Peerzada Masarat Shah:
The Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, soaked in blood on May 7, 2025, stands as a grim testament to Pakistan’s betrayal of the very Muslims it claims to champion. The Pakistani Army’s artillery barrage, killing 13 civilians in Poonch—including eight Muslims like 12-year-old Zoya Khan, her 10-year-old brother Mohammad Zain, and cleric Qazi Mohammad Iqbal—exposes a cruel irony. Pakistan, cloaking its aggression in the name of Islam, targets innocent Muslims, shattering homes, a madrasa, and even Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha. Where is the Islam they profess when their shells rip apart Muslim children and clerics? This is not jihad but a perverse assault on the ummah, proving that Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s two-nation theory, born of ego, has become a curse for Muslims, particularly in Kashmir. If Jinnah were alive, he would curse himself for a vision that now takes its heaviest toll on the community it was meant to protect.
Pakistan’s actions along the LoC are not a defense of Muslim rights but a desperate bid to sustain a failed narrative. Jinnah’s insistence that Muslims and Hindus could not coexist led to the partition, but its legacy in Kashmir has been one of unrelenting violence. For 35 years, Pakistan’s proxy war—through groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed—has claimed thousends of lives, including civilians, many of them Muslims. The 1989 insurgency, fueled by Pakistan’s ISI, drove out Kashmiri Pandits and coerced local youths into militancy, yet Kashmiris have consistently rejected this divisive ideology. We are the heirs of Maqbool Sherwani, who in 1947 sacrificed his life to protect Baramulla from Pakistani raiders, affirming our allegiance to a united India. After the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which killed 26, crowds in Srinagar’s Ghanta Ghar chanted, “Hum Hindustani Hain, Hindustan Hamara Hai,” a resounding repudiation of Pakistan’s narrative.
Why, then, does Pakistan persist in targeting Kashmir’s Muslims? The answer lies in desperation. By shelling civilian areas, Pakistan seeks to destabilize the region and undermine the normalcy Kashmir has fought to restore. The May 7 attack, killing children like 7-year-old Maryam Khatoon and 40-year-old Mohammad Rafi, mirrors past atrocities: in 1999, Kargil’s shelling killed Muslim shepherds; in 2016, Rajouri’s shelling claimed 19-year-old Rukhsana Bi. These are not mistakes but a pattern of disregard for the Muslim lives Pakistan claims to defend. By targeting Muslims, Pakistan exposes its hypocrisy, unraveling its rhetoric of protecting the ummah.
Kashmiris have realized we do not belong to Pakistan’s fractured dream. We have rejected their proxy war tactics, from the militancy of the 1990s to the recent Pahalgam attack. Operation Sindoor, neutralizing 80–90 terrorists, was not merely retribution but a response to decades of pain. As a senior citizen by the Jhelum River told youngsters, “Much blood has flowed through Jhelum. Now India should stop every drop of water to them.” His words reflect a growing resolve: Pakistan’s instigation of violence in Islam’s name has no place here. He added, “Ya Hindustan, Pahalgam mein jo shaheed hue, unka badla nahi le raha, balki hazaaron maoon ki duaon ka asar hai jo ghus-ghus ke dahshatgardu ko maar raha hai.” The prayers of thousands of mothers fuel India’s fight, not vengeance, but justice.
The emotional toll is unbearable. A young student, Nahid, pleaded, “Kash, ab ki baar yeh roz-roz ka marna band ho jaye,” his words echoing the exhaustion of a people weary of daily deaths. Pakistan’s shells, destroying Muslim homes and lives, belie their claim to fight for Islam. They are not protectors but predators, exploiting faith to justify carnage.
Jinnah’s two-nation theory, rooted in division, has chained Muslims to violence rather than liberating them. Kashmiris, embracing India’s pluralistic ethos, have defied his legacy. We are not Pakistan’s pawns but India’s pride, standing with Maqbool Sherwani’s spirit. As we mourn Zoya, Zain, and others, we vow to end this cycle of violence, ensuring the Jhelum flows with hope, not blood. Pakistan’s war is not just with India but with the Muslims it claims to represent. For every shell that falls, our resolve grows: we are Hindustani, and Hindustan is ours.
