When April 22, 2025, unfolded in Pahalgam—more precisely in the Baisaran meadows—it dealt a severe shock to the nation, and very few saw a turnaround coming anytime soon. The killing of 26 civilians, 25 of them tourists from various parts of the country and one from Nepal, numbed the nation. It was the deadliest attack against tourists in the Kashmir Valley—made even more gruesome by the verification of the victims’ religious identity and the use of abusive, anti-India rhetoric by three Pakistani terrorists.

Three factors made the difference. Today, Pahalgam—and by extension the whole of Kashmir and the country—has emerged from the shadows of April 22 last year. A new dawn has altered the course of events. The revival of tourism is only a small part of the story; the real transformation lies in the nation’s resolve and its manifestation in Operation Sindoor.

On the day of the attack, when tourists were shot alongside a local Kashmiri pony ride operator, Adil Shah—who bravely grappled with one of the terrorists to save the guests—the Valley was emptied of visitors. Tourists returned home. Few expected them to come back anytime soon, as Kashmir suddenly seemed to have reverted to being a dangerous destination after nearly five years of unprecedented normalcy. That normalcy—rooted in the abrogation of Article 370 and intensified anti-terror operations—had given a renewed sense of life to the people of Kashmir, but it suffered a temporary jolt.

Of the three factors, Operation Sindoor, launched in the early hours of May 7, 2025, made all the difference. It not only avenged the loss of innocent lives in Baisaran—the pain and grief of their families—but also laid a solid foundation of trust between the residents of the Valley and the rest of the country. India had launched surgical and aerial strikes after the devastating terror attacks on the Uri garrison in September 2016 and the Pulwama bombing in February 2019. However, in both cases, the victims were soldiers and CRPF personnel.

In the Pahalgam attack, there was only one Kashmiri among the victims, but he stood as a symbol of the true values of Kashmir that decades of terrorism had sought to subvert. Tourism and tourists are inseparable from Kashmir; a special bond exists between them—one that terrorists attempted to dismantle at the behest of Pakistan. Pakistan’s Army Chief, Asim Munir, had effectively laid the groundwork for this gruesome attack in his speech to the Pakistani diaspora in Islamabad on April 15, 2025, when he invoked the two-nation theory and described Kashmir as “Pakistan’s jugular vein.”

Operation Sindoor, in its essence, was a massive counter-terrorism exercise that targeted and neutralized terrorists, their training centres, and facilitators within the Pakistani establishment. At the same time, it instilled confidence among the people of Kashmir that the entire nation stood firmly with them. It was not merely revenge—it was a restoration of dignity for Kashmir, which had felt humiliated by the attack in one of its most beautiful landscapes.

Significantly, on the very next day—April 23, 2025—the people of Kashmir took to the streets, calling for justice and demanding action against the perpetrators. These protests were unprecedented—far beyond routine statements of condemnation. The clarity and intensity of their demand reflected a deep understanding of the attack’s communal design and its external orchestration. They had heard Asim Munir’s speech and were perceptive enough to connect the dots.

The protests of April 23 and Operation Sindoor were intrinsically linked. Chronologically, the protests came first, marking perhaps the first time that Kashmiris physically demonstrated against terrorism in such a unified manner. When Operation Sindoor followed, it validated their call for justice.

India’s national leadership also sent a strong message. Prime Minister Narendra Modi cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia and returned immediately after the attack. Home Minister Amit Shah reached Srinagar and Pahalgam within hours. These actions underscored a clear policy of zero tolerance for terrorism. The Prime Minister promised “unimaginable punishment” for the perpetrators and their backers, while the Home Minister assured that no one would be spared. Operation Sindoor was the fulfilment of those promises.

The third crucial factor was the response of Kashmir’s political leadership. Often viewed with scepticism, they unequivocally condemned the attack and demanded strict action against those responsible. For the first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, a special session of the Legislative Assembly was convened to collectively express grief and anger and to call for justice. The political leadership understood the public sentiment and stood aligned with it. In doing so, they passed a critical test.

Today, Kashmir has turned a corner. While tributes will continue to be paid to the victims, this moment also calls for recognising the resilience of Kashmir and the renewed confidence it has found in the Indian nation through Operation Sindoor—without any ambiguity. / DAILY WORLD /

( The writer is the Consulting Editor (Jammu & Kashmir) at Daily World. )