Who Did It? The Kashmir Killings

Who was responsible for the barbaric attack on April 22 in Kashmir? It left 26 Hindu tourists dead. It also ignited a fierce four-day military clash between India and Pakistan.

Was it orchestrated by Pakistan’s military intelligence and executed by cross-border militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba? Did a local Kashmir-based militant outfit carry it out? Or was it the desperate and tragic act of a few enraged Muslim individuals from within India? They acted not under foreign orders but out of unbearable domestic fury.

We do not know. Indian security forces have so far been unable to capture the perpetrators.

And yet, India rushed to an answer with predictable certainty: it was “Pakistan’s hand.” The government said it, the media echoed it, and the public believed it.

This ready-made scapegoat narrative—blame Pakistan first, investigate later—served as the immediate justification for the brief but deadly military escalation.

But what if the truth lies elsewhere?

What if the attackers weren’t trained abroad, but radicalized at home—driven not by foreign ideology, but by domestic despair? What if this was not an act of war, but of vengeance?

It’s an uncomfortable question. But it needs to be asked. This have been an act of retaliation by Indian Muslims? They are radicalized not by religion alone, but by systemic injustice, humiliation, and persecution.

In today’s India, Muslims, who number over 204 million, live under a growing cloud of fear and insecurity. The nation’s secular, democratic fabric has frayed. The dominance of the BJP and its ideological parent, the RSS, has contributed to this. A toxic mix of politics and religion has created a climate where hate speech is not only tolerated but rewarded.

Laws like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) have targeted Muslims explicitly. Lynch mobs roam freely, armed with WhatsApp rumours and cow-protection slogans. Innocent men have been beaten to death for allegedly transporting beef. Their killers are garlanded by ministers and congratulated on TV debates.

Muslim neighborhoods are selectively bulldozed after protests. Mosques are attacked with impunity during Hindu festivals. Schoolchildren as young as 10 are bullied, beaten, or segregated in classrooms, their only crime: their religion. Hijab-wearing women face daily harassment. Hindu supremacist figures like Yati Narsinghanand spew venom on national platforms. They call for genocide, for book-burning, and for the erasure of an entire community. This occurs with no consequence.

All this didn’t begin overnight. The horror of Gujarat in 2002 remains a gaping wound. Muslims were massacred, raped, and burned alive. The state looked away, if not abetted. That trauma has only deepened over the years as justice remains elusive and the perpetrators walk freely, even celebrated.

Under such relentless siege, it is not unthinkable that rage will boil over. When a community is repeatedly demonized, dehumanized, and denied justice, a few among them tragically resort to violence. They do so not for religion, but for revenge. Not as martyrs, but as broken citizens pushed beyond the brink.

This in no way justifies the Kashmir massacre. Violence, especially the selective killing of civilians, can never be condoned. Yet, understanding the why behind it is essential to preventing its recurrence.

India must look inward if the Kashmir killings were the result of internal radicalization. The focus should not be just across the border. The real enemy is not sitting in Rawalpindi. Instead, it is embedded in hate-filled TV studios. It exists in the vitriol of “sadhus” calling for blood. It also resides in the bulldozers of municipal councils selectively razing Muslim homes.

Unless India confronts the rot within—its rising Islamophobia, its two-tiered justice system, its impunity for hate crimes—the violence will continue. Whether it wears the mask of militancy or retaliation, the bloodshed will not stop at the Line of Control.

The first step toward national security is social justice. Peace will stay elusive if one-fifth of the population is treated as second-class citizens in their own country.

–Promod Puri