By Prashant Shukla, Chair, Ireland India Council
Dublin / New Delhi – 22 April 2025
The Ireland India Council strongly and unequivocally condemns the barbaric terrorist attack that struck the tranquil meadows of Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on 22 April 2025. In an act of pure malice and calculated brutality, 28 innocent civilians, including two foreign nationals and several Indian tourists, were killed and dozens more injured in a premeditated assault that marks one of the darkest chapters in recent memory.
This was not just an attack. It was a chilling demonstration of targeted civilian execution, carried out by armed militants who emerged from the forest and opened fire on unarmed people gathered for leisure and joy. Among the victims was Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, a newlywed naval officer from Haryana whose life, like so many others, was cut short not by the randomness of war but by the deliberate hatred of terror.
The group claiming responsibility, The Resistance Front (TRF), a known proxy of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, justified the massacre through divisive rhetoric, citing demographic fears. Yet behind the propaganda lies a starker truth: this was an assault designed to terrorise civilians and fracture the social harmony that holds diverse societies together.
This attack represents a deeply alarming departure from prior patterns of violence in the Kashmir Valley. For decades, the conflict bore military and political dimensions. But the deliberate targeting of civilians based on identity marks a new, dangerous evolution — one that mirrors global trends where extremist violence increasingly targets people not for what they have done but simply for who they are.
Let the facts speak clearly. According to the Global Terrorism Index, over 8,000 people were killed by terrorist attacks worldwide in 2023. India, which has historically borne the brunt of regional instability, has lost more than 4,000 citizens to terrorism in the past decade alone. In Jammu and Kashmir, over 200 civilians have been killed in terror-related incidents since 2020. The attack in Pahalgam, however, is unique in its calculated execution and the cold targeting of peaceful visitors, tourists, newlyweds, and families.
This atrocity is also an attack on Kashmir’s resurgence. Tourism, which had made a promising comeback, is not just an economic driver but a symbol of normalcy, reconciliation, and the region’s embrace of peace. The attackers knew this and chose their victims and location accordingly. Their message is clear: to intimidate, divide, and reverse the gains of peace with the poison of fear. We cannot let that message prevail.
The Ireland India Council calls on the international community, democratic governments, multilateral bodies, and civil society to move beyond platitudes. This is not the time for vague condemnations or formulaic expressions of concern. It is the time for coordinated diplomatic pressure, intelligence sharing, sanctions against state and non-state sponsors of terror, and the creation of international legal frameworks that hold the perpetrators and their enablers accountable.
We also urge our partners in Europe and beyond to stand in solidarity with India during this trial. Terrorism is not a regional issue; it is a global menace. And when it strikes tourists, civilians, and unarmed citizens with precision and intent, it becomes an attack on the very foundations of international peace, security, and human rights.
Remember that this attack is a call to action for governments, institutions, and humanity. The meadows of Pahalgam, once a place of serenity, must now serve as a rallying cry for unity, justice, and international resolve. We owe that to the victims, their families, and the ideals we all claim to uphold.
This must be when silence ends, comfort gives way to courage, and the world unites not in mourning but in meaningful, coordinated action.
Let Pahalgam be remembered not for its sorrow but as a turning point in the global resolve to protect every civilian, every community, and every corner of the world from the shadows of hate.
