The recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of Hindu tourists, all male, was tragic and reprehensible by every standard of human decency. No justification can be given for such bloodshed. However, equally troubling has been the immediate and uninhibited reaction across India, particularly targeting the Muslim population of Indian-occupied Kashmir, without any credible investigation or fact-based reporting.

Instead of appealing for calm or ensuring a neutral inquiry, India's politicians and media began placing blame on Kashmiris and accusing Pakistan of orchestrating the attack.

On social media, Hindus openly called for boycotts of Kashmiri goods and tourism to the Valley in an attempt to bring economic deprivation to the Muslim population in Kashmir. The vitriol was disturbingly collective in tone — punishing an entire community based on nothing more than religious identity.

This episode has yet again unmasked the Hindutva-driven contradiction at the heart of the Indian state: a nation that claims Kashmir is its "integral part" but treats its Muslim majority population as outsiders at best and enemies at worst. The events following Pahalgam have laid bare this duplicity.

The Modi government's longstanding narrative - that peace has returned to Kashmir post the revocation of Article 370 - now stands dismantled by its own people's behaviour. If indeed Kashmiris have embraced India, why does Indian public discourse continue to paint them as complicit in terrorism every time violence occurs?

The two-nation........

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