Oh, this is truly horrific.
The resort area of Pahalgam, in the volatile Kashmir region on India's border with Pakistan, had been a bit of a success story for Prime Minister Modi.
The Islamic separatists who had long plagued development by operating and terrorizing residents and visitors in the area had seemingly been subdued for quite a while, and the lush, natural beauty of the valleys was luring volumes of both Hindu pilgrims and tourists back.
Pahalgam is a hill station in the southern part of Indian-administered Kashmir. Located about 90km [56 miles] from the airport in the region's main city Srinagar, the town is a major tourist centre and accounts for a bulk of tourist footfall in the state.
It is around 200km from the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
The local government recently announced that more than 23 million tourists visited the state in 2024 - a huge chunk of them are believed to have visited the scenic town.
It had become a popular destination for families and honeymooners, like newly married Indian Navy Lt. Vinay Narwal. He and his bride were married on the 16th of April, and left for their dream honeymoon in the bucolic meadows around Pahalgam.
#WATCH: The last video shared by Lt. Vinay Narwal before the #PahalgamTerrorAttack is now going viral on social media.#VinayNarwal #PahalgamTerroristAttack #PahalgamAttack #HimanshiNarwal #Viral #ViralVideo #Trending pic.twitter.com/es7CNTe9EJ
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) April 23, 2025
Gunmen burst out of the forest yesterday and into the groups of tourists enjoying the stunning alpine meadow scenery. The Muslim gunmen were from a group known as The Resistance Front (TRF).
...The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadowy outfit linked to Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, may have claimed responsibility.
..."This appears to be an offshoot group linked to Lashkar, likely trying to keep some distance while still signalling it’s active," military historian Srinath Raghavan told the BBC.
"For groups like these, when they're constrained, they carry out attacks to show their backers they’re still ‘in business’ - a way to prove they remain a usable instrument."
The assassins sprayed the confused travelers indiscrimately at first, and then began a methodical selection process for handing out death sentences.
...“We reached the area at around 2.10 pm and nearly 20 minutes later, we heard the sound of gunfire. Initially we thought it was blank fire by forest officials, but my son saw two men getting shot,” he said.
After the gunshots, they went down on their knees under a tree as directed by the masked gunmen and there were many other tourists in the same positions.
“One person was hesitant about going down. A masked man went to him and said something in his ears. Within a few seconds, he was shot in the head, and the man fell on me. I was completely blood-stained and started chanting Kalma following the other tourists,” he said.
...“It took some time for us to realise that this was a terrorist attack. One masked man in a black outfit pointed a gun at my head and asked me to chant (Kalma) louder. He asked me if I was chanting Ram Ram or Allah. When I correctly chanted Kalma, he left me,” Bhattacharya said.
He said that the masked gunmen didn’t ask him directly to chant Kalma, but he followed the others. “Suddenly everyone started chanting this, and I followed because the gunmen must have asked someone to do this,” he said.
Bhattacharya said that he grew up in a Muslim neighborhood, and they were familiar with the Kalima. “I knew the words, and at that moment, this was probably the only way to save our lives. Those who failed, were killed,” he added.
#PahalgamTerroristAttack | “I survived because I could recite the (Islamic) Kalma…”
— Ashwini Shrivastava (@AshwiniSahaya) April 23, 2025
—Debashish Bhattacharya, a professor from Assam University & survivor of the #PahalgamTerrorAttack, shares his haunting ordeal:
“I was lying under a tree with my family when the terrorists… pic.twitter.com/O7MazkcZj8
If your chant was Hindu, however, you were executed.
As the handsome, happy Lt Narwal was. The savages cut him down in front of his bride of six days.
#PahalgamTerrorAttack: As she stood beside the tricolour-draped coffin of her husband, Captain Vinay Narwal, one of the brave hearts who laid down his life in the Pahalgam terror attack, Himanshi Sowami’s voice trembled with grief, yet carried the weight of love, pride, and… pic.twitter.com/E9ETj6WPPe
— Republic (@republic) April 23, 2025
...Her parting words to her late husband and the young Naval officer touched everyone present. “May his soul rest in peace, and may he have the best life wherever he is,” she said, her voice trembling yet resolute. Her promise to honour his legacy was heartfelt and strong: “We will make him proud in every way.”
So much agony.
Heartbreaking news from #JammuAndKashmir’s #Pahalgam following the atrocities of the #PahalgamTerrorAttack.
— 🎗️🇮🇱Daniel Carmon🇮🇱🎗️ (@danielocarmon) April 23, 2025
Standing by our brothers in India.
Horrific. Just horrific.
My heartfelt condolences. https://t.co/Jwm4jtnuBv
A visitor from the United States was among the victims. He'd come home for a vacation to visit with relatives and aging parents.
A 40-year-old #Kolkata techie, a resident of #Florida, for about a decade, was among the 28 tourists massacred in #PahalgamTerrorAttack.
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) April 23, 2025
He had come to his home town on April 8 with his wife (37) and three-year-old son on summer break.
Read 🔗 https://t.co/EF1lOUeYe9… pic.twitter.com/u8e1ZSUkQa
In a remarkable display of solidarity that would have been unheard of even a decade ago, all of Kashmir shut down in a united protest of the massacre.
For the first time after thirty-five years, whole Kashmir has risen up against Pahalgam attack. It's a major change. We are part of the nation called India, and we will remain part of this nation called India: Farooq Abdullah#NewsToday #PahalgamTerrorAttack | @sardesairajdeep pic.twitter.com/A5ZYFkqQ3O
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) April 23, 2025
The Hindustan Times has a list of the attacks that have plagued the disputed region since 1997.
Modi cut short his other plans, flew to Pahalgam, and then he and the Indian government took swift action, holding Pakistan responsible for the cross-border incursion of their Islamist terrorists. They announced an immediate series of retaliatory measures that will remain in place until the Pakistani government 'credibly and irrevocably abhors its support for cross-border terrorism.'
#PahalgamTerrorAttack | India’s BIG move against #Pakistan after #Kashmir Terror Attack. The #IndusWaterTreaty is suspended indefinitely- will hit flow of water into Pakistan. Full coverage @themojostory here https://t.co/kvOH0fDuFI pic.twitter.com/Be8VozDM2G
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) April 23, 2025
1. The Indus Water Treaty of 1960 held in abeyance immediately
2. The Attari Integrated Checkposts are closed immediately - those who have already crossed over have until 1 May to return to Pakistan
3. Pakistani nationals will not be permitted to travel to India under certain exemption visas. Any such visas previously issued are considered cancelled and any Pakistani nationals in India on those visas have 48 hours to get out
4. Pakistani defense officials in the High Commission in New Delhi are declared persona non grata. They have a week to get out
5. India will be withdrawing its defense officials from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad
As noted in the video, the Indians find it very suspicious that this attack comes in the wake of both successful regional elections and a resurgence of prosperity.
The CCS noted that the Pahalgam attack came in the wake of the successful holding of elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and its steady progress towards economic growth and development, the release shared by the government said.
The most immediate of these to impact Pakistan is the Indus Water Treaty abeyance.
...The boldest move has been to suspend the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan indefinitely. With this, the water supply from the Indus river and its distributaries - the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Satluj will be stopped. These rivers are the water supply for Pakistan and impacts tens of millions of people in that country.
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed on September 19, 1960. The pact was signed between India and Pakistan, with the World Bank brokering the agreement. That treaty withstood three wars between India and Pakistan - in 1965, 1971, and 1999, but is now suspended indefinitely.
And more background on the abeyance and border crossing effects is available here.
BREAKING:
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 23, 2025
India announces strong measures against Pakistan following yesterday’s deadly terror attack against Hindu tourists (26 killed) by Islamist terrorists from Pakistan:
1. Cancelling visas for all Pakistanis
2. Suspends Indus Waters Treaty (1960)
3. Closes the Wagah… pic.twitter.com/rGr3vvEse2
It's going to be costly and painful almost immediately for Pakistan.
So far, every world leader except Mark Carney of Canada has been heard from condemning the attack and in full throated support of the Indian people.
US President Donald Trump, Russia's Vladimir Putin, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other world leaders condemned the terrorist attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday and extended unstinting support over the terror strike that left 26 dead.
That list includes the Taliban piling on.
#Taliban Government of #Afghanistan condemns the #PahalgamTerroristAttack by #Pakistani terr0rists.
— Sam (@hazy_sam) April 23, 2025
It speaks volumes!
Pakistan’s export of terror stands EXPOSED before the world. A nation that breeds violence is now shamed by its neighbors.#PakistanExposed #PahalgamAttack pic.twitter.com/X3K1nE09xF
Rising tensions between the two nuclear-armed states have other implications as well.
An India-Pakistan War would break UK politics.
— Sam Bidwell (@sam_bidwell) April 17, 2025
Britain is home to millions of Indians and Pakistanis. A war between those countries would create riots on our streets and political deadlock - it would be Israel-Gaza on steroids.
More details in my latest article; link below 👇 pic.twitter.com/4p65M2xjSz
The next few days will be crucial.
Lt Narwal was cremated this morning.
VIDEO | Karnal: Navy officer Lt. Vinay Narwal, who lost his life in the Pahalgam terror attack, was cremated with state honours.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 23, 2025
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/xUirNpooUC
More funerals are coming.
