All 26 Victims of Pahalgam Terror Attack Were Men
Little-Known ‘Resistance Front’ Says It Carried Out the Attack
April 23, 2025
Representational image
Gunmen opened fire on tourist tents in Baisaran meadow above Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, killing at least 26 people – all men – and injuring several more, according to media reports, which quote witnesses as saying that the terrorists, who reached the car-free pasture supposedly on foot or horseback, accused some families of supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, shot the men at close range and then escaped into the surrounding pine forest.
Some officials, who spoke to Hindustan Times anonymously, fear the toll could edge towards 30—but every confirmed fatality so far is male. The attackers fired at close range.
A survivor, Pallavi from Karnataka, told the Times that she witnessed her husband Manjunath Rao being shot dead. “They shot my husband...I told them to kill me and my son too. The terrorist told me - I won’t. Go and tell Modi,” she said.
Pahalgam is central to New Delhi’s public narrative of normality in the region, The Associated Press said, adding that visitor numbers have surged since the central government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019 and issued tens of thousands of domicile certificates to non-residents.
The government points to packed houseboats and sold-out trekking lodges as evidence that heavy troop deployments have pacified the valley. Tuesday’s slaughter jeopardises that claim, exposing the limits of checkpoint security once visitors leave the main road and hike into the hills, according to the AP.
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi condemned the attack, and urged the central government to take accountability instead of making “hollow claims on the situation being normal” in the region, the newswire noted.
A little-known faction calling itself the Resistance Front says it staged the attack to warn “outsiders” against settling in Kashmir, Reuters reported. Investigators have yet to confirm the boast.
Prime Minister Modi cut short a visit to Saudi Arabia and vowed that the killers “will not be spared.” Home Minister Amit Shah flew into Srinagar, chaired a midnight security review and ordered a manhunt that now involves drones sweeping the forests and soldiers blocking mountain passes.
The army has introduced convoy rules for buses on the Amarnath pilgrimage route and warned hotels to log every guest’s onward itinerary.
International condemnation arrived within hours.
Washington, Moscow, Tehran and European capitals denounced the assault; UN Secretary-General António Guterres reminded all parties that civilians are never legitimate targets. The timing drew extra scrutiny because United States Vice-President J.D. Vance had begun a private visit to India the previous day, evoking memories of past attacks calibrated to coincide with high-profile foreign dignitaries.
For Kashmiris who earn their living from tourism, June to August accounts for most of the region’s income from visitors, CNN Noted. Shopkeepers in Pahalgam on April 23 shuttered their stalls as security forces tightened their cordon. Pony handlers, whose animals carried many of the slain men up the trail, whispered that no one would hire them for weeks.
Among those killed, according to The Tribune, were Sushil Nathyal from Indore, Hemant Suhas from Mumbai, Vinay Narwal from Haryana, Atul Shrikhant from Thane, Neeraj Udhawani from Uttarakhand, Bitan Adhikhari and Sameer Guhar from Kolkata, Shubham Dwedi from Uttar Pradesh, Prashant Kumar from Odisha, Munish Ranjan from Bihar, N. Ramachandra from Kerala, Sanjay Lakshman and Dileep Dasali from Mumbai, Dinesh Agarwal from Chandigarh, J. Sachandra from Visakhapatnam, M. Somissetty from Bangalore, Santosh and Kasturba Ganvotay from Maharashtra, Manju Rao from Karnataka, Bharat Bhushan from Bengaluru, Sumit, Yatish and Shalieshbhai from Gujarat and Tagehalying, an Air Force employee from Arunachal Pradesh.
