It boggles my mind why the Kashmir conflict remains to this day relatively unknown. Even weeks after 26 civilian Hindus were murdered in a terror attack there, very little reporting of the massacre is being done outside of the region.
The partition of India — of which disputed Kashmir was a direct result — is so under-studied that the ranges for the casualties of the war are unbelievably broad: between 12 million and 20 million people were displaced and between a half million and two million people were killed.
It’s shocking that such a deadly and geopolitically important event has faded into oblivion, but it helps explain why few seem to know or care about Kashmir.
Palestine and India were disposed of by the British in very similar fashion: Partition followed by a hasty retreat.
In both cases, the British knew exactly what they were leaving behind — ethnic tensions that would certainly and quickly turn into violent conflict.
Among the differences between Palestine and India is that India’s partition included the creation of a new nation-state, Pakistan, while Palestine partition left the Arab regions under occupation by Arab countries. Occupation of Palestine was preferable to its independence for Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
The April 22 attack in Pahalgam did not happen in a vacuum. Armed conflict has existed in the disputed Kashmir region since at least the 1980s. April’s was a vile, religious-based attack, with Islamist terrorists targeting Hindus in scenes that echo the Nazi persecution of Jews (for example, some victims were forced to disrobe to show whether they were circumcised).
While not perpetuated by India’s Muslim community, the massacre will certainly impact the lives of Muslims in a country that over the last decade has seen a surge in the kind of Hindu nationalism that leaves minority groups fearing for their equality and safety.
This Islamist massacre of Hindu civilians will only further endanger Muslim lives. It reminds me of Hamas, who care more about harming Israelis than about protecting Palestinian Muslims.
The aromas of Indian food kickstarted my literary journey of the Indian subcontinent. Non-fiction books like Midnight Furies provided the historical context of issues including the partition of what the British called the Raj.
Comparing the two partitions, one may reach a cynical conclusion: The pain of the people who settle and compromise is deemed unimportant, while causes determined to retain their popularity, no matter the human cost to their own people, capture the world’s attention.
© IJN 2025
