What Did Pakistan Army Chief Say Just Days Before the Deadly Kashmir Terror Attack?

New Delhi: India faced a deadly terrorist assault on Tuesday in the Pahalgam area of Jammu and Kashmir, with suspicions that the attackers may have crossed over from Kishtwar in Jammu to Baisaran via Kokernag in South Kashmir. The attack, which resulted in the deaths of multiple civilians, was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow group linked to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The timing of the attack raised concerns, as just days before, Pakistan Army chief Gen Asim Munir had described Kashmir as the “jugular vein” of Pakistan. Speaking at a conclave of Overseas Pakistanis in Islamabad on April 16, Gen Munir asserted that Pakistan would continue to support the Kashmiri people in their “struggle against the Indian occupation.”

In his provocative statement, Gen Munir remarked, “It was our jugular vein, it is our jugular vein, we will not forget it.”

Many in India have condemned the terrorist attack and linked it to Gen Munir’s remarks, attributing his statement as a catalyst for the latest violence. India has firmly maintained its stance on Kashmir, declaring that Jammu and Kashmir, along with Ladakh, “was, is, and shall forever” remain an integral part of the country.

The India-Pakistan relationship, already strained, has deteriorated further since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019, which stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.

During the same address, Gen Munir invoked Pakistan’s two-nation theory, urging people to remind their children that Pakistan and India are distinct nations. “You have to tell Pakistan’s story to your children so that they don’t forget that our forefathers thought we were different from Hindus in every possible aspect of life,” he said.

Emphasizing the difference between the two nations, he added, “Our religions are different, our customs are different, our traditions are different, our thoughts are different, our ambitions are different. That was the foundation of the two-nation theory that was laid there. We are two nations, we are not one nation.”

Gen Munir also encouraged Pakistanis to be proud of their heritage: “No matter where you live, remember – your roots lie in a high civilisation, noble ideology, and proud identity. We have never bowed down before adversity, and we never will.”