Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir), July 15: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday called for accountability over the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed the lives of 26 people, most of them tourists. The Chief Minister questioned the intelligence and security lapses that led to the deadly assault.
“Who is responsible for this failure? If it’s an intelligence lapse, then who is accountable? It is unacceptable that 26 lives were lost without any official consequences. Now that it’s evident there was a breakdown in both security and intelligence, responsibility must be fixed,” Omar Abdullah told reporters.
The attack, which targeted civilians in the popular tourist town of Pahalgam in south Kashmir, sparked widespread outrage. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, speaking on July 10, described the people’s response to the tragedy as a defining moment in the region’s transformation.
“A significant and profound transformation has taken place in Kashmir. People tell me that even in the last fifty years, such a change hasn’t been seen. The way Kashmiris stood up against the barbarism, against terrorism, and against Pakistan after the April 22 attack, is unprecedented,” LG Sinha said. He expressed confidence that terrorism would not be able to sustain itself in the region anymore.
In response to the attack, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure across the Line of Control in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). The Indian military also repelled Pakistani retaliatory aggression and struck multiple airbases.
The escalation de-escalated after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out to his Indian counterpart, resulting in an agreement to cease hostilities.