Anger, grief sweep India along religious fault lines as nation mourns Pahalgam carnage

She says in an X post, "Terrorism today is not political or revolutionary—it's religious. Radical Islam is the core threat. One fanatic community keeps playing the victim while spreading violence. Until we call this out, humanity won’t survive!!!"

Her words resonate the feeling of millions of Indians who are grieving and outraged by the attack carried out by a Pakistan-based terror outfit in South Kashmir, a magnet of tourism. Intelligence agencies have identified Saifullah Kasuri alias Khalid, a senior commander of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as the key orchestrator of the deadly strike. 

"Terrorism has a religion. It is Islam," read a fusillade of posts on the social media as religious schism widened in India following the attack in which non-Muslim men were picked, stripped to check if they were circumcised and killed, sending a chilling message to New Delhi.

Dr. Mayur Sejpal shared a picture of India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi holding them responsible for the mayhem that unfolded in the valley where militant attacks were significantly low since the Modi government withdrew the special status to the union territory.

"Hindus are paying the price of the decision taken by 2 idiots....," said one Dr. Mayur Sejpal on his X handle.

Many are giving vent to their angers calling out the skewed Hindu-Muslim bonhomie vis-a-vis terrorism exported from Pakistan.

"For how long will Hindus tolerate? Is this the brotherhood which is claimed to exist here? Shame on such a brotherhood. We will not tolerate this attack which has been carried out by the Pakistani terrorists and their supporters in Jammu and Kashmir," one angry person told the local channels.

Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in Kashmir taking stock of the situation and visited the scene of the carnage, wrote on X: "With a heavy heart, paid last respects to the deceased of the Pahalgam terror attack. Bharat will not bend to terror. The culprits of this dastardly terror attack will not be spared."

The terrorists, who were apparently in camouflage, reportedly asked the victims to chant Islamic verse, pull down their pants to check circumcision in a bid to confirm their Hindu identities before gunning them down. Two among the dead were non-Muslim foreigners.

"Please save my husband," cries a woman shown in a video which is all over the internet.

Scientist and author Anand Ranganathan making a caustic remark said, "Terrorism has no religion. That's why Pahalgam terrorists checked the ID cards of tourists, pulled their pants down, asked them to recite kalma, and killed those not Muslims. This much hate can’t all come from across the border. It comes from an ideology that transcends borders."

"Here lies the corpse of 'secularism'," says journalist Abhijit Majumder in an X post. 

Hailing from Kolkata, 40-year-old Bitan Adhikari, a TCS techie who lived in Florida, was vacationing in Kashmir with his wife, Sohini Adhikari, 37, and their 3-year-old son. He was shot dead mercilessly for being a Hindu.

West Bengal leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, who spoke to his wife, posted on X: "She narrated to me how two terrorists approached them and asked them and the other tourists to segregate themselves as Muslims and Non Muslims. They let the Muslims go, separated the Hindu Women and Children from the Hindu Men, and then asked the Hindu Men to recite 'Kalma', which obviously nobody could."

A woman survivor from Karantaka claimed her husband was killed in front of her but she was left alive to send a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Go tell this to Modi," she quoted the attacker.

"Three of us – me, my husband and our son – had gone to Kashmir. It happened around 1.30 pm, I think. We were at Pahalgam. He died on the spot, in front of my eyes. It still feels like a bad dream," said Pallavi, whose 47-year-old husband Manjunath Rao from Karnataka's Shivamogga was killed, as quoted by India Today.

"Three to four people attacked us. I told them – kill me too, you’ve already killed my husband. One of them said, I won’t kill you. Go tell this to Modi," Manjunath's wife added recounting the chilling details of the attack.

Journalists shared a video where the survivors were seen crying for help while one woman was terrified to even believe the Indian Army owing to the trauma they were subjected to.

"We are the Indian Army, don't worry. We have come here for your safety," one soldier said consoling a terrified woman who was shaken, uncontrollable and grieving after losing her son.

PM Modi rushes back from Saudi Arabia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Saudi Arabia at the time of the attack, had asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to rush to Jammu and Kashmir, where first assembly elections since the abrogation of 370 were held in 2024.

Shah held a top level meeting till 1 am on Wednesday while the Prime Minister trimmed his Saudi visit and headed back to the country in urgency.

Modi reportedly held a meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the airport soon after returning to India.

"I strongly condemn the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. Condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured recover at the earliest. All possible assistance is being provided to those affected.

"Those behind this heinous act will be brought to justice...they will not be spared! Their evil agenda will never succeed. Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakable and it will get even stronger," the Prime Minister wrote on X.

The attack, which coincided with US Vice-President JD Vance's four-day India visit, has left the booming tourism and the Centre's normalcy drive in tatters.

The tourists have already rushed to move out of the valley, which is called India's Switzerland and a paradise on earth because of its scenic beauty.

According to a report by The Indian Express, officials said the terrorists chose the peak tourist season in the valley, the cause of relentless Pakistan-sponsored attacks on India, to execute the plans.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was elected only last year, said the attack was unprecedented in recent years.

"The death toll is still being ascertained so I don’t want to get in to those details. They will be officially conveyed as the situation becomes clearer. Needless to say this attack is much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years," he said on X.

The Kashmir Resistance, a lesser known militant organisation, claimed responsibility behind the attack on social media.

The terror group expressed dissatisfaction over the influx of outsiders into the state causing a demographic change.

"Consequently, violence will be directed toward those attempting to settle illegally," Reuters quoted the message without its independent verification.

Meanwhile, Intelligence agencies have identified Saifullah Kasuri alias Khalid, a senior commander of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as the key orchestrator of the attack, according to sources.

World leaders condemn

US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Modi condemning the attack and offered full support to bring the perpetrators to justice.

India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X, "President Donald Trump @realDonaldTrump @POTUS called PM @narendramodi and conveyed his deepest condolences at the loss of innocent lives in the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

"President Trump strongly condemned the terror attack and expressed full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack. India and the United States stand together in the fight against terror."

UK President Keir Starmer wrote on X, "The horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir today is utterly devastating. My thoughts are with those affected, their loved ones, and the people of India."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "Please accept the deepest condolences over the tragic consequences of the terrorist attack near the town of Pahalgam that claimed the lives of civilians — citizens of various countries. There can be no justification for this brutal crime. We expect that its sponsors and perpetrators will be duly punished.

"I would like to reiterate the readiness for further strengthening of cooperation with the Indian partners in the fight against all forms and manifestations of terrorism."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, "Deeply saddened by the terrorist attack that occurred today in India, which caused numerous victims. Italy expresses its closeness to the families affected, the injured, the Government and all the Indian people."