In a chilling reminder of the fragile peace in Kashmir, the serene valleys of Pahalgam were soaked in blood as Islamist terrorists launched a brutal, targeted attack on Hindu tourists. According to eyewitnesses, the assailants confirmed the victims’ religious identity before executing them in cold blood.
As the hill town mourns, the silence of leaders like Rahul Gandhi who recently branded Hindus as “outsiders” in the Valley and National Conference MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi who decried the Amarnath Yatra as a “cultural invasion” resonates with disturbing implications. Their rhetoric, whether careless or calculated, risks reinforcing the same divisive narratives that Islamist extremists thrive on.
A gut-wrenching video from the scene, now viral on social media, shows tourists screaming for help amid bodies strewn across the grass. One particularly heart-rending image shows a newlywed woman sitting in shock beside her husband’s lifeless body, her honeymoon turned into a massacre. Witnesses describe chaos, gunfire, and helplessness, with several stating that the terrorists deliberately asked about religious identity before opening fire.
Over 26 people have been killed in the attack with over 16 remain injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his visit to Saudi and returned back whereas the Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached the valley and met with the victim’s families promising “no one involved will be spared.”
Rahul Gandhi: Playing with sentiments for votes?
On September 23, 2024, during an election rally in Srinagar, Rahul Gandhi accused the Modi government of stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy and installing an “outsider king” in the form of the Lieutenant Governor. “Outsiders are ruling Jammu and Kashmir… A king has been appointed. The Lieutenant Governor is like a king, who is an outsider,” Gandhi proclaimed.
In his speech, he vowed to be the “voice” of Kashmiris in Parliament and attacked the abrogation of Article 370 as an act of “injustice.” He further accused the BJP of spreading hate across the country and said, “Hate cannot be defeated by hate, it can be won by love.”
But can love be blind to terrorism? Can romanticising regional sentiment justify turning a blind eye to the radicalisation festering in the Valley?
By repeatedly emphasising “outsider” narratives, Gandhi risks reinforcing the same dangerous exclusivism that militants exploit to justify killing Hindu tourists. His critique fails to acknowledge the central government’s responsibilities in combating terrorism, nor does it offer a serious counter-plan to tackle rising radical ideologies. Instead, his rhetoric seemingly aligns with a victimhood narrative that emboldens separatist sentiment.
Accompanying him was Farooq Abdullah, who framed the elections as a fight against the “hate-spreading” BJP and RSS. “To end hatred, vote for the symbol of the hand,” he urged. But who is really spreading hate, and who is sacrificing innocent lives to propagate a narrative of eternal victimhood?
Ruhullah Mehdi: Dog-whistling extremism under the guise of cultural preservation
While Gandhi’s words may be viewed as misguided political opportunism, Ruhullah Mehdi’s rhetoric borders on intellectual extremism. Just three months before the Pahalgam massacre, the Srinagar MP declared in an interview with Nous Network that the growing tourism in Kashmir is a “cultural invasion.” He elaborated, “A particular set of people are being brought intentionally… to disturb the environment.”
What followed was a bizarre lament over the attire and alcohol consumption habits of tourists. “People come in shorts, sometimes barely dressed and openly drink alcohol… on the roads, in shikaras, in restaurants,” Mehdi said, warning of a cultural collapse. Not content with these remarks, he unleashed a tirade against the Indian state, claiming that the current administration is plotting demographic changes and that drug abuse among Kashmiri youth is orchestrated by the government and RSS ideology.
He stated unequivocally, “Punjab is a major example of this… One of the key instruments used is drug abuse… The RSS ideology aims to take over Jammu and Kashmir, specifically the Kashmiri Muslim identity.”
This is not mere dissent; it is ideological indoctrination. It weaponises a deep-seated resentment and cloaks radical ideas in cultural puritanism. His rhetoric, which portrays Indian institutions as conspiratorial invaders, risks validating the justifications made by the very terrorists who carried out the Pahalgam attack.
Mehdi did not stop there. He painted India’s integration of Kashmir as unethical, asserting, “India took advantage of a pressing situation… This was a strategy for land acquisition.” His disdain for India’s sovereignty is evident when he says Kashmir is a different civilization altogether. “This is not an interaction. This is an unwanted deal… between two civilizations,” he maintained, avoiding mention of how Kashmir historically belonged to India and was ruled by Hindu kings long before Islamic rule.
And yet, Mehdi holds a seat in the Indian Parliament.
Provocation as Politics: A dangerous gamble
Both Rahul Gandhi and Ruhullah Mehdi seem to be playing a dangerous game, stoking identity politics in a region still struggling with terrorism. When leaders use their platforms to paint India as an oppressor or portray governance as a form of cultural occupation, they fail their duty to uphold national unity and peace.
Gandhi’s “outsider” narrative and Mehdi’s cultural exclusivism fuel the exact polarities terrorists exploit. This is not merely poor political judgment; it is gross irresponsibility. Their speeches, consciously or not, provide fodder for the kind of radicalisation that results in massacres like the one in Pahalgam.
In moments like these, when blood stains the meadows of Kashmir and a honeymoon turns into a funeral, it becomes imperative that our leaders stand on the side of national solidarity, not parochial politics.
In memory of those who lost their lives in Pahalgam, the least we can demand is accountability from those who shape public opinion.
