Crime Today News
By Prof (Dr) S. Surya Prakash
When The Kashmir Files hit the screens, it left the nation both stunned and shaken. Was it fact or fiction? Many asked. In time, research and testimonials revealed a disturbing truth: what was portrayed was not an exaggerated screenplay, but a harsh reality. Now, a fresh attack in Pahalgam serves as a stark reminder of the long-standing tragedy—a new entry in the unofficial archive of horrors that continues to haunt the Kashmir valley.
The Valley today is largely without its original inhabitants—the Kashmiri Pandits. A religious minority with over 5,000 years of documented history and a cultural legacy intertwined with the Valley was subjected to what many describe as a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing. They were driven out of their ancestral homeland in large numbers and became victims of organized violence and state apathy. It may seem implausible, but it remains a tragic truth: for over three decades, this community has remained virtually refugees in their own country.
A History of Displacement and Silence
The Kashmir valley—an integral part of India and a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since 1947—has been administered by India since the princely state’s accession post-Independence. Before 1947, when Jammu and Kashmir functioned as a princely state under the British rule, the Kashmiri Pandits comprised about four to six percent of the Valley’s population, with the majority being Sunni Muslims.
The situation worsened dramatically in 1989 when Pakistan-sponsored militancy erupted in the Valley, under Operation TOPAC by the ISI of Pakistan. The main agenda of militants was ethnic cleansing—to kill Kashmiri Pandits, rape their women, and snatch their properties.
In the early 1990s, threats from Islamist militants forced thousands of Kashmiri Pandits to flee. January 19, 1990, marked a night of terror: mosques broadcasted warnings calling Pandits kafirs, threatening death or forced conversion. Many were told to leave behind their women. Homes were marked, neighbours silenced. The Valley’s silence became deafening.
Remembering The Victims
Much before The Kashmir Files, Salman Khurshid, senior advocate and former minister for external affairs, had chronicled some of the brutal killings in his celebrated work, Kashmir-Beyond Terrorism. All shown in the movie was also penned by the author in his book. To mention a few, the chilling stories of the victims include HN Wanchoo, a Kashmiri Pandit and respected human rights activist, who was assassinated on December 5, 1992, by Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen operatives. Wanchoo had been a vocal critic of both militant violence and state excesses.
Dr (Mrs) Sohani, a 78-year-old doctor who chose to stay in Srinagar to serve her community, was brutally murdered. Militants tied her to her bed and set her home ablaze. Her age and reputation offered no shield.
NK Ganjoo, the judge who sentenced terrorist Maqbool Bhat to death, was gunned down on a busy Srinagar street. A note was left with warning to others not to touch his body.
Sarla Bhat, a nurse, was kidnapped from her hostel and killed. Post-mortem reports confirmed she was gang-raped. Girja Tikoo, a lab assistant, was abducted, raped for days, and then mutilated with a saw in a timber mill.
Other victims include school teacher Babli Raina, tortured and murdered in front of her family; Asha Kaul, abducted and found dead in a decomposed state; Sajda Hussain, a schoolgirl whose body was dumped in the Jhelum River after being raped; and the tragic Sohan Lal Branoo family, whose daughter died during rape and the wife was executed post-assault.
The violence was indiscriminate. Muslim women were not spared either. Reports suggest some committed suicide to escape the horrors of rape and abduction.
Justice Delayed, Truth Distorted
Salman Khurshid, in his writings, has noted that Yasin Malik—former JKLF leader—confessed to multiple killings, including his role in the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of then Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, leading to the release of dreaded terrorists. Yet for decades, Malik moved freely, even receiving top-tier medical care from AIIMS New Delhi. It took more than 30 years to bring him to justice. Ironically, the state extended protection to those who denied others the right to life. The hypocrisy was glaring.
Another senior journalist Sonia Jabbar in her write up in the book, Internally Displaced People A Global Survey, has enumerated hundreds of FIRs that were registered for brutal killings of Kashmiri Pandits during 1989-91. She said that she had to add 900 more to get the complete picture. The Kashmir Pandits, both men and women, were not killed in the crossfire, accidentally, but were systematically and brutally targeted. Many of the women were gang-raped before they were killed. The bodies of the men bore marks of torture. Death by strangulation, hanging, amputation and the gouging out of eyes, were not uncommon. Often their bodies were dumped with notes forbidding anyone—on pain of death—to touch them. Thousands of brutal killings out of a population of around 3,500,00 Pandits over a period 24 months is a startling figure.
In her conclusion, Jabbar writes that it is a lie that then governor Jagmohan engineered the Pandits’ exodus because since the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in 1989, the series of terrorist attacks committed on Kashmiris Pandits and other Indians and security persons continues. The Kashmiri Pandits were denied justice by the Indian legal system. Few years back (five or six) when a PIL was filed to investigate and punish the accused, the petition was promptly dismissed because it was too late? Limitation for criminal trials!
A Chronicle of Horror: 1997–2025
Below is a timeline of major massacres of Hindus, Sikhs, Pandits and pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir. With each attack, a wound has been left open:
A Continuing Tragedy
The recent attack in Pahalgam is a chilling reminder that the wounds of Kashmir are still open. A new file was added to the terrorist atrocities in Kashmir Valley on April 22, 2025. After the abolition of Article 370 and bifurcation of J&K into two union territories as J&K and Ladakh on August 5, 2019, the Pahalgam attack was the most gruesome on innocent civilians. Reports indicate that four to five terrorists, allegedly in military uniform, opened indiscriminate fire on tourists. The attack resulted in the deaths of 28 individuals and left several others injured. Among the victims were reportedly a Naval officer, an Intelligence Bureau officer, an IT engineer, a parajawan local pony horse service men and numerous other tourists visiting Kashmir from different parts of India.
One disturbing account suggests that after killing a husband, militants told his wife: “We are leaving you, Go and Tell Modi.” Further reports allege that the terrorists inquired about the religion of the tourists, and Hindu males were specifically targeted. Some accounts claim that tourists were asked to recite the “Kalma” for religious identification, and those who could not were killed.
The attack has been widely condemned and the Islamic terrorists are believed to be sponsored by the ISI in Pakistan. Beyond the immediate loss of lives, the incident has dealt a severe blow to the tourism industry, a crucial component of the economy of Jammu and Kashmir, impacting the livelihoods of countless local residents. In the aftermath of the attack, protests reportedly erupted in Srinagar, Baramulla, Anantnag and Jammu, with people expressing outrage against the killings. Protests have also been reported in other parts of the nation, reflecting widespread public anger and calls for justice.
The majority of print and electronic media outlets have strongly condemned the Pahalgam incident. However, one national newspaper report attempted to provide a justification for the terrorists’ actions by highlighting the claim of responsibility by The Resistance Front (TRF), an alleged offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba. While the TRF claimed responsibility, security agencies have not yet confirmed the veracity of this claim. In its statement, the TRF cited the issuance of “85,000 domicile certificates to non-locals” as a reason for the attack, alleging it was “creating a pathway for demographic change” in J&K and stating that “violence will be directed towards those attempting to settle illegally”.
India’s so-called “national newspaper” (The Hindu) since 1878 has published the rationality for the terrorist attack, which even the Pakistan media didn’t do. But it seems that the “national newspaper” is the only friendly newspaper to the terrorists’ outfit.
Enough Is Enough
The Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attacks on Pathankot military base Pulwama, Uri, has greatly tested the patience of India. The surgical strikes, Balakot air strikes, seem to be not enough for Pakistan. The Pahalgam attack on April 22, 2025 was chosen deliberately to prove the existence of the terrorist movement in Kashmir valley when US vice-president was in India and the Indian prime minister was on a visit to Saudi Arabia, to grab international attention. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has categorically made it clear that the entire state of J&K, including the POK, is an integral part of India, and the only dispute is Pakistan vacating the illegally-occupied Kashmir.
Prime Minister Modi returned from Saudi Arabia and conducted a marathon CCS Meeting on April 23, 2025 in the backdrop of the Pahalgam terrorist attack. As punitive measures, India has ordered Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 placed under abeyance, Attari border closed, SAARC visa exemptions revoked and all Pakistani nationals ordered to leave India within 48 hours. But these measures are not enough to teach a lesson to Pakistan. Much like October 7, 2023, marked a turning point for Israel, April 22, 2025, may well become India’s moment of reckoning. Old habits die hard, and unless the terrorist infrastructure inside Pakistan is dismantled completely, terrorist attacks like Pahalgam will continue.
The Kashmir Files are not closed. In truth, they were never opened officially. But each new attack, each new silence, and each forgotten name adds another page to this ever-growing chronicle of grief.
India is no longer willing to be a silent spectator. The message is clear: this nation will not forget, will not forgive, and will retaliate.
The nation awaits a response and potential measures to address the security situation in the region. The outraged nation with one voice is expecting the Modi government to teach a hard and harsh lesson to Pakistan.
—The writer is Vice-Chancellor, National Law Institute University, Bhopal
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