The deadly attack on Pahalgam travelers in South Kashmir, where 26 people were killed, can be blamed on Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir’s provocative speech. His remark, where he called Kashmir the “jugular vein of Pakistan,” could have acted as a trigger for violence.
Speech by General Asim Munir
General Munir’s speech to the Overseas Pakistanis Convention in Islamabad, where he asserted that Kashmir is Pakistan’s “jugular vein,” reaffirmed Pakistan’s unyielding stance on the territory. He also invoked the contentious two-nation theory, asserting the deep cultural, religious, and ideological differences between Hindus and Muslims. Munir reiterated that Pakistan and India are “two nations” based on their different religion, traditions, and aspirations, restating the essence of Pakistan’s national identity.
His statements, including his declaration that Pakistan will not forget the sacrifices that were made in the making of the nation, could have inspired extremist outfits based in Kashmir. Intelligence officials say that Munir’s emphasis on the “differential treatment” of Hindus and Muslims could have inspired groups such as The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) surrogate, which claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack later.
TRF’s Religious Profiling and Execution
The assault on visitors was characterized by religious profiling. Witnesses have said the attackers forced the victims to say the Kalma, a Muslim creed, before they murdered the victims who were unable to recite. Differential targeting of the victims on the basis of religious identity follows the ideological rhetoric churned out by Pakistan’s military establishment.The participation of LeT commanders such as Saifullah Kasuri and Abu Musa has been raised by intelligence agencies as an indication of the planned nature of the attack.
Terrorism and Religious Radicalisation
The TRF, established in 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, has remained at the forefront of adopting both online propagation and direct action to recruit militants and spawn violence in the state. The efforts of the TRF to justify its religious drives through secular polemics augment the challenge before international observers in linking it straightaway with the Pakistan-based ones like LeT. However, Indian intelligence irreconcilably links TRF’s activities and leadership with those of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), by virtue of which it is enabled to function.
Intelligence reports indicate that TRF’s role in the Pahalgam attack could have been triggered by Munir’s inciting speech, which romanticized Pakistan’s Kashmir mission and dehumanized the perceived enemy. The rhetoric combined with a background of employing religious ideology for political purposes seems to have driven the group’s action.
Pakistan Denies Any Involvement in the Attack
In spite of evidence that implicated Pakistan-based terror outfits for the attack, the Pakistani government declined to accept any direct role. Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, said the attack was an “internal uprising” and “had nothing to do with Pakistan”. He tried to dilute the incident, claiming that there are several uprisings in India, including in Kashmir, and the terrorism is not the work of foreigners.
Escalating Threat of TRF
LeT’s offshoot, the Resistance Front (TRF), has gained popularity swiftly since its emergence in 2019. It functions with the assistance of Pakistani handlers and has been carrying out targeted attacks, such as youth recruitment for militant missions. The fact that TRF was behind the Pahalgam attack underscores its capacity to conduct hi-tech operations within Kashmir while appearing to be a local resistance outfit.
The rebranding of LeT to TRF was a strategic decision aimed at evading international attention, particularly in global platforms such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The fundamental ideology of LeT, based on Islamic extremism, remains the motivating force behind TRF. India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has listed TRF as a terrorist organization, recognizing its terror funding, recruitment, and propaganda operations.
General Munir’s speech and the subsequent attack in Pahalgam demonstrate the dangerous interplay between ideological ideology and operational terrorism. So far as Pakistan continues to play the card of religious extremism in the political domain, the threats articulated by its army chiefs are in concrete and pragmatic terms that shape real-life policy. The world needs to look at this crossroads of terrorism and ideology seriously if it hopes to deprive Pakistan-based terrorist groups like TRF of that threat.
This continued radicalisation can destabilise the region further, and urgent diplomatic action and collective intervention is required to disarm these extremist proxy forces, ensure regional stability, and address the underlying political grievances in Kashmir.
