MUZAFFARABAD: Two members of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) cabinet on Wednesday said India had itself orchestrated the Pahalgam incident as a “false flag operation” to malign Pakistan and the Kashmiri freedom movement, but the international community had refused to buy New Delhi’s trumped-up narrative.

In separate statements made on the first anniversary of the April 22, 2025 incident in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Information and Religious Affairs Minister Muhammad Rafique Nayyar and Minister for Kashmir Affairs, Arts, Languages and Environment Nabeela Ayoub said India had yet to produce any “solid or credible evidence” to substantiate its allegations — a lapse they said had “raised serious questions internationally” about the veracity of New Delhi’s claims.

“The Pahalgam false flag operation was carried out through a well-planned design to conceal internal failures and mislead global public opinion,” Nayyar said, adding that the hollowness of India’s fabricated narrative now stood fully exposed before the world.

He maintained that the swift registration of an FIR within minutes of the incident pointed to prior planning, adding that the episode had been “used for specific, predetermined objectives.”

He further said that despite “serious questions raised by international media, civil society and analysts,” India had failed to provide answers and instead continued to “peddle hostility and a false narrative against Pakistan.”

Referring to the aftermath of the incident, Nayyar said that India had suffered a humiliating defeat in the diplomatic and narrative battle following the operation, the scars of which would never heal.

Describing India as a “terrorist state,” the information minister alleged that its involvement in acts of terrorism had been “proven in Pakistan, Canada and other countries,” and warned that Pakistan would make “no compromise on its sovereignty, dignity and security.”

Ayoub, who spoke at a press conference held at the Central Press Club in connection with the anniversary of the incident and Earth Day, termed India’s allegations “part of a systematic conspiracy aimed at misleading the international community and maligning the legitimate freedom struggle of the Kashmiri people.”

She alleged that since August 5, 2019, New Delhi had been pursuing “nefarious designs to alter the geographical and demographic status of occupied Kashmir,” including the settlement of non-locals in the region.

Credible inquiry can establish facts: Gilani

On the completion of one year of the Pahalgam incident, Chairman Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has strongly reaffirmed Pakistan’s principled stance while condemning India’s reckless conduct, escalation-driven policies, and persistent attempt to distort facts and shift responsibility for regional instability.

He reiterated that Pakistan exercised maximum restraint despite grave provocations, while remaining fully prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He emphasised that Pakistan’s response during the Pakistan–India standoff was measured, responsible, and fully in line with the international law.

He paid tribute to the professionalism and resolve of the Pakistan Armed Forces, stating that their readiness and deterrent capability have decisively safeguarded national sovereignty and neutralized hostile designs in a volatile environment.

The Senate chairman recalled that Pakistan had immediately offered a neutral and transparent investigation into the incident, stressing that only a credible, evidence-based inquiry can establish facts and prevent escalation. He noted that responsible states do not resort to unilateral judgment or politicisation of tragic events.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2026