By Dr. Avi Verma

On April 22, 2025, the serene beauty of Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, was stained by an act of violence so brutal and targeted that it demands immediate global outrage. Twenty-six innocent lives, mostly Hindus, were mercilessly taken by terrorists associated with Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy, The Resistance Front (TRF). This massacre was not a random act of terror; it was a calculated, religiously motivated assault—a clear attempt to wipe out a community simply for their faith.

The details emerging from this attack are chilling. Victims were subjected to a barbaric religious test—forced to recite Islamic verses or endure physical checks to confirm their beliefs before being slaughtered. The brutality of the attack and the heart-wrenching stories of families torn apart should have sparked an immediate wave of outrage across the globe. Yet, what we face instead is silence—an unsettling, deafening silence from the very institutions that should be leading the charge in condemning such violence.

Where is the vocal condemnation from Muslim leaders around the world? Where are the prominent voices in Bollywood, the supposed moral guardians of society, now that Hindu lives have been brutally extinguished? Where is the global media, whose silence only serves to whitewash terrorism? These are not just inconvenient questions—they are urgent demands for justice.

The silence surrounding this massacre is not just a failure of empathy; it is a failure of humanity. The international community must reject this double standard, where the targeting of Hindus is often met with indifference, while attacks on other religious communities ignite immediate, global protests.

This is not just an isolated attack—it is part of a long-standing campaign of religiously motivated violence against Hindus in the region. From the 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Pandits to the targeted killings of pilgrims and teachers in recent years, the message has been clear: Hindus are not safe. The perpetrators are not rogue elements; they are products of a network that is funded, trained, and supported by Pakistan. To ignore this reality is to become complicit in their crimes.

We, at the IndoUS Tribune, call on the global community to rise above political convenience and speak out against this atrocity. We urge religious leaders, especially within the Muslim community, to unequivocally condemn this massacre and break the silence. We ask public figures and governments to stop playing politics with human lives and recognize this attack for what it truly is—religious terrorism.

Let this moment serve as a turning point. The blood of the victims must not be allowed to stain our collective conscience without consequence. The time for silence is over. It is time for justice, for accountability, and for action. The world must hear the voices of those who have suffered and demand that such violence is never allowed to happen again.

Dr. Avi Verma
Publisher, IndoUS Tribune