Chidambaram pokes holes in Modi's Pahalgam narrative

Express Tribune

28-07-2025

A senior leader of India's Congress party dealt a severe blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi government narrative, saying that there was no proof that the assailants, who carried out the Pahalgam attack on April 22, had come from Pakistan.
As Indian forces claimed to have killed "three foreign terrorists" linked to Pahalgam attack in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), former Indian minister P Chidambaram questioned why the government was not releasing the investigation report of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The Indian army claimed in a statement on social media that the three were killed "in an intense firefight" near the major Hindu shrine of Amarnath in the mountains of Dachigam, around 30 kilometres from Srinagar.
Though the army did not identify the deceased, a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity that they were all "foreigners". Two Indian TV news channels, however, claimed that the men were suspected to be behind the Pahalgam attack.
In Pakistan, however, the state media while quoting security sources said that India had initiated a new covert military operation, "Operation Mahadev," aimed at staging fake encounters to cover up the failure of its earlier campaign, "Operation Sindoor."
Under this plan, according to a Radio Pakistan report, the Indian Army was killing detained Pakistani citizens in staged shootouts, branding them as "terrorists" to mislead the international community. It added that Operation Mahadev aimed at suppressing the freedom movement in IIOJK.
On April 22, gunmen shot dead 26 tourists in Pahalgam. with presenting any evidence India blamed Pakistan. Pakistan vehemently denied the accusation and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered an independent investigation into the incident and offered Pakistan's full cooperation.
However, in the night between May 6-7, India fired missiles at Pakistani civilian targets in six cities under its 'Operation Sindoor'. However, Pakistan gave a forceful reply, downing six Indian warplanes, including three Rafale jets.
Furthermore, Pakistan launched Operation Bunyanum Marsoos in the morning of May 10, hitting 26 Indian military targets, inflicting heavy damage on the enemy's war machines. Hours later India agreed to a ceasefire after intervention from US President Donald Trump.
During an interview given to the Indian newspaper 'The Quint', Chidambaram said that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not yet presented any evidence that those who attacked Pahalgam had come from Pakistan.
"The second thing is that the government is not bringing out the report of the NIA to see what the agency investigated during this time. Was the agency able to identify the terrorists? And where did they come from? These terrorists may be local. Why are you assuming that they came from Pakistan?"
He said that the Indian government was hiding the losses incurred during the four-day war. When asked what the Indian government was trying to hide, Chidambaram said the government was trying to hide what the Indian Chief of Defence had pointed out that India made strategic mistakes.
The Radio Pakistan report said that Operation Mahadev attempts to restore the dwindling political credibility of Modi's government, following the embarrassment of Operation Sindoor, which ended in failure after India's aggressive posturing against Pakistan backfired.
According to the report, on April 24, two innocent Kashmiri citizens, Muhammad Farooq and Muhammad Deen, were extrajudicially killed by Indian forces after they mistakenly crossed the border.
Additionally, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) disclosed in April that 723 Pakistanis were illegally detained in Indian jails, with another 56 forcibly disappeared by Indian intelligence agencies.
There are growing fears that these detainees may be used in fake encounters under Operation Mahadev, where they could be coerced into recording anti-Pakistan statements before being killed and labelled as "terrorists."
The sources indicate that Indian media is being fed fake videos, planted weapons, and staged images immediately after these encounters to reinforce New Delhi's false claims. This tactic mirrors past Indian false flag operations, where innocent individuals were framed as militants to justify military aggression.
Operation Mahadev would constitute a grave violation of international law and human rights, the sources say. Pakistan has repeatedly exposed India's history of fake encounters, including the Pahalgam false flag operation earlier this year, which India used to justify its military aggression.
Human rights organisations and the United Nations have been called upon to investigate India's alleged atrocities in IIOJK. With tensions still simmering after the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, the international community must prevent further escalation by holding India accountable for its actions.
(WITH INPUT FROM AGENCIES)