Pahalgam massacre echoes global pattern of Islamist violence, say experts

New York [US], June 8 : In April, armed terrorists brutally murdered 26 tourists in Pahalgam town of Jammu and Kashmir a massacre now being described as part of a broader ideological campaign of global violence that targets specific communities around the world.

According to David Cohen, a former US official, and Avatans Kumar, an award-winning journalist and linguist, the attack in Pahalgam is not an isolated event. In their Newsweek opinion piece titled "The Intifada Is Already Globalized. Its Victims Must Unite," they argue that such incidents are manifestations of a globalized extremist ideology one that has already reached American soil.

"In Colorado on Sunday, a man shouting 'Free Palestine!' attacked a Jewish gathering and set elderly victims on fire. Eleven days earlier, another man shouting the same slogan executed a young couple in cold blood as they were leaving a Jewish event in Washington, DC," write Cohen and Kumar. "Americans are asking: Does this mean the slogan 'Globalize the Intifada' is coming true? Our answer: 'Globalize the Intifada' has long since come true. And now it's coming to America."

The authors argue that while the world associates "Intifada" with the Israel-Palestine conflict, the same violent ideology also targets a wide range of communitiesHindus, Nigerian Christians, Yazidis, Druze, Alawite and Ahmadiyya Muslims, Copts, Sikhs, Baha'is, and many others.

"The horrific massacre in India in April, where 26 Hindus and one Christian were murdered by Islamists in Pahalgam, Kashmir, gave many Jews flashbacks to Oct. 7, 2023," they note. "It wasn't just because of how cruelly the victims were slaughtered. It was because the immediate reaction in some quarters was to demonize the victims."

Following the Pahalgam massacre, former Al Jazeera journalist Sana Saeed referred to Kashmir as an "occupied" territory and accused India of "brutally repressing its Muslim population." Others labelled India's actions in Kashmir as "genocide," "settler-colonialism," and "apartheid," rhetoric Cohen and Kumar say mirrors Hamas's justifications for violence.

"The anti-India terrorists and their apologists clearly use the same propaganda playbook as their ideological brethren in Hamas," the article continues. "Same ideology, same playbook."

They trace this ideological violence back decades, highlighting the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1980s and 1990s under threats to "convert, leave, or die." One of the many gruesome incidents from that time was the brutal killing of teacher Girija Tickoo, who was gang-raped and then cut in half with a mechanical saw.

"October 7 triggered Hindus with flashbacks to the sadistic butchery in Kashmir over three decades ago," the authors argue. "Same ideology, same playbook."

The method of identifying and killing victims based on their religionreportedly used in Pahalgamwas also used by al-Shabaab in Kenya, in attacks that killed hundreds of Christians.

"Pahalgam also triggered flashbacks in Kenya," they write. "Victims in Pahalgam were asked to recite the Islamic declaration of faith. If they couldn't, they were executed on the spot."

The authors call for a "Coalition Against Terror," uniting all communities that have been victims of this ideology.

"Jews have the world's attention but not the numbers. The Coalition of the Ignored has the numbers but not the world's attention," they observe. "The solution is for us all to come together, to amplify one another's stories, and to lend our support to one another with our voices, numbers, and moral authority," the Opinion on Newsweek said.

They emphasize that the fight is not against any faith or culture, but against an ideology that justifies violence against civilians.

"It's time for every community struggling against this ideology to unite. We are the ones who must resist. The survival of our civilizations depends on it."

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