The number of innocent people killed in the Pahalgam terrorist attack, painful as it is for every Indian citizen to bear, cannot fully reflect the severity of the atrocity.
The true measure of the monstrosity lies in the diabolic schema of shock and horror directed at the nation’s collective psyche, the cold-blooded cost-benefit calculation of its impact on Jammu and Kashmir’s peace and progress, and the no-to-subtle messaging to seed communal discord in Indian society are just some of the disconcerting underlying ramifications.
This level of sophistication does not seem to be the handiwork of an upstart terrorist group—the Resistance Front (TRF), which has taken responsibility for the attack—but likely points to the modus operandi of state-level intelligence agencies.
It is untenable that a small-time, indigenous group would self-sabotage by inflicting harm on the security and livelihood of its own people, that it would target innocent tourists in the best season of the year, and jeopardise the precious restitution of normalcy in the valley after a long time.
Clearly, the spite and venom needed for planning such a terror attack is rooted in hate and envy nurtured outside the country—namely, in Pakistan, which is ravaged by self-radicalised religious militants and is on the verge of imploding under the weight of its own contradictions.
It is often said that style is character. This is quite evident in the way the terrorists in Pahalgam first enquired about the religious identity of the tourists before shooting them down. It is only a foreign enemy who would choose the peak tourism season in Kashmir to carry out such an attack and who would strike just a week after registration was opened for devotees planning for the Amarnath Yatra. Left out by both the US and several Gulf states since the Yemen war, it is Pakistan that has a motive in timing the attack when the US vice president is on a visit to India and the Indian prime minister holding talks in Saudi Arabia.
It is important to note here that, in recent years, Jammu and Kashmir has enjoyed greater security, better governance and rapid development following the revocation of Article 370, and the formation of the National Front government after assembly elections late last year.
It is important to note that an earlier attempt to cause chaos through terror had occurred in Ganderbal district on October 20, 2024—days after the swearing in of the Omar Abdullah government. In that attack, six workers and a doctor were shot dead, reportedly by TRF terrorists. The attack was aimed at stalling the construction of a tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh national highway.
The reason the Pahalgam attack mark a watershed in the sad saga of terrorism directed at the people of Jammu and Kashmir is that this strike was more religious than political in its motives. The attempt to give an English name like TRF to a jihadist group was exposed when the innocent victims were asked about their religious identities.
More disturbing is the context, as the attacks come on the heels of the shocking anti-Hindu rant of Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir at a convention of overseas Pakistanis in Islamabad less than a week ago, when he claimed differences between Hindus and Muslims in “every possible aspect of life”.
With Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan radicalising Pakistani youth on being more Sharaiah-compliant than Islamabad, Munir’s claim that his country is the only Islamic state after the Prophet’s Medina was facetious at best. His fear that young Pakistanis are not buying the anti-India hate is confirmed by his assertion during the speech that the rationale of the two-nation theory needs to be inculcated among the second- and third-generation post-partition Pakistanis.
However, the religious narrative—though discredited by the Taliban—seems to be the only ideological glue left with the beleaguered general in binding a floundering nation. In Munir’s calculus, a short-term showdown triggered by a terrorist attack in J&K might appear to be the only—albeit, potentially dangerous—option for rescuing the sinking ship.
It is also noteworthy that Munir’s own worldview is shaped by his religious upbringing, with his father reported to be an imam at a mosque and he himself being a Hafiz-e-Quran, or one who has memorised the entire Quran. Thus, Munir’s speeches sound more jihadist than that of a general leading a professional and modern military. Addressing a grand jirga of religious elders in Peshawar in August 2023, he spoke like a typical jihadist when he said that Pakistan’s army “is the army of martyrs whose motto is imaan, taqwa aur jihad fi Sabilillah (faith, piety and jihad solely to please Allah)”.
The context in which the Pahalgam attack has taken place makes this act of provocation riddled with more uncertainty than India’s response to the Pulwama and Uri strikes. A vast array of telling hard powers and a sharp response involving military, diplomatic, economic and high-tech options would have to be explored in countering the threat. The terrorists’ attempt to undermine the societal and communal fabric of the country would also have to be taken into account while devising a comprehensive, effective and timely plan of action.
It is heartening to note that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have come out in large numbers to denounce the dastardly attack. Long candle marches by people from all communities in Kashmir, the all-party bandh called by various political parties, announcements from mosques such as such as the Jamia Masjid Bhalessa condemning the killings in the name of Islam, and the outrage expressed by several imams such as Jama Masjid Thathri’s Maulana Shafqat Qasmi—all these acts signify a change in the air that should boost the morale of the Indian government and the security forces.
Adil Rasheed
Research Fellow and Coordinator, Counter Terrorism Centre at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Strategic Studies and Analyses
(Views are personal)
