One Year On: Remembering Pahalgam—A Wound That Must Not Be Forgotten – OpEd |
One year ago today, the serene meadows of Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam fell silent — not from peace, but from horror. On 22 April 2025, armed terrorists descended upon one of Jammu & Kashmir’s most beloved tourist destinations and opened fire on unarmed civilians and visitors. Twenty-six innocent lives were extinguished. Around twenty more bore wounds — physical and psychological — that no passage of time will fully heal.
A Day of Deliberate Brutality
The attack was not random. It was calculated. Assailants armed with AK-47 rifles and M4 carbines targeted people gathered in an open meadow — families, tourists, ordinary citizens who had come seeking beauty, not bullets. Security agencies concluded swiftly that this was a coordinated assault on civilians, an........