Surprisingly, the Indian government is yet to act rigorously. The perpetrators of such horrific crimes are yet to be traced and brought to justice. The J&K chief minister had at least accepted his government’s failure to protect the innocent tourists and told the state assembly that “I did not know how to apologise to the families of the deceased. Being the host, it was my duty to send the tourists back safely. I couldn’t do it. I do not have the words to seek an apology,” he added. However, the Indian government, which maintains around 500,000 military and paramilitary personnel in J&K, is yet to take responsibility for the Islamist massacre of Pahalgam tourists. In West Bengal, neither the state nor the central government took responsibility for the gruesome religious violence on innocent Hindu residents at Murshidabad hamlets.

Instead of acting fast to teach its belligerent neighbour Pakistan, known to be a perpetual source of Islamist terror attacks on India, an exemplary lesson, the Indian government has so far been mostly into chest-thumping. India’s home minister, who visited Srinagar, the J&K state capital, after the incident and convened a meeting with top security officials, wrote on social media: “We will come down heavily on the perpetrators with the harshest consequences.” With India clamouring that terrorists involved in the Pahalgam massacre were from its arch-enemy Pakistan, the Indian prime minister has vowed to pursue the assailants to the “ends of the earth.” Unfortunately, there is little action still to be seen on ground.

So far, they all appeared to be empty threats. Such threats have been helping Pakistan to internationalise the issue and gather support from friends like China. India’s threat to suspend the Indus Water Treaty, which governs the water flow in the Indus basin between India and Pakistan, is yet to be executed. Such an action could probably wreak havoc on Pakistan's agriculture and economy. Although several days have passed after the Pahalgam killings, there is practically no clear sign of any punitive Indian action against Pakistan except for some battle-like military drills by the Indian Navy and Air Force within the country’s western and northern fronts. The military exercise has given Pakistan a handle to tell the world that it expects India to launch a military incursion soon on the country. As a result, India is now under external pressure to bite the dust.

Paradoxically, almost in a similar situation on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants hurled missiles to kill hundreds of Jewish revellers, including women and children, celebrating their religious holiday, Simchat Torah, with song and music at an open setting in Southern Israel, bordering Gaza strip, the Israeli government did not waste much time to militarily attack Hamas terrorists with full force. The Israeli attack on the militants is still on, killing over 62,000 Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank and southern Lebanon, so far. None of the adjoining 22 Arab countries, all members of the Arab League, came in support of Gaza militants to force Israel stop killing innocent Gazans. The Arab League members include Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, the UAE, and Yemen. Only Yemeni Houthis have partly supported Gaza militants.

If India reacted instantly to launch military attacks on Pakistan soon after the Pahalgam massacre, Pakistan would have probably come to terms with India making promises to help trace those terrorists. India’s seeming indecision on attacking Pakistan is making the matter complicated. A war-like tension between the two countries may lead to more jihadist subversions in India. Less than a year ago, in June 2024, Pakistan-linked jihadists killed nine people and injured three dozen others after they opened fire on a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims. The government did little to bring the terrorists to justice.

Even this time, India’s response has remained limited to detentions of people suspected of supporting secessionist groups; and raids and demolitions of the homes of rebels, in Kashmir, banning all imports from Pakistan, suspending all postal services from the country and barring its ships from entering Indian ports. India has temporarily shut down tourism in parts of the Kashmir valley. It is also expelling Pakistani citizens living in India, including the families of former Kashmiri rebels who were invited as a part of a rehabilitation programme.

The naked demonstration of religious killings at Pahalgam was almost instantly condemned by the United Nations and a number of countries. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack and stressed that “attacks against civilians are unacceptable under any circumstances.” US Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting India with his family during the Pahalgam massacre, called it a “devastating terrorist attack.” He added on social media: “Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack.” US President Donald Trump noted on social media the “deeply disturbing news out of Kashmir. The United States stands strong with India against terrorism.” Other global leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister GiorgiaMeloni, condemned the attack. “The United States stands with India,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X.

If the primary function of a state is to protect the life, liberty and property of its citizens, the growing attacks on Hindus in recent months, may suggest India has practically failed in this regard. Pressure is growing on the country’s prime minister and his so-called Hindu nationalist government to mount a military response to the Pakistan-backed Jihadi attack on innocent tourists at Pahalgam. The government can’t escape its responsibility by merely giving “free hand” to armed forces to respond to the Pahalgam Jihadist attack.

The attack was not on the armed forces as it happened on February 14, 2019, after a suicide car bombing killed 40 paramilitary troops in Pulwama in Kashmir. The attack was claimed by Pakistan-based Islamist group Jaish-e-Mohammad. The Indian armed forces retaliated soon after with its air force heavily bombing down Jaish-e-Mohammad camps near the Pakistani town of Balakot reportedly killing "a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis” in the region. It is time that India acts quickly and decisively against all forms of religious terrorism to protect its citizens. (IPA Service)