Waseem Gul
With a heart laden with grief and a spirit ablaze with resolve, I write as a Kashmiri, a steward of justice, and a voice for the voiceless. The terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, which cruelly claimed 26 lives and wounded over 20, is not merely a tragedy but a vicious assault on the soul of Kashmir—its people, its beauty, its humanity, and, above all, its cherished Kashmiriyat. Orchestrated by The Resistance Front (TRF), a malignant offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, this atrocity bears the unmistakable stain of Pakistan’s terror machinery. From the depths of my being, I condemn Pakistan’s insidious role and call upon Kashmiris to rise in unity, reject violence with unwavering courage, and stand in profound solidarity with the grieving families and the injured. This is my plea, born of an unyielding love for my homeland and a fierce determination to see it liberated from the chains of terror.
The attack transformed Baisaran Valley, a sanctuary of emerald meadows framed by snow-draped peaks, into a tableau of despair. At approximately 2:50 PM, seven terrorists, some cloaked in military-style uniforms, emerged from the pine-laden forests, armed with AK-47s and M4 carbines. With chilling precision, they unleashed a hail of bullets on innocent tourists, targeting non-Muslims in a grotesque act of hatred, checking identities with ruthless intent. The 26 lives lost included 24 Indian visitors from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh, their dreams of basking in Kashmir’s splendor shattered in an instant. A Nepali citizen, far from the hills of their homeland, and a Kashmiri, who stood defiantly against the attackers, joined the fallen. An Indian Navy officer and an Intelligence Bureau official, pillars of duty, also perished, their sacrifices underscoring the attack’s indiscriminate cruelty. Over 20 others, bearing physical wounds and the unseen scars of trauma, fight for recovery in hospitals, while families across India and Nepal grapple with an irreplaceable void. To these families, I offer my deepest solidarity, my heart entwined with theirs in grief. To the injured, I extend prayers for strength and healing, vowing that their pain will not fade into silence. Their loss is our collective wound, their courage our shared inspiration, their resilience a clarion call to action.
Pakistan’s complicity in this horror is undeniable, rooted in decades of malevolent intent. The attackers, including three identified Pakistani nationals—Asif Fauji, Suleman Shah, and Abu Talha—were not lone zealots but operatives of a sophisticated terror ecosystem sustained by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). For over three decades, Pakistan has fueled chaos in Kashmir, arming and training groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, the progenitor of TRF. Its fingerprints mark every major act of terror in India, from the 2008 Mumbai massacre that claimed 166 lives to the 2019 Pulwama attack that martyred 40 CRPF personnel. The Pahalgam attack is a calculated strike to sow fear, fracture India’s unity, and tarnish Kashmir’s image as a haven of peace. I denounce Pakistan’s actions with unyielding conviction, holding it accountable as a state sponsor of terrorism. The international community must respond with decisive action—economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and unrelenting pressure—to force Pakistan to dismantle its terror networks. The world cannot stand idly by while a nation weaponizes violence, betraying the principles of peace and humanity.
Yet, the fight against terrorism begins in Kashmir’s heart, with its people, who have borne the weight of violence for far too long. As a son of this soil, I appeal to my fellow Kashmiris—mothers, fathers, youth, and elders—to seize this moment and reject terrorism with uncompromising courage. You, who walk our villages, tend our fields, and pray in our mosques and temples, hold the power to uproot this scourge. You see the shadows harboring terrorists, the overground workers blending into our communities, providing shelter or intelligence. I implore you to expose them, to share their identities with law enforcement, even anonymously, ensuring they face justice. Deny terrorists food, shelter, or silence; sever their lifelines. Your actions, however small, can restore Kashmir’s honor as a land of peace. I draw inspiration from Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a Kashmiri who confronted these terrorists in Pahalgam, sacrificing his life, and from locals who braved danger to ferry the injured to safety. These acts of valor remind us that courage flows through our veins, that we are architects of our destiny.
The attack’s ripples are vast, touching hearts across India and Nepal and casting a shadow over Kashmir’s image as a paradise of shimmering lakes and verdant valleys. Yet, I refuse to let violence define us. Kashmir is its people—their warmth, their resilience, their unyielding spirit. The fallen are a sacred trust. To their families, I pledge to honor their memory by building a Kashmir where children play in meadows without fear, where visitors marvel at our snow-capped peaks, where peace prevails. To the injured, I offer prayers for recovery, your bravery our guiding light. To my fellow Kashmiris, I call for unity: shun those who enable violence, challenge narratives that glorify it, and foster vigilance. The government must protect whistleblowers, intensify security with dignity, and restore confidence in Kashmir’s beauty. The world must condemn Pakistan’s terror sponsorship and support Kashmir’s healing through dialogue and development.
This tragedy, though a wound on our collective soul, has ignited a flame of unity that must not flicker. The courage of Kashmiris who risked their lives to save others, the defiance of Adil who stood against the terrorists, and the outpouring of grief from every corner of the region—these are not fleeting moments but the seeds of a new Kashmir. We must nurture these seeds with deliberate action, transforming our pain into purpose. Every Kashmiri, from the shepherd in the highlands to the teacher in the valley, carries the responsibility to reject the ideology of violence. This means confronting those who whisper words of radicalization in our neighborhoods, exposing the networks that thrive on fear, and building communities where trust triumphs over suspicion. These small, resolute steps will weave a tapestry of resistance, unbreakable by the forces that seek to tear us apart.
Beyond our borders, the world must awaken to the reality of Pakistan’s role in this bloodshed. The international community’s silence in the face of such atrocities is a betrayal of humanity’s shared values. Nations that champion peace must act—through sanctions that cripple Pakistan’s terror financing, through diplomatic pressure that isolates its leadership, and through support for India’s counterterrorism efforts. Kashmiris, too, can amplify this call, reaching out to the global diaspora to share stories of our resilience, our pain, and our hope. Let the world see us not as a land of conflict but as a people determined to reclaim our destiny. The tourists who perished in Pahalgam came to witness Kashmir’s beauty; their loss demands that we preserve that beauty, not just in our landscapes but in our hearts.
This vision of Kashmir—a land where children chase dreams instead of shadows, where elders share tales of harmony, where visitors leave with memories of warmth—requires us to honor the fallen with more than words. Their lives, cut short in a meadow that should have been a sanctuary, are a sacred trust. We honor them by teaching our youth to value life, by supporting the injured as they rebuild, by standing with families whose worlds have been shattered. We honor them by refusing to let fear dictate our future, by choosing dialogue over division, by building bridges where others sow discord. The unity we see today, as Kashmiris of all faiths and backgrounds mourn together, is a testament to our shared humanity. Let us hold fast to this unity, let it guide us through the darkness, let it be the foundation of a Kashmir that shines as a beacon of hope.
The Pahalgam tragedy is a wound, but it is also a wake-up call. The 26 lives lost are not just numbers but stories—of dreams, of love, of futures stolen. They are a reminder that peace is not a gift but a struggle, one we must wage with every breath. To the families grieving in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal, I say: your loss is our loss, your pain our pain. To the injured, I say: your courage inspires us, your recovery our prayer. To my fellow Kashmiris, I say: the time for silence is over. Speak out, act boldly, stand together. To the world, I say: do not turn away from Kashmir’s cry for justice. Together, we can forge a future where Baisaran Meadow is once again a place of joy, where Kashmir’s beauty is matched only by the resilience of its people, where peace is not a dream but a reality we live every day.
(Note: The author is a Practicing Lawyer and President of Jammu & Kashmir High Court Bar Association, Srinagar, Kashmir (Regd) and can be reached at waseemgll@gmail.com.)
