The brutal massacre of 25 Hindu tourists in Pahalgam, Kashmir by The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), backed by Pakistan has sent shock waves across the world. Many global leaders have condemned this barbaric attack and have pledged their solidarity against Terrorism. This was the deadliest attack in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. As per the eyewitnesses, the terrorists opened fire on the tourists, rounded them up and asked for their religion. The tourists were even asked to recite the ‘Kalma’ and their pants were unzipped to identify Muslims.
Muslims were spared and the others who couldn’t recite Kalma were all shot dead at point blank. The Kashmir valley had witnessed a massive surge in tourist footfall, with the security situation improving considerably. But the latest attack will have a catastrophic impact on Kashmir’s tourism. This terrorist attack, clearly backed by the Pakistan government in sync with its military doctrine of ‘bleed India with a thousand cuts’, is clearly a diversionary tactic from many of its domestic issues.
The Pakistani government has been struggling with the rise of separatist movements in Balochistan and strong protests in the occupied Kashmir (PoK) region. The recent hijacking of Jaffar Express with 380 passengers onboard, travelling from Quetta to Peshawar by Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) further exposed the vulnerability of Pakistan. Even when hundreds of people in Balochistan have been murdered by the Pakistani establishment, there has been no reduction in the number of fighters joining the liberation movement of Balochistan.
All the views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. Image Credit: Frontline, The Hindu.
About the Author
Ganesh Puthur is a writer who works in both English and Malayalam. He is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar and has also been awarded a Junior Fellowship by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India—an honour recognising excellence in the field of culture,
