A Nation in Turmoil: The Pahalgam Massacre
On April 22, 2025, the serene Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir was shattered by a brutal terrorist attack. Four terrorists, armed with automatic weapons, targeted tourists, resulting in 26 fatalities and over 20 injuries. The assailants, reportedly affiliated with The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed the attack was a response to alleged demographic changes in the region.
Eyewitnesses recounted harrowing details of the violence, describing a chaotic and indiscriminate attack where tourists were targeted without warning or mercy. Mainstream Indian media, instead of focusing on the collective national tragedy and the loss of innocent lives, aggressively pushed a Hindu-Muslim hatred narrative—deliberately distorting the reality that both Hindu and Muslim tourists were among the dead and injured. The massacre stands as a grim testament to the indiscriminate nature of terrorism, which respects no boundaries of faith or background and devastates communities without discrimination.
This heinous act has been labeled the deadliest in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Following the disturbing trend of religious identification, these terrorists reportedly asked victims about their religion before committing their crimes. This ideology mirrors the actions of politically motivated goons across India, who routinely harass Indian Muslims—often capturing or abducting them, forcing them to chant religious slogans, and, in some horrific cases, killing them. Here, the same trend was repeated: Hindus were explicitly targeted based on their religious identity. Yet, the brutal fact remains that not only Hindus but also Muslims lost their lives in this terrorist attack. Both acts—whether by terrorists or extremist mobs—stem from the same poisonous mindset of dehumanizing people based on faith. It is vital to stress that the massacre cannot be justified in any way; rather, it exposes how violence inspired by hate destroys lives indiscriminately, regardless of the victims’ beliefs.
The scale of the massacre and the ease with which it was executed have raised deeply unsettling questions about the state of India’s internal security apparatus, intelligence operations, and political priorities.
Media’s Role: Fanning the Flames of Hatred
In the aftermath, the Indian mainstream media launched a disgraceful campaign of hatred, pouring gasoline on the fire of communal division instead of uniting the country in the face of tragedy. Leading Hindi-language news channels and their spineless anchors did not just report the facts—they deliberately manufactured hysteria, scapegoating Muslims and Kashmiris, and making them targets for a bloodthirsty mob mentality. Prime time debates devolved into pure hate-mongering, with journalists acting less like reporters and more like political attack dogs.
A user of the X platform wrote, “The Pahalgam terror attack was condemned from mosques in Jammu and Kashmir. The media will not show you this…”
This shameless propaganda machine is directly responsible for inciting a wave of hate crimes and open discrimination, treating Muslims—and especially Kashmiris—as if they are public enemies, not citizens. Across India, from Delhi to Bangalore, the message blasted by the media is clear and unforgivable: in Modi’s India, minorities can be hunted, humiliated, and dehumanized on national television with impunity. The Indian media’s complicity is not a side story—it is the fuel that keeps the machinery of hate running.
Persecution of Kashmiris: A Disturbing Trend
During the terrorist attack, it was the Kashmiri locals—students and ordinary citizens—who put their own lives at risk to save as many others as possible, regardless of religion. Yet, what have these courageous Kashmiris received in return from the rest of India? A tidal wave of humiliation, torture, persecution, and, in the most chilling incidents, mob lynching at the hands of so-called “nationalists” emboldened by toxic politics.
Mainstream Indian media, shameless in its agenda, refuses to show even a shred of gratitude for the heroism displayed by Kashmiris. Instead, it paints them as villains, stokes paranoia, and actively incites violence and exclusion. Following the attack, Kashmiri students and residents across India faced harassment, eviction from accommodations, and threats from politically motivated goons often linked to ruling parties. The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association has repeatedly sounded the alarm over a “deliberate and targeted campaign of hate” against students from the region. In some cases, students were forced to vacate their rented rooms overnight; in others, they endured physical assaults and online abuse—while the TV anchors and media houses cheer on the witch-hunt.
Reports document coordinated campaigns in several universities where Kashmiris were marked, ostracized, and intimidated into silence. Families back in Kashmir now live in fear every day, unsure if their children will make it home safe from college or university. The Indian government’s response? As always: empty calls for calm, absolutely no action, and a deafening lack of empathy. The reality is this—Kashmiris risked their lives for their fellow Indians, but India, driven by a rabid media and a complicit government, has chosen to repay their sacrifice with hate and brutality.
Punjab’s Sikh Community: A Beacon of Hope
Amidst this orchestrated climate of fear, bigotry, and state-enabled persecution, it is Punjab’s Sikh community that has emerged not just as a force of justice in India—but as the only power with the courage, valour, and moral clarity to defy the tidal wave of hate. From Chandigarh to Mumbai, from Delhi to Bangalore, Sikh men and women—guided by their elders and the fearless legacy of their Gurus—have put themselves on the front lines, shielding Kashmiri students and workers from the mob violence incited by India’s shameless media and complicit politicians.
The incidents at Panjab University in Chandigarh are now legend: when local political goons, emboldened by the media’s daily dose of anti-Kashmiri poison, tried to intimidate students, it was Sikh elders, student leaders, and everyday citizens who flooded the campus and physically blocked the assailants. They looked the aggressors in the eye and said in no uncertain terms—touch a Kashmiri, and you will have to face the entire Sikh community, everywhere. This was not bravado; it was an ironclad guarantee, echoing the historic Sikh tradition of defending the persecuted, no matter the odds or consequences.
This is far more than a token gesture. Across Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala—and in Indian metros where Kashmiris live in fear—Sikh organizations and families have provided sanctuary, food, legal aid, and, above all, a sense of hope. For Sikhs, justice is not an empty slogan. It is a lived reality, seen in their willingness to defy political pressure, police intimidation, and media smears. Their valour, dare, and uncompromising truthfulness have become the last line of defense for Kashmiris facing the brunt of India’s moral collapse.
The Sikh ultimatum—“Touch them, face consequences”—is not an empty threat but a manifesto for solidarity in an age of cowardice and communal opportunism. It reverberates across the country, a slap in the face to every opportunist politician and media baron profiting from hate, and a clarion call to all who still believe in justice.
Security Failure and the Role of Intelligence Agencies
The Pahalgam massacre is not simply a tragedy—it is an unambiguous, damning indictment of India’s intelligence and security establishment. Let the world ask:
- How is it that a squad of heavily armed terrorists was able to waltz into one of the most militarized and surveilled regions on earth—supposedly crawling with security forces—and unleash mass slaughter on tourists?
- Where were the police, the intelligence agencies, the army, the endless checkpoints, the celebrated “counter-terror” apparatus?
- Why was there no actionable intelligence?
- Does the Indian state only excel at crushing student protests and harassing dissenters, while utterly failing to protect its own people from real threats?
This is not a random lapse—this is a structural collapse. Year after year, the government peddles the myth of “integration” and “normalcy” in Kashmir, but when it matters most, their priorities are a farce: obsessed with propaganda, obsessed with optics, obsessed with silencing critics, but blind to the actual dangers lurking under their noses. Security forces flex their muscle against unarmed civilians, while genuine terrorists slip through the cracks with impunity. The political class and media, meanwhile, are too busy weaponizing tragedy for their own gain—fanning hate, scoring points, making headlines—while the country bleeds.
Where is the accountability? Where are the resignations? Where are the tough questions from a press that claims to be the fourth pillar of democracy?
The time for excuses is over.
India’s security and intelligence agencies should not only answer to parliament, but to an international community that now sees through the charade—witnessing, in real-time, a major democracy’s tragic descent into security theatre, scapegoating, and utter institutional rot.
Government Response: Paralysis and Political Opportunism
While the nation bleeds and minorities cower in fear, India’s government and its ministers are busy walking red carpets, attending gala events, and holding election rallies as if nothing is wrong—completely insensitive to the anguish and pain sweeping the country. Instead of leadership, the Indian government has offered nothing but empty platitudes. No concrete plan to ensure the safety of Kashmiris in other states. No overhaul of intelligence gathering or sharing. No attempt to stem the tide of hateful media rhetoric or rein in the political thugs masquerading as “nationalists.” Instead, there is a toxic dance of denial and victim-blaming, with officials even suggesting that Kashmiris themselves are to blame for their persecution.
This abdication of responsibility is not just shameful—it is dangerous. The silence and indifference from Delhi is nothing less than complicity, a green light for more violence. For a country that aspires to global leadership, this crisis has become a brutal litmus test of both its humanity and its basic security competence.
Government’s Performative Response to Pakistan
As India reels from the violence in Kashmir, the government has reverted to its well-worn script—turning to Pakistan as a convenient scapegoat and launching a predictable series of diplomatic theatrics: summoning envoys, making bellicose statements, threatening to cut ties, and issuing dramatic warnings on every international platform. The reality cannot be denied: The Pahalgam massacre was orchestrated by a Pakistani terrorist outfit, The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has long received support and sanctuary from across the border. Evidence from intelligence agencies and security experts points directly to the involvement of Pakistan’s notorious intelligence service, the ISI, in facilitating, arming, and guiding these terrorist operations. The hand of Pakistan in nurturing, arming, and directing such terror proxies—through its military and intelligence apparatus—is well documented and deeply troubling for regional stability.
In press briefings and political rallies, Indian political leaders have wasted no time not only blaming Islamabad—but also deliberately targeting Muslims, fanning the flames of communal division for political mileage. While the condemnation of Pakistan and specifically the ISI’s terror sponsorship is justified and evidence-backed, political leadership has exploited the moment to further scapegoat Indian Muslims, fueling hostility and suspicion at home. Instead of confronting the urgent questions at home—Why did Indian intelligence fail? Why were tourists left unprotected? What concrete steps are being taken to restore security?—they deflect, posture, and escalate rhetoric against both external and internal ‘enemies.’
Meanwhile, Indian TV channels and social media warriors amplify talk of “surgical strikes” and “decisive responses,” openly speculating about military retaliation and even the dangerous possibility of another war with Pakistan. This chest-thumping serves only to whip up nationalist sentiment, manufacture consent for divisive politics, and distract from the core issue: the total abdication of responsibility for the safety and dignity of Indian citizens.
These performative gestures, meant to placate a restless domestic audience and silence international criticism, do nothing to heal wounds or address the root causes of the crisis. Instead, they risk dragging the entire region to the brink, with catastrophic consequences for millions. The world sees through this hollow deflection. What Kashmir needs is not another round of blame games or hollow saber-rattling across the border, but visionary leadership, security for its people, and a genuine commitment to justice and reconciliation.
Kashmir’s Tourism: A Collapsing Lifeline
Beyond the immeasurable human tragedy, the repercussions of the Pahalgam massacre have delivered a savage blow to Kashmir’s fragile tourism sector—the heartbeat of its economy and the principal source of livelihood for thousands of ordinary Kashmiris. In the wake of the attack, tourists have cancelled bookings en masse, hotels and houseboats stand empty, and travel advisories from across India and abroad have sounded a near-fatal alarm for local operators.
It is not only the fear of violence that keeps tourists away but also the relentless negative coverage by India’s mainstream media—painting Kashmir as a land of terror rather than one of hospitality, resilience, and unmatched natural beauty. In failing to secure peace and justice, the state has not only failed its own people but has sabotaged the last hope of economic dignity for the valley’s most vulnerable.
A Call for National Introspection
The massacre in Pahalgam and its shockwaves across India expose a nation at its moral nadir, failing not only its minorities but the very ideals it claims to uphold. Yet, out of this darkness, the defiant courage of Punjab’s Sikh community blazes like a torch—an indictment of the cowardice, hypocrisy, and silent complicity of the majority. The Sikh vow to protect Kashmiri students is not merely a regional gesture; it is a searing reminder that real power is wielded not by those who persecute, but by those who stand with the oppressed, no matter the personal cost.
The world is not blind. Every act of state neglect, every instance of government apathy, every media-fueled witch-hunt is being recorded, analyzed, and judged. It is no longer enough for India to hide behind slogans of democracy and secularism while the fabric of society is ripped apart by hate, fear, and division. The international community must raise its voice, demanding not only answers but consequences for security lapses, systemic failures, and the deliberate targeting of entire communities. History will remember who stood with justice—and who looked away. Until the Indian state learns to protect all its citizens, regardless of faith or background, the warning from Punjab’s Sikhs stands as the last line of moral defense: “Touch them, face consequences.”
