Key Points:
- The Initial suspects publicly blamed and linked to Pakistan were later found to be wrongly implicated
- NIA findings spark global scrutiny of Modi’s terror narrative
- Incident raises concerns over politicised probes and India’s counter-terror narrative.
ISLAMABAD: In a striking reversal that further casts doubt on India’s credibility on cross-border terror claims, the country’s own premier investigative body, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has contradicted earlier assertions made by Indian authorities about the identity of the perpetrators behind the April 22 Pahalgam incident.
Just weeks ago, Indian media and government sources were emphatically claiming that four individuals — two identified as Pakistani nationals and one Kashmiri local — were responsible for the attack that left multiple civilians and security personnel dead in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam region. The Indian government’s narrative quickly blamed Pakistan and cited the attack as justification for aggressive military posturing, including airspace incursions.
According to The Indian Express, a recent NIA investigation has revealed a significantly different story.
According to the NIA, the three attackers were indeed Pakistani nationals affiliated with the proscribed terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba — but they were not the individuals previously identified by the police and paraded before Indian and global media.
This new development follows the arrest of two Kashmiri locals who allegedly provided food and temporary shelter to the assailants. Their interrogation purportedly led to the revelation that the previously named suspects — Hashim Musa, Ali Bhai alias Talha, and Adil Hussain Thoker — had been wrongly implicated.
The admission poses a major challenge for Indian authorities, particularly the Modi government, which has frequently leveraged terrorism narratives to rally nationalist sentiment and apply diplomatic pressure on Pakistan.
The premature and now-debunked identification of suspects also raises grave concerns about the integrity of India’s internal investigative processes and the political motivations that may influence them.
International analysts and scholars have begun to take note. On June 23, Ashok Swain, professor of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in Sweden, tweeted: “Indians were told that these 4 Terrorists had committed Pahalgam massacre & for which India had attacked Pakistan. Now India’s National Investigation Agency says these 4 were not involved in Pahalgam tragedy. If India’s own agencies don’t trust Modi how will the world trust him?”
Indians were told that these 4 Terrorists had committed Pahalgam massacre & for which India had attacked Pakistan. Now India’s National Investigation Agency says these 4 were not involved in Pahalgam tragedy. If India’s own agencies don’t trust Modi how will the world trust him? pic.twitter.com/A2sus0tZsN
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) June 23, 2025
India has often been criticised for issuing premature allegations against Pakistan before the conclusion of formal investigations. This approach has repeatedly drawn criticism from global observers, many of whom now view New Delhi’s counter-terrorism narrative with scepticism.
Moreover, the repeated U-turns by Indian security agencies risk eroding public trust domestically while weakening India’s standing in international forums. The discrepancy raises a critical question: If India’s own agencies contest official narratives, how can they be taken at face value internationally?
While terrorism remains a shared regional and global threat, politicising such tragedies for diplomatic leverage only serves to diminish the seriousness of the issue. There is an increasing global shift towards fact-based accountability over blanket blame, especially in matters of counter-terrorism.
