Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation twice following the deadly Pahalgam attack—once during a public rally in Madhubani, Bihar, and again through his Mann Ki Baat broadcast.
But in both addresses, he made no mention of the wave of harassment, threats, and social boycotts faced by Kashmiri students and workers across India. This silence, given his position as the Prime Minister, is not only disappointing—it is dangerous.
Reportedly, hundreds of Kashmiri students have returned home after facing physical attacks, threats, and exodus in various parts of the country. A female student in Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia reported sexual harassment. In Punjab, mobs reportedly barged into the residences of Kashmiri women and snatched their hijabs.
These are not isolated cases—they reflect a recurring pattern of collective punishment imposed on an entire community in the aftermath of such attacks.
This pattern is not new. After the Pulwama attack in 2019, Kashmiris across India were similarly attacked, ostracized, and vilified.
Even today, decades after the mass migration of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s, films like The Kashmir Files continue to frame the civil population of Kashmir as collectively responsible. Such narratives not only fuel suspicion and hatred—they justify collective punishment.
The Prime Minister's refusal to speak out against such acts emboldens the perpetrators and grants a form of impunity.
His words carry weight with the very people who elected him to power three times. A strong statement condemning the targeting of Kashmiris could have slowed or even stopped this harassment.
By remaining silent, the PM has failed to fulfil his moral obligation and constitutional duty to safeguard all citizens of the country, including those from Kashmir.
It sets a dangerous precedent when, in the wake of attacks in Kashmir, Indian citizens fail to distinguish between the attackers and the Kashmiri civilian population.
Kashmiris cannot continue to pay the price—social, economic, or physical—each time a militant attack occurs. It is unjust. It is morally indefensible. And it is time the country’s top leadership said so, clearly and unequivocally.