People leave their houses in Uri for safety after cross-shelling between India and Pakistan across the Line of Control. Kashmir and Kashmiris have paid the heaviest price in conflicts between India and Pakistan. IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

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Anuradha Bhasin on Kashmir’s repeated calamities through the India-Pakistan conflict: State of Southasia #23

Kashmiri Muslims have been the major victims of the gun from both sides – the militants and security forces – and yet they have been alienated by India, the veteran journalist says

Published:12th May, 2025 at 11:11 AM

Since 22 April, when militants carried out a deadly attack in Pahalgam district killing 26 civilians – most of them Hindu tourists – Kashmir has faced one of its worst crises in recent years. The attack triggered a dangerous escalation in hostilities between India and Pakistan with cross-border missile strikes and shelling and a looming threat of war between the two countries. A ceasefire was announced on 10 May.

Kashmir and Kashmiris have paid a heavy price in this conflict. Villages along the Line of Control experienced the worst shelling in decades with many people reported killed and injured. But the ordeal of Kashmiris began even earlier. Soon after the attack in Pahalgam, security forces conducted raids, carried out arrests and even demolished homes of those they suspected of supporting militants. Anuradha Bhasin, the managing director of the Kashmir Times, says that the Indian state’s crackdown on the Kashmiris in the aftermath of Pahalgam has been disproportionate and was conducted because it appealed to the majoritarian Indian sentiment that became overwhelmingly anti-Kashmiri after the Pahalgam attack, with people viewing every Kashmiri as an enemy of the nation.

Kashmiris had come out in large numbers to denounce the Pahalgam killings. They held prayer meetings in mosques for the victims, organised peace marches and candlelight vigils. But decades-long alienation of the Kashmiri people, fuelled by media misinformation led to their being viewed with suspicion both within and outside Kashmir. Attacks on Kashmiri students and vendors were reported from many parts of India in the following days.

In this episode of State of Southasia, Bhasin speaks to Nayantara Narayanan about the long-standing mistrust between Kashmiris and the rest of India resulting in their alienation. She says that the Indian state continues to treat Kashmir as a security issue rather than addressing the aspirations and rights of its people, deepening the region’s sense of betrayal and isolation.

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Episode notes:

Anuradha Bhasin’s recommendations:

Kashmir in the Aftermath of Partition - Shahla Hussain (non-fiction)

Independent Kashmir: An incomplete aspiration - Christopher Sneddon (non-fiction)

Harud and Maagh - Aamir Bashir (films)

Further reading from Himal’s archives:

Modi has forcibly integrated Kashmir with India but erased Kashmiris

India’s BJP government gamed the Jammu and Kashmir election – and still lost

The end of the myth that Kashmiris are free in Pakistan