by The Times of India News Staff
Setting the context
The assault unfolded during US Vice President JD Vance’s India visit and amid Pakistan’s aggressive campaign to woo American investment in its $8 trillion untapped mineral reserves.
- Survivors described chilling scenes: Terrorists in army fatigues demanded victims recite Islamic verses to prove their faith before opening fire with American-made M4 rifles.
- Survival through scripture: Silchar professor Debasish Bhattacharya, a Hindu, escaped death in the Pahalgam terror attack by reciting the kalma when a terrorist pointed a rifle at him and demanded proof of Islamic faith. His wife removed her sindoor and shakha-pola to appear non-Hindu.
- Religious identity as a death sentence: Christian tourist Sushil Nathaniel was killed in front of his wife Jennifer after he told the gunmen he didn’t know the kalma. “They pointed a gun at my husband and told him to recite the kalma… Then one of them pushed him and shot him in the chest,” she said.
- Florida-based techie gunned down: Bitan Adhikary, visiting Kashmir with his family, was shot dead after failing to recite the kalma. His wife Sohini recounted: “That is when the man shot him. He fell on the grass. I just sat there next to him clutching my son, watching him die in front of my eyes.”
- A calculated, chilling method: Survivors say attackers operated methodically, singling out Hindus and non-Muslims. The brutality of forcing religious litmus tests at gunpoint adds a disturbing layer to an already horrific massacre.
Why it matters
The timing of the Pahalgam attack-during Vance’s visit and PM Modi’s trip to Saudi Arabia-suggests a coordinated bid by Pakistan to internationalize the Kashmir conflict and assert its geopolitical relevance.
Next, the attack comes in the backdrop of Pakistan’s economic overtures to the US, centered around critical minerals like lithium.
The use of US-made M4 rifles, likely diverted from Taliban caches post-Afghanistan withdrawal, underscores the unintended consequences of abandoned US and Western weaponry and signals a dangerous shift in terrorist capabilities.