. Urmila Shivaram, 70, of Manhasset, founder and president of Hindus of Long Island, called the attack "unnerving" and said it was specifically targeted toward members of the Hindu population. 

"They're targeting Hindus, and they're a minority in Kashmir," Shivaram, a pulmonologist with a practice in Bayside, said Friday. "These people were vacationing. It affects us because it's our people who are being killed. Definitely, we want to stand for our rights. We believe Hindus lives also matter."

Shivaram said India is within its rights to retaliate against Pakistan if proven to be complicit in the attack.

"I don't know if India has a choice," she said. "Somebody comes into your house and kills your people. What choice do Indians have?"

But Humayoun Shabbir, president of the Pakistani American Community of Long Island (PACOLI) in East Northport, said he hopes that "cooler heads will prevail" and that the rhetoric will be turned down before fragile relations between the two countries shatters into an unnecessary confrontation.

"The loss of innocent lives in the Pahalgam incident is heartbreaking, and we offer our condolences to the families affected," Shabbir, 50, of Bellmore said, calling for restraint and increased dialogue between Pakistan and India. "Such acts are unacceptable, and perpetrators must be brought to justice through credible investigation and due process. However, we are troubled by the Indian government’s immediate decision to lay blame on Pakistan without presenting credible evidence."

Most concerning, he said, are threats by India to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty. The water-sharing pact between India and Pakistan has been in force since 1960 and Pakistan depends heavily on the waters. Suspension of the treaty, Pakistani officials have said, would be considered an act of war.

"Any unilateral action to block or restrict flow would not only be a violation of international law but could also constitute a humanitarian crisis for millions of Pakistanis," Shabbir said. "Such actions would further erode trust and derail any diplomatic progress."

India and Pakistan each control parts of Kashmir but both nations claim it in full, and have fought three wars over the territory.

Rathi Raja, executive director of the Young Indian Culture Group in Herricks, said her members are "horrified" by the targeted nature of the attack.

"This particular attack is clearly on the Hindus," Raja said. "An effort was made to determine who was a Hindu and just shoot them right away."

Vasundra Sureka of Hindus of Long Island said nearly all members of the organization have family in India and many in Kashmir.

While Sureka is concerned about the conflict escalating, the attacks, she said, cannot go unanswered.

"Something has to be done because this has been happening too often," Sureka, 66, of Manhasset Hills, said. "There have been so many attacks over the years. And every time they get more and more blatant. It's getting to the point where we have to take action."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.