Hours following the murderous terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 28 were killed, Pakistan released a denial statement of any involvement. Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif disowned Islamabad for the attack, referring to the violence as “home-grown” and branding it as part of a wider rebellion against India.
Pakistan’s Counter-Response to the Pahalgam Attack
Talking to Pakistan’s Live 92 news channel, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said Pakistan had “nothing to do” with the bloodshed in Pahalgam. He portrayed the attack as a response by local insurgents against the Indian government and not foreign intervention. Asif mentioned persistent unrest in some Indian states like Nagaland, Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, and Manipur, labeling them as “local uprisings.”
We have absolutely nothing to do with it. We reject terrorism in all its forms and everywhere, says Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on the #Pahalgam attack.#pahalgamattack pic.twitter.com/qGiTz6uVOn
— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) April 23, 2025
“Pakistan has no connection with this. There are revolutions in so-called Indian states, from Nagaland to Kashmir, in Chhattisgarh, Manipur, and the south. These are not acts of foreign interference but local uprisings,” he said. Tis is home-grown as the government is exploiting many,” Asif said. He went on to add, “This is home-grown as the government is exploiting many.”
As Pakistan continued to distance itself from the assault, Asif reiterated that indigenous forces against the Indian government tend to result in international blame being leveled against Pakistan. “We do not support terrorism in any form, and locals should not be a target for terrorists, and we have no doubt about it,” he clarified.
Saifullah Sajid Jutt Identified as the Mastermind
In the meantime, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has named Saifullah Sajid Jutt, one of the leading Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commanders, as the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror attack. Jutt, alias Saifullah Kasuri, is a resident of Shangamanga village in Pakistan’s Punjab province. The NIA has described him as a “hardcore terrorist” and established that he is currently functioning from a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Islamabad.
Reports suggest that Jutt’s role in the attack is in line with the modus operandi of past LeT operations, with the terror outfit suspected to be responsible for a string of high-profile attacks in the region. The NIA has initiated a manhunt to arrest Jutt and bring him to justice.
The fatal attack took place on Tuesday, when armed terrorists fired on a group of tourists at a popular meadow close to Pahalgam in south Kashmir. Terrorists killed two foreign nationals, one from Nepal and one from the UAE, among the 28 victims in the Pahalgam attack. In response, the Indian government has pledged to take tough action against the attackers and punish them accordingly.
