The savagery at Baisaran meadows by Islamist terrorists is reminiscent of ISIS’s brutality in dealing with their hostages. The massacre of 26 men in front of their wives and children—that too along religious lines—was spine-chilling. A brave local Muslim also died a hero protecting the tourists. While the five terrorists melted away into the forests nearby, the nation was left dumbstruck in grief. The gut-wrenching wails have now fallen silent to a pall of gloom on the misty pine woods.
After the initial outrage, questions over accountability are bound to be raised in public discourse. Was it an intelligence failure or smugness on the part of security forces? There were intelligence inputs of terrorists conducting reconnaissance in the area, checking hotels and familiarising themselves with the topography.
With the valley vibrant with the colours of spring, tourists come in hordes. A record 2 crore tourists visited J&K last year—a great message to the international community that Kashmir welcomed all and sundry. All nakas and bandobast covered the Pahalgam area, but not the 6 km above to Baisaran, which falls in Anantnag district. The absence of a visible security presence in such a high-value area, despite prior inputs, is not just troubling—it is a lapse.
The security grid is strong in the valley, one of the reasons given for the spurt of terrorist activity in the Jammu region in 2023-24. In the history of terrorism in J&K for over 35 years, 16 years saw killings of around 1,000 annually. Time and again, Pakistan-backed terrorists have managed to engineer violence, choosing their time and place. It is not possible for the security forces to thwart their actions each time. Deployment of forces is hugely dependent on the threat perception and areas of strategic importance. But even if you pump in thousands of men in the Pir Panjal range, the forests and mountains will simply gobble them up and you will not be able to command all the ingress and egress points.
How should a senseless slaughter of innocent tourists, bearing the imprimatur of the ISI be responded to? No terrorist group had earlier targeted tourists, as tourism was an essential component of J&K economy and livelihood of the local people. For the time being, the decision by the Cabinet Committee on Security to stay the Indus Waters Treaty and asking the military advisers of Pakistan embassy to go back are welcome moves. The closure of Attari border and cancelling all visas for Pakistanis will, however, affect the common man and certainly should be reviewed later. Briefing diplomats on the attack is a wise step to convince the various countries to isolate Pakistan. An ex-Pentagon official has even called for declaring Pakistan a terror state.
At media debates, security and area experts have mostly advised a calibrated response—to weigh in different options and not to respond in a knee-jerk manner. It is also important to consider if retaliatory actions taken by India post Uri or Pulwama attacks have deterred Pakistan from committing transgressions at the border and within J&K. In fact, terrorists equipped with the latest M4 carbines are coming in and the number of foreign terrorists today (estimated at 75) is larger than the home-grown ones. Drones carrying drugs and weapons from across the border are repeatedly seized or repelled by the Border Security Force along the Punjab and Jammu borders.
Has the ceasefire along the LoC since 2021 benefited India? No. It has given Pakistan the breather to shift nearly 80,000 troops to the Afghan border, where its army is fighting a losing battle with the Tehrik-e-Taliban and is on a tense face-off with Afghan troops over the expulsion of more than 1 lakh Afghans from Pakistan. Another diversion is towards Balochistan, where it is engaged in crushing the insurgency in the most brutal manner. A part is deployed to protect China’s CPEC interests and contain dissent in Gilgit-Baltistan. It has also allowed the ISI to double down on its covert war in Kashmir.
The Pakistan Army chief also continues with his rant over Kashmir, giving a clear hint of his pernicious designs. Where lies the sanctity of the ceasefire agreement when it is flouted in the most brazen manner? Why not abrogate this meaningless agreement?
The second option would be to give a massive thrust to our covert actions and go on an intelligence overdrive to neutralise all sleeper cells of Pakistani terrorist groups in the country. All social media handles emanating from Pakistan should be blocked and Indian envoys should lay bare the details of the butchery at Baisaran in all capitals abroad. The unearthing of fresh evidence of Pakistan’s complicity by the NIA should once again be shared with all countries.
Third, once the NIA investigation is over and world capitals have been fully briefed, kinetic action must be considered. This should not be driven by public sentiment alone—it must strategic, proportionate, precise and well-timed. The defence forces and intelligence agencies are well equipped with the information on the terror bases across the line. There is great scope for sharing intelligence with friendly countries like the US, Japan, Australia and others. Most nations are behind India in condemning terror, barring a few like China and Turkey. Joining the government in this hour is the entire opposition and Kashmiris. The prime minister’s intent is clear when he says that terrorism should be finished, once for all.
How long can you live in the shadow of nuclear blackmail? Hesitation to act after Mumbai attacks and only using diplomatic channels is still a matter of public discourse. Apart from the nine terrorists killed on ground and one brought to trial, the handlers in Pakistan still breathe easy. Tahawwur Rana could be extradited 17 years later, at best, to confirm the information already available from Headley. Let Lashkar-e-Taiba not go unpunished this time for the savagery at Pahalgam, and nor should the ISI handlers.
The carnage of Baisaran will remain etched in the memory of the nation forever. The lush meadows where grass-flowers grow wild will wait earnestly for visitors again. Drowned in anger and pain, the citizens await a befitting retaliatory action from the government.
(Views are personal)
Yashovardhan Azad
Former Central Information Commissioner and former Secretary (Security) and Special Director, Intelligence Bureau