‘Bharat Will Not Bend to Terror’: Shah Pays Tribute to Pahalgam Attack Victims, Mastermind Linked to LeT Identified

New Delhi: In the deadliest terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370, 26 people — mostly tourists — were killed after terrorists opened fire at Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadow on April 22. The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility. The attack was reportedly masterminded by LeT commander Saifullah Kasuri, while Asif Fauji led the TRF group on the ground.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited Srinagar the next day, paid his last respects to the deceased at the Police Control Room. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote: “With a heavy heart, paid last respects to the deceased of the Pahalgam terror attack. Bharat will not bend to terror. The culprits of this dastardly terror attack will not be spared.”

Shah also chaired a high-level security review meeting involving officials from the Army, CRPF, and Jammu and Kashmir Police. “Union Home Minister Amit Shah chairs a high-level security review meeting in Srinagar in the wake of the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam,” an official spokesperson said.

According to India Today, the strike appears to have been orchestrated with precision. Intelligence believe the attackers infiltrated the Valley just days earlier and waited for a moment of high visibility, coinciding with high-profile visits by US Vice President JD Vance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi abroad.

Who is Saifullah Kasuri?

Described by officials as a senior LeT commander and close aide of Hafiz Saeed, Saifullah Kasuri also heads LeT’s Peshawar headquarters and previously served on Jamaat-ud-Dawa’s Coordination Committee. He is also the president of Milli Muslim League (MML), the political front of JuD. Both JuD and LeT are designated terrorist organisations by the US and the United Nations.

The Resistance Front (TRF): Pakistan’s Proxy

The TRF emerged after Article 370 was scrapped in August 2019. Formed to give militancy a more “indigenous” look, it recruits through online platforms and has been responsible for multiple attacks, including the Ganderbal attack in 2024 that killed seven, including a doctor and six migrant labourers. The Ministry of Home Affairs designated TRF as a terrorist organisation under the UAPA.

According to India Today, TRF combines militants from Hizbul Mujahideen and LeT. It remains the most active proxy of LeT, as confirmed by J&K Police data from 2022.

Asif Fauji: Ground Leader of the Pahalgam Carnage

Identified as the leader of the attacker group, Asif Fauji is believed to have military training, possibly with links to the Pakistan Army. Sketches of the three attackers — Asif Fauji, Suleman Shah, and Abu Talha — were released by J&K Police. Eyewitnesses claimed two of the assailants spoke Pashto, indicating Pakistani origins, while others were locals from Bijbhera and Tral.

India Today reported that the digital footprints of the attackers were traced to safehouses in Muzaffarabad and Karachi, adding to the cross-border terror evidence.

Pakistani Provocations Ahead of the Attack

Indian intelligence agencies also flagged two inflammatory speeches in Pakistan before the attack — one by Pak Army chief Gen Asim Munir, who reiterated the Two-Nation Theory on April 16, and another by LeT commander Abu Musa, who called for jihad in Kashmir at a rally in Rawalkot on April 18.