On April 22, 2025, the lush green valleys of Pahalgam, once a symbol of Kashmir’s breathtaking beauty, turned crimson with the blood of innocents. In a calculated and brutal act of terrorism, militants gunned down 28 civilians, most of them tourists — women, children, families — who came seeking peace and left as martyrs to a conflict they never chose. But this was no isolated incident. It is the latest page in a long, dark chronicle of Pakistan’s undeclared war on India — a war fought not through open armies, but through shadows, terror, and deceit. To understand the nature of Pakistan’s role, one must revisit the words of Thomas Hobbes, who described the natural state of mankind as a “war of all against all,” where life is “nasty, brutish, and short.” In the Hobbesian world, the only escape from chaos is the sovereign — a state that monopolizes violence to create order. But what happens when a state itself becomes the author of chaos? Pakistan has chosen the path of proxy warfare, embracing non-state actors like Lashkar-e-Taiba and its masked offshoot, The Resistance Front. These are not rogue elements. They are state-fed hydras, bred to bleed India under the illusion of plausible deniability.
The Resistance Front: A Deceptive Façade
The Resistance Front (TRF) is Pakistan’s strategic innovation — a rebranded mask for Lashkar-e-Taiba, created to add a veneer of “indigenous uprising” to its acts of terror. But its operations, language, and targets betray the lie. Its goal isn’t resistance; it’s regression — the regression of a region into fear, division, and death. TRF claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam massacre, as it has for several other attacks in the last two years. The group selects its targets carefully: pilgrims, tourists, migrant workers — people who symbolize normalcy and integration. To them, every smile on a tourist’s face is a threat to the false narrative of oppression that Pakistan peddles to the world.
Data of Terror: A Snapshot of 2024–2025
The trend of violence shows a clear pattern: selective, ideologically driven, and increasingly aimed at destabilizing peaceful life and economic recovery in the region.
| Year | Total Attacks | Civilians Killed | Security Forces Killed | Terrorists Neutralized | Regions Most Affected |
| 2024 | 65+ | 19 | 18 | 13 | Doda, Kathua, Reasi |
| 2025* | 28 (Jan–Apr) | 35+ | 12 | 9 | Pulwama, Anantnag, Pahalgam |
The data from 2024 and the early months of 2025 reveals a disturbing shift in the nature of terror attacks in Kashmir, with a sharp rise in civilian casualties despite fewer total incidents—28 attacks in 2025 (till April) have already claimed over 35 civilian lives, nearly double the 19 killed in all of 2024’s 65+ attacks. This marks a strategic pivot by Pakistan-backed terror groups like The Resistance Front toward high-impact, low-frequency assaults, specifically targeting tourists, pilgrims, and soft civilian areas to destabilize Kashmir’s social harmony and economic revival. The resurgence of militancy in South Kashmir, particularly in Pahalgam and Anantnag, alongside the deliberate targeting of symbolic civilian activity, indicates calculated attempts to derail normalcy, frighten away investment, and propagate a false narrative of repression. These trends reaffirm Pakistan’s continued role as a state sponsor of terrorism, adapting its tactics to wage psychological and proxy warfare, and call for a more adaptive and intelligence-driven response from India to protect its sovereignty and the integrity of its diverse, democratic Kashmir.
The Demographic Lie: Pakistan’s Manufactured Narrative
One of Pakistan’s most dangerous exports is not arms or ammunition — it’s propaganda. In recent years, Islamabad has cultivated a narrative claiming that India’s development push in Kashmir is a cover for demographic change. This argument is aimed at internationalizing the issue and justifying violence in the name of “defense.”
But what it conceals is that Kashmiris are not being displaced — they are being empowered. Infrastructure, investment, and industry are reaching places that were once intentionally left in ruin by decades of conflict and corruption. Tourism, education, and employment are lifting thousands out of economic stagnation. This is the real threat Pakistan fears — a self-reliant, flourishing, and peaceful Kashmir.
The ancient Indian political philosopher Kautilya (Chanakya), in his Arthashastra, warned that a ruler must recognize threats both from within and beyond borders — including those posed by “friend-turned-enemy” states using covert means. But Kautilya also argued that unethical warcraft leads not to dominance, but decay. Pakistan’s obsession with Kashmir is no longer about territory — it is about ideology, identity, and insecurity. By fueling militancy, it has turned its own soil into a battlefield of sectarianism and extremism. A nation that exports terror cannot remain immune to its consequences.
The War on Civilians: Strategy of Cowards
What kind of cause needs the blood of children to justify its existence? Terrorists struck in Reasi by shooting pilgrims. They returned in Pahalgam to hunt tourists. Their intent is clear: to cripple the growing confidence of a people breaking free from fear. But terrorism is not just violence; it is theater. These attacks are designed to shape perceptions — to paint India as unstable, to discourage investment, and to fracture the social fabric between communities. They aim to make Kashmir synonymous with dread again. That strategy will fail.
The Leviathan that Hobbes envisioned must rise not with vengeance, but with vision. India’s strength lies in its institutions, its intelligence networks, and its people’s resilience. But it also lies in moral clarity — and the clarity today is this: Pakistan remains a state that sponsors terror.
India must continue to expose, isolate, and dismantle the network that funds and fuels militancy. It must build on its diplomatic outreach, pushing for global recognition of Pakistan’s role in these atrocities. At the same time, it must nurture the aspirations of Kashmiri youth — with jobs, education, dignity, and security. The Pahalgam attack was meant to silence the sounds of laughter and prayer that had begun returning to the valleys of Kashmir. But the truth is — terror can kill lives, not light. The people of Kashmir are not pawns. They are the authors of their future. That future lies in integration, prosperity, and peace — not in the blood-soaked dreams of a failing neighbor. In the end, the idea of India — plural, resilient, and democratic — will outlast the idea of jihad. And Kashmir, its crown, will shine again.
