4 hours ago
3
SRINAGAR – Hundreds of Indian tourists, families and honeymooners, drawn by the breathtaking Himalayan beauty, were enjoying a picture-perfect meadow successful Kashmir. They didn’t cognize gunmen successful service fatigues were lurking successful the woods.
When the attackers got their chance, they changeable mostly Indian Hindu men, galore of them astatine close-range, leaving down bodies strewn crossed the Baisaran meadow and survivors screaming for help.
The gunmen rapidly vanished into heavy forests. By the clip Indian authorities arrived, 26 radical were dead and 17 others were wounded.
India has described the April 22 massacre arsenic a panic onslaught and blamed Pakistan for backing it, an accusation denied by Islamabad. India swiftly announced diplomatic actions against its archrival Pakistan, which responded with its ain tit-for-tat measures.
The assailants are inactive connected the run, arsenic calls successful India for subject enactment against Pakistan are growing.
World leaders are scrambling to de-escalate the tensions betwixt 2 nuclear-armed neighbors, which person historically relied connected 3rd countries for struggle management.
But the massacre has besides touched a earthy nerve.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s medication has governed Kashmir with an robust fist successful caller years, claiming militancy successful the portion was successful cheque and a tourism influx was a motion of normalcy returning.
Those claims present prevarication shattered.
India admits information lapse
Security experts and erstwhile quality and elder subject officers who person served successful the portion accidental Modi’s authorities — riding connected a nationalistic fervor implicit Kashmir to delight its supporters — missed informing signs.
The authorities acknowledged that successful a uncommon admission.
Two days aft the attack, Kiren Rijiju, India’s parliamentary affairs minister, said that a important all-party gathering discussed “where the lapses occurred.”
“We wholly missed ... the intentions of our hostile neighbor,” said Avinash Mohananey, a erstwhile Indian quality serviceman who has operated successful Kashmir and Pakistan.
The meadow, adjacent the edifice municipality of Pahalgam, tin beryllium reached by trekking oregon pony rides, and visitors transverse astatine slightest 3 information camps and a constabulary presumption to scope there. According to Indian media, determination was nary information beingness for much than 1,000 tourists that day.
Pahalgam serves arsenic a basal for an yearly Hindu pilgrimage that draws hundreds of thousands of radical from crossed India. The country is ringed by heavy woods that link with wood ranges successful the Jammu area, wherever Indian troops person faced attacks by rebels successful caller years aft warring ebbed successful the Kashmir Valley, the bosom of an anti-India rebellion.
The massacre brought Modi’s medication astir backmost to wherever it started erstwhile a termination car bombing successful the portion successful 2019 prompted his authorities to portion Kashmir of its semi-autonomy and bring it nether nonstop national rule. Tensions person simmered ever since, but the portion has besides drawn millions of visitors amid a unusual calm enforced by an intensified information crackdown.
“We astir apt started buying our ain communicative that things were mean successful Kashmir,” Mohananey said.
In the past, insurgents person carried retired brazen attacks and targeted Hindu pilgrims, Indian Hindu arsenic good arsenic Muslim migrant workers, and section Hindus and Sikhs. However, this clip a ample fig of tourists were attacked, making it 1 of the worst massacres involving civilians successful caller years.
The onslaught outraged radical successful Kashmir and India, wherever it led to calls of swift enactment against Pakistan.
Indian tv quality channels amplified these demands and panelists argued that India should invade Pakistan. Modi and his elder ministers vowed to hunt down the attackers and their backers.
Experts accidental overmuch of the nationalist unit connected the Indian authorities to enactment militarily against Pakistan falls wrong the signifier of long, simmering animosity betwixt some countries.
“All the speech of subject options against Pakistan chiefly happens successful echo chambers and feeds a nationalist narrative,” successful India, New Delhi-based counterterrorism adept Ajai Sahni said.
“It doesn’t substance what volition beryllium done. We volition beryllium told it was done and was a success,” helium said. “And it volition beryllium celebrated nonetheless.”
Modi’s optimism misplaced, experts say
Experts besides accidental that the Modi government’s optimism was besides mostly misplaced and that its continuous boasting of rising tourism successful the portion was a fragile barometer of normalcy. Last year, Omar Abdullah, Kashmir’s apical elected official, cautioned against specified optimism.
“By this attack, Pakistan wants to convey that determination is nary normalcy successful Kashmir and that tourism is nary indicator for it. They privation to internationalize the issue,” said D.S. Hooda, erstwhile subject commandant for bluish India betwixt 2014 to 2016.
Hooda said the “choice of targets and the mode successful which the onslaught was carried retired indicates that it was well-planned.”
“If determination would person been a bully information cover, possibly this incidental would not person happened,” helium said.
India sees Pakistan transportation to the attack
Indian information experts judge the onslaught could beryllium a retaliation for a passenger bid hijacking successful Pakistan successful March by Baloch insurgents. Islamabad accused New Delhi of orchestrating the onslaught successful which 25 radical were killed. India denies it.
Mohananey said that Indian authorities should person taken the accusations earnestly and beefed-up information successful Kashmir, portion arguing determination was a striking similarity successful some attacks since lone men were targeted.
“It was antithetic that women and children were spared" successful some cases, Mohananey said.
Two elder constabulary officers, who person years of counterinsurgency acquisition successful Kashmir, said aft the bid onslaught successful Pakistan that they were anticipating immoderate benignant of absorption successful the portion by militants.
The officers, who spoke connected information of anonymity due to the fact that of the sensitivity of the matter, said that information officials perceived the menace of an imminent attack, and Modi’s inauguration of a strategical obstruction enactment successful the portion was canceled. A large-scale onslaught connected tourists, however, wasn't anticipated, due to the fact that determination was nary specified precedence, the officers said.
Hooda, who commanded what New Delhi called “surgical strikes” against militants successful the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir successful 2016, said that the onslaught has deepened reasoning that it was clip to tackle the Pakistani state, not conscionable militants.
Such calculus could beryllium a marked shift. In 2016 and 2019, India said that its service struck militant infrastructure wrong Pakistan aft 2 large militant attacks against its soldiers.
“After this attack,” Hooda said, India wants to halt Pakistan "from utilizing coercion arsenic an instrumentality of authorities policy.”
“We request to tighten our information and plug lapses, but the fountainhead of coercion needs to beryllium tackled,” Hooda said. “The fountainhead is Pakistan.”
___
Saaliq and Roy reported from New Delhi.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
English (US) ·