The very origin of Pakistan in 1947 was a consequence of a sustained cultural and religious hate and intolerance against Hindus, nurtured by the ambitious fundamentalist and fanatic leaders, and their followers in Islam. Following the independence, the rulers of the new Islamic Republic of Pakistan waged war against India in 1948, 1965 and 1971. While the first war in 1948 remained inconclusive after the intervention of the United Nations (UN) effecting a ceasefire at a juncture when the Indian forces were marching ahead forcing Pakistanis army and Pashtuns mercenaries, and the second war in 1965 led to Pakistan incurring heavy losses of military men, material and territory. Subsequently, the third all-out war in 1971 resulted in a crushing defeat of Pakistan, its heavy losses and dismemberment with the East Pakistan emerging as an independent Bangladesh. Now the rulers of Pakistan also knew that they would never be able to achieve their twin objectives of capturing Jammu & Kashmir and humiliating India by waging a future war.

Therefore, towards late 1970s the Pakistani military and ISI with the patronage of the then political leadership evolved a covert and conspiratorial strategy of resorting to terrorism to achieve the same objectives. Accordingly, they actively indulged in recruitment, funding, training, and arming the mercenaries as also the radicalized and vulnerable ignorant/poor Kashmiri Muslim youth through sustained indoctrination using religion as tool. This led to a rise of several terrorist groups involving both Kashmiris as well as mercenaries from various parts, some of the most dreaded groups thus evolved being Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and many others. Ever since, Bharat (India) has been suffering this pain with recurring terror attacks more so during the last three decades. Pakistan made yet another attempt to forcibly occupy the Siachen Glacier in 1999 that once again convincingly established Indian superiority over Pakistan in high altitude warfare. While previous Congress led governments were known for their soft paddling towards Pakistan and Pakistani-sponsored terrorism, the subsequent Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) led government headed by PM Narendra Modi adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism mid-2014 onwards.

Consequently, India started surgical strikes on terror outfits even seated inside Pakistani territory in reprisal. For instance, on 18 September 2016, a few Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists attacked an Indian military establishment in Uri killing 19 Indian soldiers that prompted Indian Army to cross the Line of Control and destroy chosen terrorist camps in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK). The Jaish-e-Mohammed organized yet another attack in Pulwama in India killing 44 CRPF personnel on 14 February 2019. In retaliation, the Indian Air Force carried out yet another precision air strike destroying the Jaish-e-Mohammed Training Camp at Balakot situated deep inside the Pakistani territory of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The aforesaid valiant and effective punitive action by the Indian Armed Forces considerably checked terrorist activities in Kashmir in recent years. While the situation in Kashmir was returning to normalcy boosting tourism and inter-state commerce, Pakistan sponsored terrorists carried out a heinous massacre of innocent people at Pahalgam on 22 April 2025 bringing India and Pakistan to the brink of an all-out war. The author proposes to deal with this massacre under the “attack” by the perpetrators, “reprisal” thereto, and “aftermath” in a three-parts essay series.

Pahalgam Massacre on 22 April 2025

Pahalgam (also Pahalgom), a town in Anantnag district of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir in India, is located on the banks of Lidder River at an altitude of 2,200 metre in the Valley of Kashmir. It is about 45 km from Anantnag, the district headquarters, and is a hill station and one of the most popular places of the tourist attraction in Kashmir Valley. The place is also important in the context of the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath Cave Temple taking place in July-August every year as the base camp and starting point of the pious journey. For ages, the tourism has remained a major source of the income of local populace in Kashmir which was badly hit in its history during the peak years of the insurgency and Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. However, after the abolition of the Article 370 of the Constitution in the recent past, the situation in the Kashmir Valley has returned to a near normal these days. Pahalgam experiences high influx of the Hindu tourists due to twin reasons of being a tourist destination and falling on way to Amarnath Temple pilgrimage. Some of the major points of interest here are Kolahoi Glacier, and lush and thriving meadows of Baisaran and Betaab valleys flanked by mountains and dense pine trees.

On 22 April 2025, five terrorists armed with M4 carbines and AK-47 rifles sneaked in the Baisaran Valley, the beautiful lush green tourist spot surrounded by the dense pine forests. At that time, the place was bubbling with activities of fun and frolic enjoyed by the tourists, most of them from different parts of the country. The place is generally considered safe and, apparently, for that very reason much of security personnel were not deployed in the area. Therefore, when the terrorists struck in the meadows, the tourists were completely caught by surprise with panic everywhere and hardly any security to deal with the situation. The perpetrators had free hands and in a short while as many as 26 innocent civilians were shot down by the assailants during their naked dance of terror. Before the police and other security forces could get alerts, the terrorists accomplished their intended task, fired many salutary shots and quietly disappeared in the surrounding forest. Although there have been dozens of terrorist attacks in the past, the Uri in 2016 and Pulwama in 2019 are more recent cases in point, many strategists and analysts consider this as the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Immediately after these dastardly attacks, the Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility for the attacks, which is widely recognized and so designated as a terrorist organization, a proxy and offshoot of the Pakistan-based and the United Nations (UN) designated dreaded terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. They even released a statement that the attack was a repercussion of non-local settlement in the region following the abolition of the special status of Kashmir by the Government of India. However, as it increasingly became clear that the Government has taken the incident seriously with imminent commensurate reprisal on cards, TRF denied its involvement or any role in the attack after a few days. In the past too, this terrorist organization had claimed responsibility for quite a few attacks in Jammu & Kashmir mainly targeting the religious minorities, Hindus and Sikhs, in the Union Territory.

Of the 26 people (all males) shot down, 25 men were tourists (24 Hindus and one Christian) besides one local Muslim pony ride handler who in an apparent move, either instinctively or purposely, tried to grapple with a terrorist and was shot down in consequence. Of the people killed, all but one were of Indian origin, the lone foreign national was of Nepali origin. According to the eye-witnesses and survivors, the terrorists first singled out the men in all cases and enquired about their religion, and on getting confirmation or by suspicion, they shot victim in the head and other vital parts killing the Hindu and (one) Christian tourists. To identify the non-Muslims, in certain cases, the innocent and hapless men were forced to remove their trousers to verify if they were circumcised. The perpetrators also asked many tourists to recite the ‘Kalima’, an Islamic declaration of faith, and according to reports, the life of one educator was spared because he was able to recite it. Among the people killed, some of them were newly wed couple who came for honeymoon in the Valley, and such men were shot in the head from a point-blank right in front of their spouses.

The Baisaran Valley is approximately seven kilometres from the Pahalgam town, usually accessible only by foot or horse/pony back. The lush green meadows, surrounded by the dense pine forests in a mountainous terrain, offer a beautiful landscape with fascinating ambience and delight for the tourists. The terrorists were not only with the military-style uniforms and arms but also heavily equipped with the modern communication equipment and a helmet mounted with camera. The attack was inadvertently captured in the camera of a tourist, who was ziplining around that time. The video footage revealed scenes of panic caused due to the attack among the tourist families around the place with victims pleading or crying for help and dishevelled dead bodies strewn across the ground. Having achieved their objective, the terrorists fired several rounds of shots in the air, supposedly of warning or celebratory in nature before leaving the spot.

The eye-witnesses and surviving members of the families of dead categorically stated that the attackers initially asked for the name and religion of the tourists, and specifically targeted those who were Hindus. As mentioned earlier, in their endeavour to identify and segregate non-Muslims on the basis of religion, many tourists were asked to recite the Islamic verse of Kalima. Also, while their spouses and kin kept pleading for mercy, the suspected Hindu men were forced to remove their trousers to verify for a lack of circumcision before shooting them from a point-blank range. Reportedly, after the husband was killed, a woman told the terrorists to kill her as well life was meaningless without her spouse. To this, the killers told the Hindu woman that they were sparing her so that she could narrate the horror of the killings to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Some eye witness accounts are briefly mentioned in the following paragraph.

According to reports, among the casualties, the first man was newly married Shubham Dwivedi from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, whose wife survived to narrate the horrific tale. The terrorists approached him and inquired if he was Hindu or Muslim; after he responded, he was shot point-blank in the head. Yet another newlywed victim was Indian Navy Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, who came to Pahalgam only after the six days of wedding. After verifying his religion, the killers emptied three bullets into his neck, chest and thighs. A daughter from Pune, Maharashtra narrated how her father was asked to recite Kalima and when he failed to do so, they pumped three bullets into him, one in the head, the second behind the ear, and third in the back. The wife of a victim from Andhra Pradesh told that when the panic-stricken two could not respond to their Hindu-Muslim query, they shot dead her husband. While a Christian man from Madhya Pradesh was shot dead when he could not recite Kalima, one Hindu professor from Assam was spared when he hid identity and successfully recited Kalima. The attackers reportedly took selfies too with several dead bodies.

The state-wise reported casualties, including total deaths (26) and injuries (17), following the attack are as follows: Maharashtra 6 died and 5 injured; Gujarat 3 died and 2 injured; Karnataka 3 died and 2 injured; Madhya Pradesh 2 died and 2 injured; West Bengal 2 died and 1 injured; Andhra Pradesh 1 died and 1 injured; Chhattisgarh 1 died and 1 injured; Arunachal Pradesh 1 died; Bihar 1 died; Haryana 1 died; Jammu & Kashmir 1 died; Kerala 1 died; Odisha 1 died; Uttar Pradesh 1 died; Tamil Nadu 2 injured; Nepal 1 died and 1 injured. The details of deaths and injuries were published by many newspapers, including the national dailies. Of the 26 men killed, 24 were Hindus, 1 Christian and (apparently) 1 accidentally killed local Muslim pony-handler. The dead victims also included three Indian government officials: Two recently married officers, one each from the Indian Navy and Air Force, and one from the Intelligence Bureau.

The Resistance Front: Role & responsibility

The Resistance Front (TRF), the very nomenclature gives an (misleading) impression as if it is a group of activists or extremists working to protest against the unfair or unpopular policies and actions of the state or federal government. On the contrary, it is a recently raised proxy of the Pakistani Islamist terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba actively engaged in the insurgency in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, currently designated as a terrorist organization by India and the United States. TRF came into existence in the later part of 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution by the Government of India in August 2019 leading to the revocation of the special status of Jammu & Kashmir, which was a bottleneck erstwhile in complete integration of the state on account of several undesirable stipulations. Although TRF portrays itself as an indigenous Kashmiri resistance movement fighting for the freedom of Jammu & Kashmir but it’s members, activities and links have time and again vindicated that it is actually an offshoot and now a frontal outfit of the dreaded terrorist and banned organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) based in Pakistan. Some experts believe that the same was created to divert attention from widely banned LeT and other similar terrorist organizations in Pakistan under scrutiny of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and with a view to justify plausible deniability for the terror attacks in India after Pakistan’s inclusion on the FATF’s Grey List (June 2018 to October 2022) on the last occasion.

Ever since it came in existence, the terrorists have attacked killing non-Muslim civilians of all walks including the Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs, government employees, business owners, labourers, tourists, local politicians besides many attacks on the Indian armed and police forces. According to a popular belief, RTF cadre was raised from the active terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen groups and it was a clever ploy to use a non-religious nomenclature and symbolism for projecting a secular image to the international forum, which is also apparent from its logo, statements and attack rationale from time to time. The links of many of its social media handles have been traced to Pakistan by the Indian authorities. Some illustrations of major attacks of TRF include an ambush of Indian army in Sopore on 18 April 2020 killing 3 and injuring another 2 men, killing 5 security personnel including a colonel and major of Indian Army on 3 May 2020, 4 CRPF personnel killed on 5 May 2020, assassination of a Kashmiri Pandit sarpanch on 8 June 2020, ambushed and killed 3 civilians on 30 October 2020, killed two councillors and a policeman in Sopore on 29 March 2021, assassinated a police officer, his wife & daughter on 27 June 2021, and a Kashmiri Pandit businessman in Srinagar on 5 October 2021.

The terrorist activities of this newly raised terrorist group peaked in 2020-21 and somewhat declined thereafter due to vigorous action against the outfit by the Indian armed and police forces. Consequently, only few terror incidents occurred in the following years. The terror group is accused of indiscriminate civilian religious killings, mainly targeting Hindus and Sikhs, planed attacks on armed forces, coordinating recruitment and weapon transportation for proscribed terrorist groups, infiltration across the borders, and smuggling of weapons and narcotics. In the past, it claimed responsibility of several terror attacks using social media platforms and posters. After the current attack on tourists in Pahalgam, TRF though initially claimed responsibility but retracted later on citing cyber intrusion, apprehending imminent reprisal from the Indian security forces. In a reaction to this massacre, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, among other things, stated the assailants might be Kashmiri freedom fighters. Notwithstanding denial, TRF is widely believed to be perpetrator of this current humongous crime against the humanity.

A Victim’s Eye Witness Account

As mentioned earlier, the attack targeting mostly Hindu tourists and thereby rendering 26 innocent people dead and many injured, is undeniably one of the deadliest in recent years in the Kashmir Valley. Contrary to a general perception that Jammu & Kashmir is largely safe, this massacre has put a big question mark again about the security in the region. India believes that Pakistan has a role in this humongous crime and tragic loss of many lives not only because these terrorists find this country a safe haven with all kind of overt and covert support from the establishment but also because only a few days before the attack the Pakistani Army Chief, General Asim Munir on 16 April 2025 had yet again raked up the two-nation theory while addressing a Convention for the Oversea Pakistanis in Islamabad. He stated that Muslims and Hindus are two different nations simultaneously describing Kashmir as “Pakistan’s jugular vein” thereby igniting fresh wave of the passionate anger and hate against Hindus. He called upon the overseas Pakistanis to pass on their country’s story to own children more so because their forefathers strongly believed that Hindus and Muslims were different in every possible aspect of life.

The aforesaid anger and hate are clearly visible in the eye witness accounts of surviving family members of many victims. These stories and eye witness accounts have been published by several newspapers following the Pahalgam massacre. A Hindu couple from Kanpur, Shubham and Aishanya Dwivedi got married in February and planned their honeymoon vacation in Kasmir Valley in April 2025. As the couple stopped for a short snack break in the lush Pahalgam meadows of Baisaran Valley surrounded by pine forests and the snow-capped mountain peaks, a stranger casually strolling approached them from behind. He did not appear threatening at first sight and Aishanya, initially, mistook him as a local guide. But the man gravely looked at the couple with piercing eyes and asked a question: “are you a Hindu or a Muslim?” He also added if the couple were Muslims, they should recite ‘Kalima’, the Islamic declaration of faith.

The couple were stunned with a sort of an unknown shock and fear but Shubham managed to speak, “We are Hindus”. Without any hesitation or further query, the man simply pulled out a gun and shot Shubham point-blank in the head. Aishanya kept crying and sobbing while her husband collapsed on her, soaking her in blood. The man now turned the gun on her, then changed his mind with an apparent intent of killing the man and leaving the woman behind to cry, mourn and narrate the horrific ordeal they had gone through. Later she also heard the man, now joined with other attackers, telling tourists: “Tell your government. Tell Modi what we did”.

This is not an isolated story or fictional account but a live picture of terror and Pakistan sponsored terrorists. Other victims who survived the massacre and their family member as eye-witnesses have narrated somewhat similar harrowing details.

Reactions and Fall Out

When the attack occurred, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on a state visit to Saudi Arabia. He immediately cut short his visit and returned back home to monitor the situation that included an urgent meeting with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on the issue, among other things. Considering the role of Pakistan in justifying and sponsoring terrorism, the instant major decisions taken inter alia included suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty until the hostile neighbour ceases to support the cross border terrorism, closure of the border between the two countries, a travel ban of all Pakistani nationals to India under the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme, the cancellation of all previously issued active visas, and expulsion of Pakistani military advisers from the High Commission of Pakistan in New Delhi (India) as well as simultaneous withdrawal of their Indian counterparts from Islamabad in Pakistan. The government also spoke about its firm resolve of reprisal against the perpetrators of the heinous act. Following these developments, the Indian foreign secretary also briefed senior diplomats around the world about the decisions taken and reasons therefor.

The Union home minister of India, Amit Shah personally visited Srinagar and attack site to assess the obtaining situation and coordinate the commensurate security response on ground. The majority of popular tourist destinations in the region were closed following the attack and additional flights were arranged for the tourists to facilitate their quick return to home. The government also convened an all-party meeting under the defence minister on 24 April to brief the allies and opposition party leaders in the wake of the terrorist attack. The opposition criticized the government citing oversight and absence of the prime minister from this meeting. On their part, Pakistan threatened India of a comprehensive retaliation in response to the actions of the Indian government which inter alia included suspension of the Simla Agreement, restricting trade, the suspension of Visas to the Indian nationals, closure of the Pakistani airspace to Indian aircrafts. In addition, the Pakistani army indulged in unprovoked skirmishes and exchange of small arms fire at multiple locations along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir.

Large scale demonstrations and protests were carried out in many parts of India for days, including the major cities criticizing and condemning the attack. Some of the Indian cities, such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and others, also witnessed candlelight protests and silent marches in honour and tribute to the victims of massacre. Many celebrities from different walks of life, including some cine actors, also condemned the attack extending sympathies to the families of victims. Usually, on such occasions, some big celebrities from the Bollywood are known for their discretion or cryptic remarks and even this tragedy was not an exception while some of them made up their minds known after days. Muslim organisations, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind among others, denounced the attack and stated that it was against the spirit of Islam of promoting peace. Protests were also organized across the region of Kashmir Valley, including the cities/towns such as Srinagar, Anantnag, Pahalgam, Baramulla, Shopian, etc., expressing grief and anger while some of the Muslim leaders suggested that the current attack was a blow to the Kashmiriyat, which is often referred to symbolize the cultural identity of Kashmir that supposedly promotes communal harmony, religious syncretism and sense of belonging.

The state of Jammu & Kashmir has remained disturbed on account of terrorist activities for decades that inter alia included an organized and largescale persecution and killings of minorities (Hindus & Sikhs) by the fundamentalists and extremists leading to a mass exodus from Valley during early 1990s. It was only after the abolition of Article 370 of Constitution in August 2019 and, subsequent, commensurate holistic reform measures taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA Government that the general prosperity and law and order returned to near normal in the region. Therefore, the gory incident also raised anti-Kashmiri sentiments in some parts of the country and cases came to light where Kashmiri men and students were harassed and heckled. Some instances were also reported where Kashmiri tenants faced eviction notices from the owners of their rented accommodation in certain parts. The incident also triggered a demand from various quarters for the deportation of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan, which are believed to be in millions in the states like Bengal, Assam, and major cities.

Political leaders are the most vociferous voices across a country, or even globally, whenever a major event or incident occurs, irrespective of the fact whether it is manmade or a natural disaster. So, many Indian politicians and parties too promptly reacted to the Pahalgam massacre. President Draupadi Murmu rightly called it a dastardly and inhuman act while Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar cited it as reprehensible. Citing the incident as shocking and painful, Prime Minister Modi affirmed his resolve of bringing the responsible to justice, while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh labelled it an act of cowardice. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of Jammu & Kashmir, among other things, lamented that militancy could be controlled by using guns but it will end only when people support us. The leader of opposition, Rahul Gandhi of Congress, as also few other opposition leaders, criticised the Indian government’s policy on Kashmir while extending support to the government initially to deal with it. The author is not citing more such details of many others for the sake of brevity here.

The Pahalgam attack also received widespread reaction and response from the international community. Some of the significant condemnation of terrorism and condolences to the victims’ families came, including their governments, from the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and India’s neighbours Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and China, etc. The United Nations, European Union, BRICS forum and G7 nations also issued similar statements denouncing terrorism. Some of the world leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally spoke expressing their solidarity with India against terrorism. As for Pakistan is concerned, after an initial statement denouncing the attack, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif ruled out his country’s involvement in the attack in any way, stating that it was a homegrown insurgent attack. He and some other Pakistani leaders added that the attack may have been orchestrated by India itself or it might be a false flag operation, claiming that TRF could not be perpetrators as it no longer exists. Later on, in an interview to Sky News, Asif also acknowledged that Pakistan has a history of funding, training and supporting terrorist organizations, and that their country did this dirty work for the United States and West, including Britain, for about three decades.

Developments in Posterity of Attack

Although there have been numerous terror incidents and attacks particularly in Jammu and Kashmir in the previous years, the Pahalgam attack killing innocent people based on religious anger and hate is considered as the worst following the 2008 Mumbai attacks (also known as 26/11 attacks) by terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba organization wherein 175 people died (including 9 terrorists) and more than 300 were injured. Earlier, the Uri attack in 2016 and Kupwara attack in 2019 was carried out on the army and CRPF respectively, to which India had effectively responded with commensurate surgical strikes on terrorists’ camps inside the territory of Pakistan. The current cowardly attack was intended on innocent civilians which generated widespread strong sentiments and anger within various segments of Indian populace demanding a reprisal on perpetrators of the heinous crime. The assessment of the Indian security agencies and available intelligence inputs suggested the role of TRF, a proxy terrorist organization of the dreaded Lashkar-e-Taiba based in Pakistan. The officials even divulged that the attackers belong to a TRF unit known as the "Falcon Squad".

The Resistance Front was banned by the Government of India in January 2023 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), simultaneously designating its leader Sheikh Sajjad Gul as a wanted terrorist. Initially following the attack, TRF claimed responsibility linking it with the government’s decision to allow non-Kashmiris to live and work in Kashmir, and also that such outsiders come posing as “tourists” in Kashmir. On the social media platform Telegram, TRF opposed the alleged “outsiders” and asserted that violence will be directed towards those attempting to settle illegally in Kashmir. As can be seen from the narrations of a few terror incidents in a previous paragraph, TRF has a chequered history of targeting and killing non-Kashmiris, particularly Hindus, from the year 2020 onwards. However, TRF retracted from responsibility, denying their earlier claim, on 26 April 2025 that it was just a “communication breach”, and indulged with misinformation that the Indian intelligence operatives were behind the attack. Prof. Max Abrahms, an American political scientist and specialist in international security, however, opined that the attack was indeed carried out by TRF. According to him, the terrorist groups commonly attempt false denials for attacks that kill civilian targets, which subsequently “backfires” in public opinion, and/or appear likely to trigger a robust military response. His averments only further strengthens the conclusion arrived out by the Indian authorities.

The Indian public’s growing anger and popular demand of commensurate punishment to the perpetrators put tremendous pressure on the government for a result-based action. The very fact that the conspiracy appeared to be linked with the cross-border terrorism, also led to an intensified tension between India and Pakistan. Two days after the Pahalgam massacre, the Jammu & Kashmir Police announced a bounty of Rs 20 lakh for information leading to the identification, arrest, or elimination of the terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam attack. While the actual attack was carried out by 4-5 unidentified terrorist till then, the Indian security agencies see key role of three designated terrorists as master minds behind the Pahalgam terror attack. These are Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed and his deputy Saifullah Khalid Kasuri in Pakistan, and Hashim Moosa, who is believed to be hiding somewhere in South Kashmir.

Hashim Moosa is believed to be a former para-commando in Pakistan’s Special service Group, who later on joined Lashkar-e-Taiba and infiltrated in India in 2023, and ever since he is on lookout in connection with many terror attacks. However, the actual terror attack was executed by 4-5 others, sketches of whom were released by the security agencies based on the eye-witness account and description by few arrested men who locally provided shelter and other support to the terrorists. The Indian resolve to punish perpetrators led to precision airstrikes to destroy nine terrorist bases deep inside Pakistan on 6 May, and consequent standoff between the two countries culminated in a military conflict on 7 May 2025. However, a ceasefire was agreed by both countries on 10 May 2025. Furthermore, three terrorists actually involved in the Pahalgam terror attack were liquidated on 28 July 2025 in a joint operation codenamed “Operation Mahadev” of the Indian Army and police forces, as per the statement made by Indian home minister in the Parliament as also widely reported by the press and media of the country.