The Pahalgam attack was a horrific and reprehensible act by any canon of law. However, what motivated this attack remains a matter of contentious debate. It is yet to be deciphered whether it was a false-flag operation or a genuine terrorist attack. From one’s perspective, it appears to be a false flag operation with one or more objectives. Various indications portray a suspicious picture of the Indian government in this terror attack. Firstly, the act of blaming Pakistan for the terror attack without a shred of evidence, followed by placing the Indus Water Treaty 1960 in abeyance the very next day, raises suspicions. Secondly, rejecting Pakistan’s offer to conduct a neutral and transparent inquiry into the Pahalgam attack was another sign that the Indian government was up to some other designs.

Even Pakistan offered an international investigation, including UNSC members and European nations, to ensure transparency. European states backed Pakistan’s proposal for a neutral investigation. India did not pay any heed to any probe into the gruesome terror attack. It was inconceivable that a so-called victim of terrorism was reluctant to launch a transparent inquiry into the matter. In contrast, an alleged perpetrator of terrorism confidently invited a neutral probe. Thirdly, India unleashed a missile attack on multiple places in Pakistan on 6-7 May, weeks after the Pahalgam incident. India claimed to be targeting “terrorist infrastructure,” but in reality, 31 civilians were killed in Indian strikes.

Indian leadership’s excessive hubris, coupled with a massive disinformation campaign, led to this distortion. During an interview with Karan Thapar, Former National Security Advisor Mooed Yusuf rightly terms this change in Indian society as a “serious problem in the collective consciousness of India.”

Violation of a state’s sovereignty and integrity without any concrete evidence and legitimacy showed that Pakistan was the target, not terrorism. Furthermore, three motives might lie behind staging the “Pahalgam........

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