The recent tragic terror attack in Pahalgam’s Baisaran valley on April 22, 2025, which claimed the lives of over two dozen tourists, serves as a grim reminder of the persistent threat posed by Islamic terrorism that has plagued J&K for decades. An examination of major terror incidents that have been mostly sponsored by Pakistan and undertaken by the Islamists targeting civilians since the year 2000 reveals a disturbing pattern of violence, resulting in the loss of hundreds of innocent lives and leaving indelible scars on the region.
The early years of the new millennium witnessed a series of brutal attacks targeting specific communities and vulnerable groups. On the night of March 21, 2000, terrorists descended upon the village of Chattisinghpora in Anantnag district, specifically targeting the minority Sikh community, leaving 36 dead in a horrific massacre.
This was followed in August of the same year by an attack on the Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam, where 32 individuals, including two dozen Amarnath pilgrims, were killed by Islamic terrorists, highlighting the vulnerability of religious travelers.
This pattern of targeting pilgrims continued in July 2001 when an attack on the Sheshnag base camp in Anantnag resulted in the death of 13 Amarnath devotees.
The terrorist attacks were not confined to specific communities or religious groups. On October 1, 2001, Srinagar witnessed a brazen suicide attack on the J&K State Legislature complex, claiming the lives of 36 people, demonstrating the terrorists’ ability to strike at the heart of the region’s political infrastructure.
In 2002, the Chandanvari base camp in Kashmir became another site of tragedy when 11 Amarnath pilgrims lost their lives in a terror strike.
The indiscriminate nature of the violence was further underscored on November 23, 2002, when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Lower Munda, South Kashmir, killed 19 people, including nine security personnel, three women, and two children. This attack by the terrorists highlighted the danger faced by both security forces and ordinary citizens traversing the region.
In March 2003, the village of Nandimarg in Pulwama district witnessed another horrific incident when the Pakistan sponsored terrorists brutally murdered at least 24 Kashmiri Pandits, including 11 women and two children, further exacerbating the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the valley.
The targeting of civilians in public spaces continued on June 13, 2005, when a car laden with explosives detonated in a crowded market near a government school in Pulwama, killing 13 people, including two schoolchildren and three CRPF officers, and injuring over 100 others.
The year 2006 saw the targeting of labourers, a vulnerable segment of the population. In June, nine Nepali and Bihari labourers were victims of a targeted killing in Kulgam, Kashmir, underscoring the terrorists’ intent to sow fear and disrupt the socio-economic fabric of the region.
A decade later, on July 10, 2017, the Amarnath Yatra bus was once again targeted in Kulgam, resulting in the death of eight pilgrims, a stark reminder of the persistent threat faced by those undertaking religious journeys.
The chronology of these major attacks since 2000 clearly showcases that terrorism does have a religion.
