Terror in Kashmir: The killing of 26 tourists

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Terror in Kashmir: The killing of 26 tourists

A group of terrorists have killed 26 tourists in Pahalgam. The victims included at least two foreigners. A number of others have critical injuries—so the death toll is likely to rise. This is the worst attack since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019—and the first on tourists in 13 years.

The location: The victims were in the Baisaran meadows in Pahalgam—a tourist hotspot “popular among honeymooners, trekkers and adventure junkies.” The location was likely chosen because it is not accessible by vehicles—which meant help would be slow to arrive. You can see the location in The Hindu map below:

Point to note: There is no official death toll, as yet. The Telegraph claims the governments—both state and union—are being deliberately vague about the number.

The killings: The militants entered the area and immediately started shooting:

Around 40 tourists were present at the meadow when the terrorists opened indiscriminate fire, using both automatic rifles and small arms. They reportedly checked the identity of victims before shooting them at close range. “Gunshots rattled the meadow and there were many in the open meadow who immediately fell to the ground,” an eyewitness said.

Others, however, were deliberately selected, humiliated and shot in close range. According to one survivor from Pune, her father was killed to send a message:

“Then they came to our tent and asked my father to come out,” she said. “They said ‘Chaudhari tu bahar aa ja’,” Asavari [Jagdale, an HR professional from Pune] said. The militants blamed them for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and claimed that the allegation that Kashmiri militants killed innocent people was false, she said. “They then asked my father to recite an Islamic verse. When he failed to do so, they pumped three bullets into him, one on the head, one behind the ear and another in the back,” Asavari said.

They shot her uncle as well—but spared the women—in a bizarre attempt to claim higher moral ground. Twenty-five of the victims were men.

The militants: According to The Print, there were at least six terrorists, including two locals trained in Pakistan—armed with AK47s. The Resistance Front—linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—has claimed responsibility. We did a Big Story on the Resistance Front back in 2021. But here is a quick overview:

It announced its existence in October, 2019—two months after the government revoked Article 370.
The group shot into the spotlight in April 2020 after it engaged security forces in a five-day gun battle near the border—taking them by surprise.
Indian intelligence sources and the local police insist that TRF is basically a hodge-podge of members of existing militant groups—but rebranded by Pakistan to make it seem new.
What is new: Their rhetoric is not religious—in a deliberate attempt to secularise its image.
Also this: Most terror groups rely on trained members. But TRF recruits ordinary people—called ‘Overground Workers’—to actually participate in attacks.

The politics: Rahul Gandhi seized the opportunity to challenge the government’s claims of having established “normalcy” in Kashmir. Tourism has been an important part of those “all is well” optics—be it the Amarnath Yatra or jaunts for diplomatic visitors. Terrorists mostly left tourists alone until now—instead targeting non-Kashmiri residents and migrant workers. The only exception was an attack in Pahalgam last year when two tourists from Rajasthan were injured—but not killed.

Reminder: The bloodiest militant attack on the Amarnath Yatra took place in August 2000—claiming 32 lives, including 21 Hindu pilgrims, seven Muslim shopkeepers and some security force personnel.

Unhappy things to see: You can see the chaotic aftermath of the attack below (there are no disturbing images of death). The RSS-affiliated Organiser shared far more horrific images on X—which we are not embedding here.

Reading list: The reporting is a little thin right now. The Telegraph has the most details—outside of a liveblog. The Print has some information on the militants. The Hindu has the responses of everyone—from PM Modi to JD Vance. This PTI copy has the testimony of the woman who lost her father and uncle. The Telegraph spoke to a woman who lost her husband. And do check our Big Story on The Resistance Front.

IMF’s gloomy forecast for the world

The International Monetary Fund assessed the fallout of Trump’s war on the world economy—and predicts gloom—but mercifully, not doom. The basic deets:

Global economic growth will slow to 2.8% this year—down from 3.3% last year. That’s “significantly below the historical average.”
The numbers for the US are even worse—falling from a 2.8% growth rate in 2024 to a paltry 1.8% in 2025.
The IMF is not projecting a US recession—but has upped the odds from 25% to 40%.

As for India: We got off relatively easy. We are expected to grow at the rate of 6.2% in 2025—“supported by private consumption, particularly in rural areas.” This is only 0.3 percentage points lower than the IMF’s forecast in January. And we will be one of the top two contributors to global growth—along with China:

China will be the top contributor to global growth over the next five years, with a 23% share — up from 21.7% six months ago — according to Bloomberg calculations based on the IMF numbers published Tuesday. India is now expected to add more than 15% of additional output through 2030, while the US share drops to 11.3% from a prior estimate of 11.6%.

As for Europe: The European Central Bank president is strikingly confident: “She said higher tariffs will have a negative impact on Europe’s economic growth, although she doesn’t expect a recession in the 20 countries that use the euro.”

For more: Economic Times is best on the India outlook. CNN and Quartz have the global numbers. New York Times points out that Donald Trump is also waging war on the IMF and World Bank.

In more good news for India: US oil and gas companies plan to offshore their prized engineering and geologist jobs to India. The reason: To cut costs as oil prices tank. Chevron alone plans to cut 8,000 jobs—20% of its workforce—while adding 600 roles at its India hub this year.

The new positions aren’t only traditional back-office jobs that U.S. companies have offshored for years. Chevron intends to hire engineers, geologists and environmental scientists in India as part of a $1 billion investment to develop an engineering and innovation hub near Bellandur, a suburb of Bengaluru, a spokesman said.

India is also a fast-growing natural gas market—consumption is expected to rise nearly 60% by 2030, making it an attractive base not just for talent, but also for future expansion. All of which is pretty ironic for a president whose mantra is ‘drill, baby drill’—second only to ‘Bring American jobs home’. (Wall Street Journal, paywalled)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Instagram is rolling out AI to sniff out teens using adult settings—as Meta scrambles to clean up its child safety act.
Google’s settled its Android TV antitrust case in India—after being accused of strong-arming the smart TV market with its OS dominance.
The FTC is taking Uber to court in the US—accusing the ride-hailing giant of tricking users with shady billing and cancellation tactics on its subscription service.
Tesla’s profits nosedived 71% as the EV giant missed revenue targets—and blamed Trump’s tariffs for the hit.
Apple’s India biz is booming—analysts say booming iPhone sales and a Mac push could double revenues to $15 billion by FY26, with 30% growth year-on-year for the next five. But MoffettNathanson says don’t get comfy: tariffs and AI woes could drag the stock down another 30%.
Gold just smashed past $3,500 an ounce—fueled by a shaky dollar, Trump’s Fed bashing, and fresh trade war jitters.
Flipkart is packing its bags for India—shifting HQ from Singapore as it gears up for an IPO in the South Asian market.

sports & entertainment

The Academy is already eyeing the 2026 Oscars—revealing key dates and new rules, including a major shake-up: voters must now watch all nominees in a category to cast their vote.
As the Vatican prepared for the Pope's funeral, ‘Conclave’ made its digital debut on Prime Video yesterday.
The Delhi Capitals solidified their top-two position with a convincing 8-wicket win over Lucknow. Delhi captain Axar Patel bookended the game by opening the bowling, before hitting four sixes to seal the run chase.

health & environment

Insects are vanishing at an alarming rate, with agriculture topping the list of causes, according to new research.
Despite Trump-era rollbacks, a survey shows most execs are still backing the shift to green energy, with a long-term move away from fossil fuels in sight.
Millions of Americans now face a tough choice: ditch newer weight-loss drugs or pay up for pricier branded versions after the FDA pulls the plug on cheap knockoffs.

meanwhile, in the world

Klaus Schwab is under fire—WEF has launched a probe into its founder after whistleblowers flagged luxe perks and alleged misconduct involving him and his wife.
Taking a cue from the UK Supreme Court, New Zealand’s minority party pushes a bill to define gender as biological, with it arguing laws should reflect "biological reality."
70-year-old astronaut Don Pettit returns to Earth after seven months on the ISS, looking frail but NASA confirms he's doing just fine.
This is a good read on the unexpected literary encounter between past Pope Francis and blind literary legend Borges, sparking a day of radical storytelling in a classroom in 1965 Argentina.
Larry David just penned a NYT essay (splainer gift link) as a guy dining with Hitler—solely to torch Bill Maher for bragging about his Trump dinner, in a bizarre, brilliant takedown typified by peak satire.

meanwhile, in India

The Dalai Lama didn’t cancel any meeting with JD Vance—turns out, it was just The Babylon Bee spinning a satirical tale.
Nitin Gadkari wants vehicle horns to sound like Indian instruments—get ready for traffic jams turned into tabla sessions and flute-filled highways!
In more serious news, PM Modi’s off to Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit, the first by an Indian PM in 40 years, with six MoUs set to be signed.
India observes three-day state mourning for Pope Francis, with flags at half-mast and no official entertainment.
This is a good watch instead of a read: Anaya Bangar, a trans woman, opens up about her journey, the harsh realities of transitioning, and the harassment she faced in Indian cricket, highlighting toxic masculinity and the ongoing fight for respect in sports, on Lallantop Baithki.

Four things to see

One: On April 3, Baba Ramdev posted a video to promote Pantanjali’s new sharbat—and referred to rival Hamdard’s Rooh Afza as “Sharbat Jihad.” Hamdard then sued Patanjali and Ramdev—and has found a sympathetic ear in the Delhi High Court. It ruled that Ramdev’s remark had “shocked the conscience of the court”—and directed Patanjali to immediately take down all ads that include the phrase. See the offensive video below. (Bar and Bench)

Two: Say hello to Royal Thai Police’s fanciest recruit—a robocop named ‘AI Police Cyborg 1.0.’ It can access CCTV cameras, drones and has its own facial recognition tools. Yes, it’s every bit as creepy as it looks. (Gizmodo)

Three: Wild chimps in west Africa are party animals… literally. They throw feasts where they eat fruit containing alcohol. Unlike humans, they don’t get roaring drunk but can get tipsy “on kilograms of the stuff every day. It’s probably analogous to us sipping on a light beer.” You can see the chimps breaking out “the keg” in the vid below. (The Guardian)

Four: Get ready for an Indian “royalty rom-com” series called ‘The Royals’. It is directed by Priyanka Ghose and Nupur Asthana and headlined by Ishaan Khatter who plays the prince of Morpur (yup its a fictional place), Bhumi Pednekar who works in a BnB company and Bollywood veteran Zeenat Aman. The series drops on Netflix on May 9. (The Hindu)