India's October 7 Moment: ISI's 'Southern Strategy' For Pahalgam Revealed

Tahawwur Rana's looming extradition deepens Gen Munir's vulnerability, risking exposure of Pakistan military's terror links.

- ASHISH SINGH

Like Hamas leaders before their October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, General Asim Munir, the Chief of the Pakistan Army, deliberately fanned sectarian flames to galvanise extremist factions just days ahead of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Gen Munir stood before a crowd at the Overseas Pakistanis Convention (OPC) in Islamabad and invoked the contentious "Two-Nation Theory", branding Kashmir Pakistan's "jugular vein." His speech was a call to arms.

The inflammatory speech, Gen Munir's desperate bid for political survival, reignited historical animosities. Pakistan's internal landscape was combustible: escalating violence from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), rising insurgencies in Balochistan, and lingering political instability amid the jailing of former Prime Minister Imran Khan had dramatically weakened Gen Munir's grip on power, a Pakistani analyst on the condition of anonymity, observed, "Generals are silently conspiring against Munir; he needed Kashmir as a diversion."

Hamas, being called out for its mismanagement in Gaza, had similarly needed a rallying point among people to ensure it had public sentiment on its side, at least.

The looming extradition of Tahawwur Rana, facilitator of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, compounded Gen Munir's vulnerability, threatening to expose decades of Pakistani military complicity in terrorism. Intelligence sources indicated that ISI had begun meticulously preparing fresh infiltrations into Kashmir. Approximately 100 terrorists were amassed at launch pads facing Jammu, ready for Pakistan's ominous "Southern Strategy."

How the Attack Unfolded

On the afternoon of April 22, tourists in Pahalgam's scenic Baisaran Valley enjoyed the region's famed tranquillity when five terrorists (including three from Pakistan) emerged stealthily from surrounding forests.