“People sometimes tell us that war is bad. Ask them, ‘Who knows this more than a soldier?’” (Puri, Lakshya, 2004)

On April 22, 2025, multiple armed terrorists entered the tourist site of Baisaran Valley meadow near Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The attackers questioned people about their religious identity and explicitly targeted Hindus. 26 people were brutally killed. The extremist Islamist group The Resistance Front, an off-shoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

I grew up with the fundamental tenet of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — the world is one family. I dreamed of a future where India and Pakistan could co-exist peacefully, interminably bonded by our shared history, languages and legacies. One day, I told myself, I would be able to visit the Hinglaj Mata temple in Asha Pura — one of the most sacred places in Hindu tradition dedicated to Shakti, the divine feminine. 

However, in the wake of the recent war between the two nations, I’ve witnessed a disturbing wave of misinformation and false narratives circulating on campus and online. These include false equivalencies with the conflict in Gaza and attempts to frame the attack as a justified response to India’s supposed “colonization” of Kashmir. Such narratives dangerously distort reality and hinder any sincere effort at peacemaking. Peace can never be built on misinformation.

​​Myth #1 – The attacks on Pahalgam were carried out by “freedom fighters” who were not religiously motivated

The victims were mostly civilians on holiday. They were asked, “Are you Hindu or Muslim?” and forced to recite the Shahada to prove their identity. Men were ordered to remove their pants to check if they were circumcised. Those who could not “prove” their religion were executed at point-blank range — reminiscent of tactics used by ISIS. Among the victims were Lieutenant Vinay Narwal, a Navy officer on his honeymoon, Sushil Nathaniel, who was shot in front of his wife and two children and Syed Adil Hussain Shah, a local who died protecting a tourist.

Myth #2 – Pakistan does not support the attacks

Pakistani military officials were photographed at state funerals of terrorists killed in Indian airstrikes, honoring them with martyr’s farewells. These gestures are not isolated incidents. Pakistan’s government has a decades-long history of providing training, arms and safe haven to militant groups operating in Kashmir. Even Pakistan’s own defense minister has acknowledged the state’s role in harboring terrorist groups for over 30 years – including providing shelter to Osama Bin Laden. Multiple governments and independent watchdogs have presented consistent evidence of Pakistan’s active support for cross-border terrorism under the guise of a “freedom struggle.” On May 10, despite a ceasefire mediated by the United States, India accused Pakistan of breaking the agreement by initiating unprovoked firing across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

Myth #3 – India is attacking defenseless civilians in Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack

India’s military responses, starting with retaliatory strikes on May 7, have specifically targeted camps linked to terrorist infrastructure connected with incidents of cross-border terrorism into India with a non-escalatory response. In contrast, Pakistan has utilized civilian aircrafts as human shields according to a radar screenshot from India and refused to issue conflict zone notices to carriers following the attack, launched shelling at the Golden Temple (the holiest Sikh site) and indiscriminately fired artillery into civilian areas such as Poonch, Kashmir, killing 15 civilians including children as young as twelve. Pakistan has also made claims that India is targeting its own Sikh population while launching attacks on gurudwaras in Amritsar and Poonch.

Myth #4  – India is colonizing Kashmir

After Pakistan’s invasion of Kashmir in 1947, the region’s ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, chose to accede to India, considering it the safer option for his people. A UN-backed plebiscite was proposed, conditional on Pakistan’s troop withdrawal — a condition that was never met permanently. As a result, the vote never occurred and the region remains divided between Indian-administered Jammu & Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied territories. From 1989 to 1991, over 350,000 Kashmiri Hindu Pandits were forcibly displaced from the Valley in a wave of religiously motivated violence that included killings, sexual assaults and the destruction of homes and temples. On a broader scale, India is home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world and continues to uphold democratic rights for all religious groups. In stark contrast, Pakistan’s non-Muslim population has plummeted from 26% in 1941 to less than 4% in 2023. Comparisons between the two countries’ treatment of minorities are both inaccurate and misleading.

The tragic events in Pahalgam and Pakistan’s role in the war were not acts of political rebellion — they were acts of religious extremism and terrorism. Sanitizing such violence under the language of “resistance” or “anti-colonialism” dishonors the victims and emboldens ideologies of violent fundamentalism. If we truly hope to build a lasting peace, we must begin by confronting these myths with honesty and moral clarity, starting with Pakistan’s eschewal of terrorism. Peace demands truth — not selective narratives — and the courage to call violence what it is, no matter where it comes from.

Samyukta Shrivatsa is a PhD candidate in civil and environmental engineering. She is the co-president of the Stanford India Policy and Economics Clubs.

This article has been updated to clarify language surrounding Indian and Pakistani military intent.