ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly denied any involvement in the recent death of nine Hindu pilgrims in Illegally Indian Occupied Kashmir, suggesting the incident is a false flag operation by India to further its own agendas. Since Monday, Indian soldiers have been conducting a large-scale manhunt to apprehend the militants responsible for the attack.
The attack occurred just an hour before Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in for a third term in New Delhi. Gunmen ambushed a bus filled with Hindu pilgrims celebrating their visit to a popular shrine. The attackers fired on the bus, causing it to veer off the road and into a ditch. The Indian government responded swiftly, launching a joint operation in the Reasi area of southern Kashmir to neutralize the perpetrators.
Kashmir’s top political official, Manoj Sinha, confirmed that the operation was ongoing and announced $12,000 in compensation for the families of those killed. Amit Shah, the newly sworn-in interior minister, vowed that the attackers would “face the wrath of the law” and assured that the culprits would not be spared.
Kashmir has been a contentious region since India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947, with both nations claiming the territory in full. Militant groups have been fighting for either independence or a merger with Pakistan since 1989, resulting in tens of thousands of civilian deaths. Although violence and anti-India protests have decreased since 2019, when Modi’s government revoked the region’s limited autonomy, the recent attack highlights ongoing security concerns.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi condemned the attack as “shameful,” pointing to it as evidence of the deteriorating security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. In recent clashes since April, five militants and an Indian air force corporal have been killed, with two suspected militants dying in a firefight on June 3. Notably, no separatist group called for a boycott of the recent election, a first since the insurgency began in 1989.
