NAMING TERROR

ON 22 APRIL, an armed group carried out a horrific, communally motivated act of terrorism, killing 26 Indian civilians, mostly tourists, at Pahalgam, in Jammu and Kashmir.

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In response, India launched Operation Sindoor, a military air assault on parts of Pakistan. Pakistan's armed forces retaliated with strikes on Jammu and Kashmir, leading to greater civilian casualties on both sides. Fortunately, the confrontation did not spiral further—a ceasefire was reached within days. Yet the Narendra Modi government's decision to declare the Pahalgam attack as “an act of war” was both reckless and dangerous.

At the time, there was no clarity on whether the men responsible for the attack had a connection to Pakistan. The Pakistani government, like many other countries, both authoritarian and liberal democratic, does sponsor non-state groups—who operate with varying degrees of autonomy—that carry out terror attacks beyond borders. But even this is not the same as an act executed by the state apparatus. This is a vitally important distinction.