A pall of gloom has descended on the nation. The Pahalgam terror attack has shaken the nation, lulled into complacency of ‘sab changa si’. The targeted attack on Hindus is reminiscent of the Chittisinghapura attack of 2000 during President Bill Clinton’s India visit, in which 36 Sikhs were killed. Incidentally, the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 Hindus coincided with the ongoing US Vice President J.D. Vance’s India tour. Apart from the geopolitical signalling, what has struck the collective psyche is the selectivity of the attack and a potent threat to Hindus living in their own motherland.

Hindus were singled out, identified, forced to recite Kalima and then killed in cold blood. From the earliest Islamist invasions of the 8^th century till the dastardly Pahalgam terrorist attack, the template hasn’t changed. Script and intent remaining the same, advanced military weapons replaced the razor-sharp swords of medieval times. After confirming the religious identity of individuals, bullets were pumped into their chests of the tourists holidaying in Kashmir for “not being Muslim”.

While the pattern is not new, every targeted terror attack, baying for Hindu blood, descends the majority into numbness. Helpless rage surges as the burden of shouldering secular identity is thrust only on one community, which is expected to put up with the intolerance.

Before people could even recover from this chilling incident and ruthless extremism, the usual suspects are at work whitewashing the dastardly crime. Elite liberals, doubling up as terrorist sympathisers, justified the attacks. Accusing the government of Hindutva, they swiftly rationalised the ghastly attack.

Buried within this opaque liminal clutter of gibberish is an undeniable truth. The terror attack is nothing but a Hindu-Muslim issue. Reluctant to call a spade a spade, intellectuals continue to churn out several rationalist theories. Partition of India along the religious lines attests to this inexorable truth.

Despite conceding 33% of land in partition, rooted in the two-nation theory, founded on an intolerant ideology which killed over 8 million, peace eluded India. Even before the partition ink was dry, Pakistan unleashed attacks on India. Starting from the Kabali raids in Kashmir of October 1947 till the latest Pahalgam terror attacks, the rabid ideology incarnate, Pakistan, continues to foment terror from across the borders and through domestic actors as well. Indeed, the recent Murshidabad Waqf protests, reminiscent of the Muslim League’s call for Direct Action of 1946, eight decades ago, bespeak of fanatical underpinnings.

For decades, Pakistan has weaponised terrorism to destabilise India. Almost every major terror attack in India has an irrefutable Pakistani link to it. Being a useful vassal, China shielded it, and the US turned a blind eye to Islamabad’s Ghazwa-e-Hind policy as a destabilised India can remain an underwhelming power. Getting away with mild censure, Pakistan has been waging this asymmetric civilisational war against India.

Peace in Kashmir has always been an intervening period between two terror attacks. Balakot surgical strikes and India’s retaliation after the Uri attacks have prolonged this intermittent peace. Abrogation of Article 370 has inflicted a death blow to Pakistan’s attempts to stoke separatism. The long-standing Kashmir conflict served as the cannon fodder for the Pakistani Army Generals to enjoy unrestrained authority in Pakistan.

New Delhi’s determined all-out terrorism cleansing activities, along with growing mistrust of Pakistan’s public towards the Army and its setbacks at the hands of TTP and the Balochistan separatists, have eroded the prestige of the Army.  Especially, the Baloch separatists' Jaffar Express hijacking in March has severely dented the Pakistani Army's image.

To shift the focus of domestic constituents and stem brewing discontent, Pakistan Army General Asim Munir, addressing the Pakistani Diaspora, ranted and raved against India. He rekindled the spirit of the two-nation doctrine, reiterating the differences between Hindus and Muslims in terms of religion, tradition and custom. He also termed Kashmir as ‘jugular vein’.

In Pakistan, the Army calls the shots and maintains an iron grip over the country’s polity with the appointed civilian administration working as per its whims and fancies. Munir comes from a religious family, and his father is an Imam. Educated in a religious seminary under an Islamic preacher, Munir is overtly religious and has openly advocated for jihad on several occasions. With his ascent, Islamisation of Pakistan’s army has been complete.

The Pakistan army has nurtured several terrorist outfits as part of its military strategy. Munir, who considers India as Dar al-Harb (territory not under Islamic rule), strongly approves of the utilisation of terror organisations for proxy wars as a religious obligation. Munir’s public raving triggered the attack as intelligence agencies now reveal that Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) cadres conducted a recce of hotels in Kashmir in the first week of April.

On April 18, LeT chief Abu Musa held a rally in Rawalkot, declaring, “Jihad will continue, guns will rage and beheadings will continue in Kashmir. India wants to change the demography of Kashmir by giving domicile certificates to non-locals”. Days later, the emboldened terrorists murdered Hindu tourists holidaying in the valley with barbarity. The Resistance Force (TRF), the proxy of LeT, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The attacks served twin purposes- creating fear for lives among Hindus from moving and settling in J&K and challenging the government’s claims of restoration of normalcy in J&K.

All the fashionable theories of oppression, discrimination, poverty and lack of opportunities inciting terrorism are a sham. Driven by the radical ideology that seeks complete dominance, State and non-state actors across the globe have espoused terrorism. Co-existence is an anathema to this ideology. Despite decades of asymmetric hybrid war against India, Pakistan hardly faced any consequences for its state-sponsored terrorism.

India must inflict heavy costs on Pakistan for the unabated cross-border terrorism. Radical extremist ideology has been at the heart of this hybrid war. Until the ideology is snuffed out, its venomous terror offshoots would continue to unsettle India. Terrorism is a scourge, the world can ill afford to ignore. But sadly, nations dodge around in taking a firm stance, getting into a good and bad terrorism trap. The elephant in the room is radicalism-driven terrorism.

The enormity of extricating this terrorism is twofold for India. Alongside the complete neutralisation of the active terrorist cadres and their handlers, India must take to task the terrorism sympathisers- the organisations, pseudo intellectual networks, the veritable Fifth Column that continues to provide cover fire to the perfidious terror agenda.

State and non-state actors weaponising and exporting terrorism must be globally alienated. The time for tough action is now. India must leverage its rising international stature and diplomatic clout to blacklist and isolate Pakistan. Celebration of this exclusivist radical ideology under the garb of Islamophobia must be stemmed.

With Pakistan activating brothers-in-arms across the Eastern border now, India must deliver a knockout punch to Pakistan to send a strong message to terror modules harbouring a pernicious anti-India agenda. India must strike at the very core of the Pakistan military establishment to paralyse the terrorism network. New Delhi’s response to Pahalgam should be visible to everyone.