In the wake of the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, a wave of disinformation has surfaced across various online platforms and fringe media outlets, attempting to link the incident to the 2000 massacre of Sikh villagers in Chittisinghpura, South Kashmir. Analysts view the narrative push as part of a coordinated campaign by overseas-based Khalistan groups such as SFJ, backed by the Pakistani ISI groups seeking to stoke communal tensions and undermine the credibility of counter-terror operations in the region.
The Chittisinghpura massacre remains one of the most heinous terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s history. On March 20, 2000, 36 Sikh men from the village of Chittisinghpura in Anantnag district were brutally murdered by assailants dressed in Indian Army fatigues. According to multiple eyewitnesses, the attackers—numbering between 15 and 20—split into two groups and targeted two gurdwaras, lining up worshippers before opening fire at point-blank range. The victims were all unarmed civilians.
Subsequent investigations and intelligence assessments have attributed the attack to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based terrorist group. The timing of the massacre—just days before the state visit of then-U.S. President Bill Clinton—was widely viewed as an attempt by militants to internationalize the Kashmir conflict by exploiting a communal faultline.
Further substantiating this, revelations from David Coleman Headley, a key conspirator in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, shed light on the planning behind such terror acts. During interrogation by Indian authorities in the presence of U.S. officials in 2010, Headley disclosed that a senior LeT operative, Muzzammil Butt, had claimed responsibility for the Chittisinghpura killings. Butt, allegedly acting on instructions from his ISI handler and LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, reportedly described the attack as a strategic move intended to draw global attention during Clinton’s high-profile visit.
Security experts note that the pattern of using civilian massacres to trigger international concern over Kashmir has been a long-standing tactic of Pakistan-backed terror outfits. In light of this, the latest attempts to question the Chittisinghpura narrative and link it to current violence in Pahalgam appear to follow a familiar propaganda playbook aimed at muddying public discourse and reviving separatist sentiments under false pretenses.
The claims being circulated are purely baseless and politically motivated. “Such narratives only serve to embolden terrorist elements and hurt the victims’ families. The truth is known, and the facts have stood the test of time,” said a concerned citizen based in Srinagar.
As the region continues to grapple with sporadic violence, authorities have urged the public and media to remain vigilant against misinformation, especially that which seeks to weaponize communal identities or distort historical events for geopolitical ends.
