India is in shock. A cowardly attack on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam by Pakistan-linked terrorists has led to the downgrading of the already strained ties between New Delhi and Islamabad. 

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While looking at the news on TV and seeing inconsolable faces of families — a wife who lost her husband, a three-year-old son who lost his papa, a father who will never see his only son again — I could only think that the Valley has seen this already. 

Yes, it was a targeted killing. Here, with 'targeted killing', I mean killings of people from one religion. In Pahalgam's Baisaran meadow, the Hindus were the target.

Terrorism indeed has no religion, but in Pahalgam, terrorists asked for names and religion before shooting the tourists, who were doing nothing but spending some quality time with their loved ones. 

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They hoped to be away from the chaos of cities, and soak in the beauty of Kashmir.

For those who survived and lost someone, 'chaos' is what is left in their life now—living the life without them, with gut-wrenching memories of having seen them killed playing out in their minds.  

Also read: Rafales and Su-30s lead Indian Air Force's Exercise 'Aakraman' amid tensions with Pakistan. Aakraman means attack

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Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus

The gruesome attack also brought back chilling memories of the exodus of Hindus from the Kashmir Valley in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was a mass migration triggered by rising violence and militancy in the region specifically against Kashmiri Pandits, who made up around 4-6 per cent of the valley's population and had lived in the region for centuries. However, their relationship with the Muslim majority deteriorated in the late 1980s due to increased militancy and calls for independence from India.

Prominent Pandits, including politicians, lawyers and officials, were targeted and killed by militants. Some of the notable incidents include the murder of Tika Lal Taploo, a BJP leader, and Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo. 

In January 1990, a blackout was observed in the Valley. The mosques broadcast messages asking for a purge of the Pandits, which led to a mass exodus, with most Pandits fleeing to Jammu and other parts of India. 

This scar is still fresh, and then terror incidents like Pahalgam happen. 

Also read: Pakistan doing 'dirty work for the US' for three decades: Pak defence minister on funding terrorist groups

US leader visits and terror attacks: A repeating 'coincidence' 

Chittisinghpura massacre 

The gruesome attack also brought back memories of the massacre in which at least 36 Sikhs were killed by terrorists in Chittisinghpura village of Anantnag district on March 20, 2000. 

The Chittisinghpura massacre was targeted, and so was the one when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in for a third term on June 9, 2024, when terrorists opened fire on a bus carrying pilgrims, killing at least 10 persons and injuring 33 more in Reasi district of the Jammu region. 

We have seen dozens of other attacks on people going for Amarnath Yatra, mostly Hindus.  

The Chittisinghpura terrorist attack happened on the eve of then-US president Bill Clinton's visit to India, eerily similar to the Pahalgam attack that happened during US Vice President JD Vance's trip. Vance was still in India when terrorists attacked tourists in Pahalgam. 

Also read: 'No police permission at Baisaran meadow': Rahul Gandhi cornered govt over 'security lapse' at all-party meet

Kaluchak massacre

Another coincidence? On May 14, 2002, a terrorist attack took place near Kaluchak in J&K when the then-US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Christina B Rocca was in India. Seven people were killed when the militants attacked a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus. 

It didn't end there. They entered a family quarter of the Army and fired indiscriminately, killing 23 persons: 10 children, eight women and five Army men. 

Also read: Pahalgam attack: What happens to Pakistani woman Seema Haider after India suspends SAARC visa to punish Pakistan? 

26/11 and Pulwama unified India, but Pahalgam has divided it

The worst attack in recent years was in Pulwama in 2019 when a terrorist rammed a car packed with explosives into a paramilitary convoy, killing 40 troops and wounding 35. The nation cried as one. 

During the 2008 Mumbai attacks, when Islamist terrorists launched a series of coordinated attacks, the target was India, not any religion. 

The Pahalgam horror has divided the nation, with reports already emerging that innocent Muslims and Kashmiris are being attacked, with fringe elements spewing hatred among people for political benefits, forcing the government to face a war from within, which will probably never end.