New Delhi: India Friday yet again slammed Pakistan for its support and sponsorship of cross-border terrorism while using it as an instrument of state policy.
Addressing a bi-weekly media briefing in New Delhi Friday, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the investigation continues into last year’s heinous Pahalgam terror attack carried out by Pakistan-backed terror groups.
“The Pahalgam terror attack took several innocent lives. You all saw its barbarity. Our authorities have begun investigations into the matter and it continues. As far as cross-border terrorism is concerned, you are well aware of Pakistan’s decades-long sponsorship and support for it as also its continued use as instrument of state policy,” he said in response to a question.
The terror attack in Pahalgam took place April 22, 2025. The Pakistan-backed attackers singled out victims after asking about their religion, forcing them to recite the Islamic ‘Kalma’ to identify non-Muslims. Among those killed were 25 tourists and one local pony ride operator who tried to save the tourists The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the attack..
During the briefing, Jaiswal also said that Pakistan has no locus-standi to comment on matters internal to India.
When asked about Pakistani leaders expressing support for Hurriyat leaders after National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed chargesheets against them, Jaiswal responded, “Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on matters which are internal to India.”
On July 10, the NIA said that it has charged Kashmiri separatist leader Shabir Shah, along with six other separatists for the 1996 Srinagar violence.
The agency chargesheeted six senior leaders of the separatist Hurriyat Conference in connection with a 1996 case of mob violence and indiscriminate firing on police personnel in Srinagar.
The chargesheet, filed before the NIA Special Court, Jammu, has named Kashmiri separatist leaders Shabir Ahmad Shah, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Ganie Lone, Mohd. Yaqoob Wakeel alias Mohd. Yaqoob Vakil, Javid Ahmad Mir, and Shakeel Ahmad Bakshi.
All six have been charged under relevant provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code, 1989, for criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder, rioting and assault on public servants, along with Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
The charges against Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Abdul Ganie Lone and Mohd Yaqoob Wakeel stand abated as they had passed away during the pendency of the proceedings. However, the chargesheet clearly established their roles in the criminal conspiracy and the common object of the unlawful assembly, along with supporting evidence.
The NIA, during the investigation, had ascertained that all six accused had led an unlawful assembly and instigated large-scale violence against police personnel during a funeral procession of slain terrorist Hilal Ahmad Beigh at Naaz Crossing, Srinagar, July 17, 1996.
Armed terrorists blended in with the procession, which was jointly led by the accused Hurriyat leaders, and fired indiscriminately at police personnel during the violence, in which several police officials were injured. Government vehicles were also extensively damaged in heavy stone pelting during the protest.
As per NIA’s findings in the case, the chargesheeted Hurriyat leaders had actively incited the violence, raising anti-India, pro-Pakistan and secessionist slogans.
They had delivered inflammatory speeches advocating armed struggle, NIA further found.
