Pahalgam’s reckoning: How India crushed terror, called Pakistan’s bluff

The ISI and Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, had blessed the Pahalgam attack and had hoped it would have an impact on India’s communal harmony.

NEW DELHI: It has been exactly a year since Pakistan’s ISI-backed terrorists carried out one of the most horrific attacks in Pahalgam. The victims were 26 innocent people, and each one was shot point-blank after they were asked about their religion.  

On the face of it, the Pahalgam attack looked like it was executed only to disrupt the booming tourism industry in Jammu and Kashmir. The industry had started to look up since the abrogation of Article 370 and the death of separatism in the Valley. But the officials caution and say that the attack had a large message and was not restricted only to the tourism industry.

It was aimed at inciting the people of India over religion. The ISI and Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, had blessed the attack and had hoped it would have an impact on India’s communal harmony.

Communal harmony was disturbed, but it was brief, and the people of India saw the larger picture. Counterterrorism officials say that for the Narendra Modi government, there were plenty of tough calls to take.?Two responses that defined India’s response to terror from Pakistan were a change in doctrine and also Operation Sindoor.

Officials say that Pakistan had long taken advantage of the fact that India would treat every attack as an act of cross-border terrorism. The national security planner of the country was firm this time, and the doctrine was rewritten.

India would henceforth treat every terror attack by Pakistan as an act of war. This change in doctrine led to Operation Sindoor. The brief operation by the Indian armed forces led to massive destruction of the terror infrastructure in Pakistan.

The most significant hits to be carried out both in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) were the destruction of the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s primary training camp at Muridke. Another significant hit was on the Jaish-e-Mohammad’s headquarters at Bahawalpur. This facility was completely razed to rubble, and the operation also successfully took out terrorists, which included the family members of Jaish-e-Mohammad boss, Masood Azhar.

The operation was so hard-hitting and swift that it prompted a call from Pakistan seeking a ceasefire. An official said Pakistan realised that seeking a ceasefire was the wisest thing to do. India had successfully jammed Pakistan’s Chinese-supplied air defence systems that included the HQ-9B. This was when the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles came into play and proved to be decisive. These missiles, which travelled at speeds close to Mach 3, managed to evade interception while striking at high-profile targets.

The official said that not only did Operation Sindoor take down terror infrastructure, but it also exposed the huge gap between the militaries of India and Pakistan.

Islamabad stood completely exposed. With the terror infrastructure being taken down, the next important step was to hunt down the killers of Pahalgam.

The Lashkar-e-Taiba’s proxy, The Resistance Front, had claimed responsibility for the attack twice. However, it realised that India’s response would be strong and hence it decided to withdraw its claim. However, for the Indian security forces, hunting down these terrorists was extremely crucial both in terms of sending out a clear message to the victims’ families as well as from a broader perspective.

Operation Mahadev was launched to track down the killers. An officer who was part of the operation said it was one of the most comprehensive ones in recent years.

The challenge was immense as these terrorists had slipped off into the dense forests in Jammu and Kashmir. The security forces had to track down these terrorists battling treacherous conditions and also challenging terrains that included dense forests and mountains.

The officer said that they used drones and relied on real-time Intelligence. The search area was narrowed down from 300 square kilometres to 25. The forces achieved success on July 28. The Special Para Forces managed to neutralise all three terrorists in the encounter. The experts describe the events in the aftermath of the Pahalgam as path-breaking. Pakistan’s military stood exposed, and the terror infrastructure was reduced to rubble.

The doctrine had changed, and most importantly, Pakistan’s nuclear bluff had been exposed thoroughly, the experts say.