Pahalgam Incident: A Repeat of India’s Manufactured Narratives in IIOJK

The Pahalgam attack exposes yet again how India uses manufactured crises to deflect criticism, crush dissent in IIOJK, and push political agendas without accountability.

The recent incident in Pahalgam follows a disturbingly familiar script. Just like the Pulwama carnage, India swiftly blamed Pakistan without conducting any transparent investigation, using the tragedy to justify harsh crackdowns across Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

This predictable pattern—blame first, no evidence later—raises serious doubts about Delhi’s true intentions. As international criticism of India’s human rights abuses grows louder, incidents like Pahalgam conveniently shift global headlines, deflecting attention from Delhi’s worsening record.

Human rights organizations, including the United Nations, have consistently flagged India’s rampant hate speech, press restrictions, and brutal suppression of dissent. Yet, every time pressure mounts, a sudden “terror attack” narrative emerges, silencing scrutiny.

In IIOJK, peaceful demands for dignity and rights are often met with severe lockdowns, media blackouts, and collective punishments. The Pahalgam episode fits this mold perfectly—blame shadowy “terrorists” and criminalize an entire community’s aspirations.

Within hours of the attack, India named Pakistan as the perpetrator without providing any forensic evidence or investigation results. This rush to judgment eerily mirrors the Pulwama episode, where manufactured outrage replaced real inquiry.

Adding to the absurdity, Delhi attempted to link the Pahalgam incident to threats over the Indus Waters Treaty—a stretch of logic that exposes how India weaponizes international agreements for political theatrics instead of addressing genuine grievances.

It is notable that militant groups rarely target tourists, and no group has claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack. This unusual circumstance raises serious red flags about who truly benefits from such chaos. Clearly, the attack strengthens India’s excuse to intensify militarization in the region.

India’s renewed threats to withdraw from the Indus Waters Treaty also reveal a worrying trend: using important international treaties as bargaining chips to distract the world whenever Delhi faces criticism, jeopardizing regional peace in the process.

Following the Pahalgam incident, India wasted no time imposing curfews, mass arrests, internet shutdowns, and military sieges—an Israeli-style tactic aimed at isolating Kashmiris, silencing dissent, and rebranding totalitarian control as “national security.”

The cycle is clear: from the Samjhauta Express to Pulwama and now Pahalgam, Delhi’s blame-first, investigate-later strategy has collapsed under the weight of history. Real investigations are avoided because constructed narratives are far easier to sell to both domestic and international audiences.