No amount of condemnation will be commensurate to cover the heinous and dastardly nature of the attack that led to the deaths of at least 28 people in Pahalgam on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. It is a cold-blooded massacre that curdles our blood. The Resistance Front, thought to be a proxy for Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility. Reports say one of the perpetrators refrained from killing a tourist with a message: “Go tell Modi.” It does not take much imagination to conclude where the message stems from. It also does not matter what jumble of alphabets the organisation goes by. A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist.

As recently as a week ago, the Pakistani Army chief, Lt General Asim Munir, promised Pakistan would go for the jugular, which he defined as Kashmir. For those with short memories, this is what he said: “Our stance on Kashmir is absolutely clear. It was our jugular vein, and it is our jugular vein. We will not forget it, and we will not leave our Kashmiri brethren in their heroic struggle against the Indian occupation.” A week later we have Pahalgam. Consider the pointed remarks of the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations, Lt General Ahmed Sharif, who squarely blamed his “eastern neighbour” for the attack in March on Jaffer Express and its hijack. He said, “The main sponsor of terrorism in Balochistan and in past........

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