Condemnable, no matter who committed terrorism in Pahalgam, Kashmir

As reported by various national and international newspapers that during a horrendous and shocking attack on foreign tourists in Pahalgam (Kashmir) on Tuesday April 22, 2025, more than two dozen innocent people, including women were killed. Pahalgam is one of the most scenic tourist places in Kashmir. These attacks are condemnable, no matter who commits them. Terrorism must be condemned in all its shades and manifestations. Terrorism must have no place in any civilized society. A life that indulges in terrorism is not worth living. That must be the shinning creed of today, tomorrow and forever. Can anyone think of anything more ennobling?

Unfortunately, Kashmir has a tragic history of such terrorist attacks. Take the case of the 35 Sikhs who were murdered at Chattisinghpora in Indian occupied Kashmir on March 20, 2000, during the visit of President Bill Clinton to India. Those innocent Sikh victims had done no harm to anyone, had not colluded with anybody. Indeed, Chattisinghpora Sikh massacre was thus unmitigated evil and an earmark of barbarism contemptuous of civilization. Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims in Kashmir have lived fraternally for centuries.

Congressman Edolphus Towns of New York spoke at the United States Congress on June 6, 2006. One can read his whole speech via Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8] [Page 10183].[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

I quote part of his speech here. He said, “Mr. Speaker, recently, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright wrote a book called The Mighty and the Almighty. The introduction was written by former President Bill Clinton. In his introduction, President Clinton wrote, “During my visit to India in 2000, some Hindu militants decided to vent their outrage by murdering 38 Sikhs in cold blood. If I hadn't made the trip, the victims would probably still be alive. If I hadn't made the trip because I feared what militants might do, I couldn't have done my job as president of the United States.”

It is also worth noting that Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has been spreading rumors all along and as early as in 1992 that as many as 40 Hindu temples have been destroyed in Kashmir by Muslims. It is simply not true. Consider this brief excerpt from the February 28, 1993, issue of New Delhi-based ‘India Today’. “The evidence that the temples were not demolished or desecrated by the Muslims as claimed by the BJP, but in riot-like situations by bomb and rocket attacks. That is why the figure includes both temples and mosques. If temples were to be singled out, they could easily have been attacked in village after village. In many places such as Lukh bhawan in Anantnag, it is the Muslim who feed the fish in the pond around which stand three temples.”

As a Kashmiri American who comes from an area which is just 30 miles away from Pahalgam, I feel proud to say that Kashmir has a history of tolerance and amity between different religious communities. It has a tradition of moderation and non-violence. Its culture does not generate extremism. No one can deny the fact – of no small significance – that while the Subcontinent under British rule was and India is now, the scene of recurrent murderous strife, communal riots were unheard of in Kashmir? That unquestionable fact brings out the real character of Kashmir’s heritage. And it was none other than Mahatma Gandhi who said in August 1947 during his visit to Kashmir, “It is really difficult for me to distinguish between a Hindu Kashmiri and a Muslim Kashmiri. You people speak one language and have one culture. While the rest of the country burns in communal fire, I see a ray of hope in Kashmir only…”

Therefore, we demand that the Government of India must permit an independent, impartial and international agency, more preferably the United Nations, to investigate these terrorist attacks in Pahalgam, in identifying, apprehending and punishing the culprits.