ON 22 April, 26 people were killed and dozens injured in a firing incident on tourists in Pahalgam, a tourist destination in India-occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
The incident took place in an area that is about 120 kilometres away from the ceasefire line and is also under complete siege by the Indian occupation forces.
There is a Central Reserve Police unit and police station in Pahalgam itself and there are at least nine check posts to reach this place.
This attack took place at a time when the US Vice President was visiting India, just like during the US President’s visit in 2000, Indian forces massacred innocent Sikhs in Chhattisgarh Pura and blamed it on Pakistan.
If we look at the immediate aftermath of the Pahalgam incident, according to eyewitnesses, the incident lasted about 30 minutes and the police did not reach the spot until an hour after the incident.
But immediately the blame was put on Pakistan, Kashmiris and Muslims.
No one was arrested on the spot and there was no camera present, yet fake pictures were immediately released.
The Indian media started to portray the incident as a Hindu-Muslim conflict, atrocities committed by Kashmiris on Hindus and Pakistan’s involvement without any evidence.
Pakistan not only condemned the incident but also demanded proof of its involvement, which India could not provide.
Instead of questioning the impact of the incident in Kashmir, Indian media reporters seemed to be asking what should be done against Pakistan.
India’s Cabinet Committee on National Security announced the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty immediately after the Pahalgam incident, which India had been trying to terminate for a long time.
There were incidents of violence against Kashmiri students all over India and many of them left India and went to occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Under the cover of this incident, a new wave of violence against Muslims in India started which is still going on.
According to India, three people are involved in this incident, including 02 Pakistanis and a Kashmiri, whose names are still unknown and there is no evidence.
Despite this, more than 100 houses were demolished in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
So far, more than 5,000 innocent civilians have been arrested in the State.
Those women who are from Azad Kashmir or Pakistan and married and went to occupied Jammu and Kashmir and have children there are being sent back to Pakistan.
The Indian occupation forces are collectively punishing Kashmiris in occupied Jammu and Kashmir under the guise of this incident.
This incident and the subsequent circumstances make it certain that this false flag operation was carried out by India itself and was planned at the highest level in India.
India wants to link Pakistan and Kashmiris with terrorism by using this incident as a basis, wants to merge Pahalgam with the Jammu division, which is an important place during the Amarnath Yatra, displace local Kashmiris from Pahalgam and settle Indians, is trying to withdraw from the Indus Water Treaty and wants to justify further atrocities on Kashmiris.
After this incident, India, as usual, started a series of threats to Pakistan, to which Pakistan responded very categorically and courageously.
The government of Pakistan, the Pakistani army and the Pakistani people unitedly gave the message that if India starts any aggression, we will end it of our own choice.
Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir categorically reiterated support for the struggle of Kashmiris for their right to self-determination and gave a message of a befitting reply to India in the event of aggression.
India has not been able to provide any evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the Pahalgam incident; however, Pakistan has presented undeniable evidence of India’s involvement in terrorism in Pakistan.
The growing trend of Hindu extremism in India over the past two decades, attacks on Muslim beliefs and religious places, and incidents targeting Muslims have sealed the legitimacy of the two-nation theory.
The theory of secular India is limited only to the book of the Constitution, while in Pakistan, which is based on Islamic ideology, the state is playing its full role in protecting the rights of minorities.
In India, also religious minorities are being tried to be wiped out with the patronage and support of the state.
There is a need for the Pakistani nation to come out of all provincial, linguistic, regional and group differences and unite and organize as one Pakistani nation.
The stability, security and development of Pakistan are the collective development of all of us.
Everyone needs to play their role to expose the fascist actions in India-occupied Jammu & Kashmir to the world.
—The writer is Director, Kashmir Policy Research Institute, AJK. (rajasajjad007@gmail.com.)
