The Shadow of Chittisinghpora Looms Over Pahalgam: Is History Repeating Itself?

By Asim Siddiqui – Bureau Chief, Washington

In April 2025, a deadly terrorist attack on Hindu pilgrims in the scenic Indian town of Pahalgam once again jolted the fragile balance of peace, religious harmony, and international diplomacy in South Asia. While grief and anger spread rapidly across India, the incident also reignited old questions — questions that echo the painful memories of the Chittisinghpora massacre of 2000.
On March 20, 2000, during U.S. President Bill Clinton’s official visit to India, 35 Sikh men were brutally gunned down in the village of Chittisinghpora in Jammu & Kashmir. Indian authorities were quick to blame Pakistan-backed militants for the attack.
However, months later, a video surfaced featuring a retired Indian Army lieutenant general admitting that the massacre had, in fact, been orchestrated by elements within the Indian military itself — allegedly as a false flag operation aimed at discrediting Pakistan on the global stage.
Despite the explosive nature of this revelation, the matter gradually faded from media attention, and no substantial accountability followed. Human rights organizations and international observers raised concerns, but justice remained elusive.
Fast forward to April 2025 — the Pahalgam attack claimed the lives of 26 innocent pilgrims, coinciding with the visit of U.S. Senator J.D. Vance to India. The timing and the target — once again civilians — raised eyebrows among political analysts and civil society actors alike.
Soon after the incident, Jasdip Singh Jassee, a prominent Sikh American leader, issued a statement urging decisive military action against Pakistan and expressing unwavering support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This declaration, however, sparked concern among many within the Sikh, Kashmiri, and peace-advocating communities in the U.S. and abroad. Many felt that such rhetoric strayed far from the values of peace and coexistence they stand for.
“We thought we lived in America as a peaceful community, believing in harmony and dialogue,” one concerned community member said. “Statements like this seem to support a war narrative.”
The parallels between the Chittisinghpora massacre and the Pahalgam attack are hard to ignore:
⦁ Both incidents occurred during high-profile U.S. visits
⦁ Both targeted minorities or pilgrims
⦁ Both were swiftly blamed on Pakistan
⦁ Both were politically leveraged domestically and internationally
Is it all just a coincidence?
In light of these similarities, political analysts, journalists, and netizens have begun to raise uncomfortable but necessary questions:
⦁ Are such attacks being used to manufacture international sympathy?
⦁ Are minorities being sacrificed for geopolitical or domestic political gain?
⦁ Are false flag operations still in play in the region?
These are not easy questions — and their answers may be even harder to confront. But in any functioning democracy, asking questions is not sedition — it is a civic responsibility.
The Pahalgam attack must be condemned in the strongest terms. But if the truth behind it bears even a remote resemblance to the disturbing realities of Chittisinghpora, then we must resist the repetition of history’s most dangerous lessons.