JK News Today Analysis
The US Congressional Research Report of March 25, 2026 , has shed light yet again on the fundamentally known truths about Pakistan serving as a base for the terror groups targeting India , but what is being overlooked is that some of the grave accuracies in the report titled, “ Terrorist and Other Militant Groups in Pakistan.
These inaccuracies are in the draft in which semantics have been used which blur some of the realities , but the outstanding reality is what has been noted in the very opening line which reads : “ Us officials have identified Pakistan as a base of operations and/or target for numerous armed , nonstate militant groups , some of which have existed since 1980s .” But in the very third sentence , the report after analysing that there were “ five kinds of terrorist groups operating in and /or launching attacks on Pakistan , are of five broad but not exclusive types,” says : “ India- and Kashmir oriented .” This “ India-and Kashmir oriented “ is a distortion of sorts for Kashmir is an integral part of India , and the report by hyphenating the two conveys an erroneous impression. Elsewhere, it has used the expression, “ Indian administered Kashmir” for Jammu and Kashmir on this side of the Line of Control , and “ Azad Kashmir,”, the nomenclature that Pakistan uses for its occupied territories of Jammu and Kashmir.
The most glaring blunder is when it calls Masood Azhar , founder of the terrorist group ,” Jaish-e-Mohammad , as “Kashmiri militant leader”. By no stretch of imagination , he can be called Kashmiri. He is Pakistani . this conveys a wrong impression as if Masood Azhar who orchestrated several terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country , is a Pakistani . By claiming that he is a “ Kashmiri”, the report has sought to give an impression as if Jaish-e-Mohammad , though based in Pakistan , was a group led by Kashmiri.
These inaccuracies should not go unchallenged because that is the requirement for the Indian nation to set the record straight. These kinds of phrases are harmful. It is for the Indian agencies and media to take note of .
It is a fact , established long ago, that these terror groups , whether Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad or Hizb-ul-Mujahedeen , were operating in Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of the country because of the active support of Pakistan . The US report has only reaffirmed this , and since it has been noted in a US report, this has an international appeal . this has established and re-established what India had been saying all along .
The report has given brief description of the terror groups , and highlighted their role in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and terror assault on the Indian Parliament on December 13, 2001 , which led to a huge military stand off – eyeball to -eyeball situation on India-Pakistan borders . Since this is updated report , it should have reflected on Pahalgam terror attack and Pakistan’s role in it . India had to fight these terror groups under “ Operation Sindoor” and within under “ Operation Mahadev’. Pakistan never owned the responsibility . It kept on denying the reality , and the result is that threat continues in J&K and there has been a special focus on protecting tourist spots and tourists in J&K.
Pahalgam is a world renowned tourist spot in south Kashmir, where Pakistani terrorists had killed 26 civilians, 25 of them tourists after ascertaining their religious identity. The report should not have omitted this . Although 26/11 and the Parliament attack are embedded in the. Nation’s collective memory and continue to cause mental harassment and embarrassment as the masterminds living in Pakistan have not been punished till date, but Pahalgam is no less tragic . In this case, India took revenge by targeting terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir , under Operation Sindoor . The report should have mentioned this to reinforce its own argument that Pakistan is a base for terror groups.
( The author is an expert on international relations )
