Fault lines in Pahalgam investigation |
The submission of a 1,597-page charge sheet by India's National Investigation Agency in the Pahalgam incident, after an unexplained delay of eight months, raises more questions than it answers. The document exposes deep fault lines in the investigation and reinforces a longstanding pattern: the routine attribution of incidents in IIOJK to Pakistan.
Since 1947, New Delhi has worked to recast the indigenous Kashmiri resistance as externally driven militancy. India thus plays a double game, internationalising Kashmir when it suits its narrative, while resisting any external scrutiny of its actions in the disputed territory. The Pahalgam case fits squarely within this familiar pattern.
Despite the length of the charge sheet, it offers little substance. Six individuals have been named, but the investigation fails to provide clear, independently verifiable evidence linking them either to the incident or to Pakistan. Claims are treated as facts, and assumptions replace proof. After eight months of investigation,........