Srinagar, April 22
Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday paid tribute to the martyrs of the Pahalgam terror attack, saying that the nation would never forget their sacrifice.
L-G Manoj Sinha said on X, "Humble tributes to the innocent souls who lost their lives in the gruesome terror attack in Pahalgam on this day in 2025. Their memory endures indelibly in our hearts. My thoughts and prayers are with their families."
"We will not forget. We will not forgive. This is our solemn vow. India stands unified against terrorism. We pledge unwavering commitment and resolute determination to eradicate terrorism from the soil of Jammu Kashmir," he said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said, "One year on, we remain united against terror & against violence. We remain resolute in our desire to rid J&K of suffering & innocent deaths. We remain committed to doing everything to ensure it never happens again."
"We also remain in eternal solidarity with the families who lost their loved ones a year ago in that cowardly attack. May the souls of the victims of the terror attack rest in peace," he said.
On April 22, 2025, tourists started their day at the Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam with families, including children. As the innocent tourists were moving around in the vast meadow, the rattle of automatic gunfire initially seemed like the bursting of firecrackers, but the reality of the impending tragedy soon dawned on the meadow.
Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists lined up tourists and shot them in cold blood. They left a woman alive as they shot her husband before her eyes. The terrorists, as per later reports, wanted the widow to narrate the horror to the nation.
A local pony wallah tried to argue with the terrorists, pleaded that Islam does not permit the massacre of unarmed civilians. But he was also killed because the terrorists' aim was to spread terror, and their masters had ordered them to kill innocents. Taking the Army, police or the security forces head-on was neither in the courage of the killers nor their masters.
The killers were identified through eyewitness accounts, human and technical intelligence, etc.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a free hand to the armed forces to avenge the Pahalgam killings. 'Operation Sindoor' was launched, and without crossing the border, Indian armed forces carried out precision strikes at terror infrastructure in Muridke near Lahore, Bahawalpur and in Muzaffarabad of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
No Pakistani defence facility was targeted in those strikes. Pakistan escalated the tension by targeting army facilities, the civilian population and infrastructure.
In the Poonch district of J&K, 14 civilians, including a senior civil servant, were killed in Pakistan border shelling.
India retaliated by damaging 18 defence facilities deep inside Pakistan. The perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack were hunted down by the army, J&K Police and the security forces during 'Operation Mahadev'.
Launched on the foot of the Mahadev peak in Dachigam National Park on the outskirts of Srinagar city, in the joint 'Operation Mahadev' by the Army, CRPF, and J&K Police, all three terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack -- Suleman alias Faizal Jatt, Hamza Afghani, and Zibran -- were killed.
The massacre of innocent civilians was avenged, but the scars left behind in the minds and souls of the survivors can never be fully healed.
- IANS
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