‘Something was very, very wrong’: A reporter’s account of the Pahalgam massacre and its aftermath. india news

Last updated:April 22, 2026, 16:47 IST

Pahalgam was an attack on an idea – the idea that Kashmir could move on from its blood-soaked past

It was a gloomy, uneventful afternoon in Jammu, the kind of oppressive heat that slows the pulse of a newsroom, where the air feels thick enough to touch, and the only sound is the rhythmic hum of the air conditioner struggling against the rising mercury.

Most of us were nursing the remains of the afternoon calm, idly planning the evening news cycle, and expecting nothing more than the routine political bickering or administrative updates that usually fill a slow summer day.

Just then my phone rang.

It was a source that covered blood-soaked beats for more than a decade Jammu and KashmirHas never misled me. The voice on the other end was not composed normally; It was unsettling, urgent: “Firing in Pahalgam. Towards Baisaran.”

Experience is a cruel teacher in Kashmir. When a reliable source speaks with such trepidation you don’t wait for a formal press release or police handout. I broke the story immediately – details as incomplete and skeletal as they were – knowing in my heart that in the Valley, “shootings” are often merely the prelude to a national nightmare.

Within minutes the seriousness of the situation disturbed the peace of the afternoon. My phone turned into hot coal. Amidst the flood of information was a call from CNN’s executive editor Amit Shukla. His tone was calm, the impression of an experienced man who has seen it all, but probing: “Tejinder Bhai, investigate – is there anything big?” (Tejinder, check if anything major has happened). Shukla is the quintessential newsman, a man who lives for the chase and is available at 3:00 in the morning whenever there is a skirmish or encounter on the border. His instincts, sharpened by years of surveillance, were screaming. Mine was too. Something was very, very wrong.

The dance of death and the ‘religious audit’

As the pieces of information began to align like shards of broken glass, a horrifying story emerged. This was not a “crossfire” incident or an ordinary hit-and-run on a security convoy. It was a curious massacre, a “dance of death” choreographed for maximum psychological trauma.

The video that reached me after some time is an image etched in my consciousness. In it, a woman’s voice – filled with grief so deep it felt like a physical trauma – describes the unimaginable. A group of 26 tourists, who had come from all over India to see the “mini Switzerland” of Baisaran, were stopped at the scenic heights of Pahalgam. These were families, holidaymakers, people looking for a few days of peace in the lap of the Himalayas.

attackers Just didn’t fire. He conducted a “religious audit”. According to the harrowing testimony of eyewitnesses and survivors, the victims were allegedly asked to recite the Kalima. In those terrible moments, faith was used as a warrant for death. Those who could not hear it were shot at close range. It was cold, calculating and medieval.

Yet, even in that darkness, there was a glimpse of the true Kashmir. Syed Adil Hussain Shah was also among the dead. Adil was a pony-wala, a humble man whose life revolved around the winding trails of Pahalgam and the tourists he guided. When guns were pointed at him, Adil did not run away. He stuck to his words. He was martyred while trying to save his guests, trying to maintain the sacred tradition of Atithi Devo Bhava, even though bullets were flying in the mountain air. Adil represented the soul of the valley; The people with guns represent an alien, nihilistic rot designed to disintegrate that soul.

A catastrophic change in strategy

To the uninitiated, this may seem like another entry in a long list of tragedies. We have seen targeted killings before – the ghosts of Nadimarg, Wandhama and Chittisinghpora still haunt our collective memory. We remember the horrors of Reasi, Kishtwar, Udhampur and the recent massacre in Dangri village of Rajouri. For 30 years, Pakistan sponsored terrorism has tried to bleed Jammu and Kashmir with thousands of wounds. We have seen Amarnath pilgrims being targeted and pilgrims being killed.

But Pahalgam represented a catastrophic, strategic pivot.

tourism is a jugular vein cashmere economy. To a local family, a tourist is not just a statistical data point in the government ledger; They are school fees for a daughter, medicine for an elderly parent and a bridge to the outside world. By massacring tourists, the criminals were not simply killing individuals; They were trying to strangle the economic lifeline of the local population. They wanted to send an offensive message to the world: Kashmir is not open. Normalcy is a lie. Peace is an illusion.

This was not an isolated act of desperation. It fits into a broader, more sophisticated pattern where terror is used to construct a narrative. The choice of target, the method of execution and the timing – all were aimed at reviving communal fault lines, which had begun to fade under the burden of development and integration in recent years.

Shadow war and political noise

The days following the attack were a masterclass in psychological warfare. Increasing chatter and questionable outreach efforts began to increase. The ecosystem that enables such attacks – “overground workers” and cross-border digital handlers – went into overdrive.

I and many other journalists covering the region started receiving calls from fake numbers. These were Pakistani espionage networks, making a clumsy attempt to gauge military activities and mood within our defense establishments. They wanted to know if the “sleeping giant” was awakening. We answered them in the tone they understand – the tone of a nation on the brink of collapse.

As expected, political vultures began to hover. Some tried to present the genocide through the lens of governance debates, state demands or administrative lapses. But moments like Pahalgam demand a clarity that goes beyond partisan politics. Terror cannot be “referred to” as a talking point. Doing so risks diluting the heinous nature of the crime. The real question was never who rules; It was about how a nation reacts to an act designed to test its solidarity.

Big truth: India does not break

Pahalgam It was an attack on an idea – the idea that Kashmir could move beyond its blood-stained past, that people of different identities could co-exist without looking over their shoulders, and that normalcy could prevail in a region defined by conflict for a very long time.

This idea is exactly what makes the restoration of Kashmir so important – and why it remains a goal for those whose power depends on continued lawlessness. But if there is one lesson that has emerged from three decades of resilience, it is this: Terror may shock, horrify, and leave a trail of broken hearts, but it cannot define this country’s future.

For every attempt to divide us, there is an equal and opposite force that pulls India together. A familiar but powerful pattern emerged after the Pahalgam attack. The country of 1.4 billion people stood united. In those moments of mourning there was neither Hindu, nor Muslim, nor Sikh, nor Christian. It was only the Indians who stood with serious determination behind the leadership that was preparing for the reckoning.

Sankalp: Operation Vermillion

The reaction from the highest echelons of power was unlike anything I had seen in my career. The Prime Minister was continuously coordinating with Home Minister Amit Shah during his official trip abroad. The message filtering through the security apparatus was deep, personal and uncompromising: it was an attack on the vermilion of India’s daughters.

The terminology was intentional. It was not just about “neutralizing terrorists” or “clearing a sector”. It was about the sanctity of the Indian family and the safety of our citizens. The resolve was clear: those responsible for erasing the vermilion from the foreheads of our sisters and daughters will not be spared.

The world was waiting to see whether India would retreat into its usual cycle of dossiers and diplomatic protests. He didn’t have to wait long. India was no longer interested in talking to the “mothership” of terror; He was preparing to hit it where it hurts the most.

The payout came with a precision and fury that will be studied for years to come. This operation came to the fore in the form of Sindoor.

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