India and Pakistan have shared a fraught relationship for decades, one riddled with war, diplomatic standoffs, and perpetual mistrust. In this hostile dynamic, one constant has remained: India’s tendency to quickly blame Pakistan for any disturbance, particularly in the restive region of Kashmir. Whether it is a large-scale militant attack or an incident as bizarre as a bird crossing an invisible border, Pakistan is often accused first and questioned later. Two recent incidents, though starkly different in scale and nature, the 2020 capture of a so-called “spy pigeon” and the 2025 Pahalgam tourist massacre, reveal a troubling consistency in India’s blame game that undermines both truth and accountability.
In 2020, a pigeon from Pakistan caused an international stir when it was caught near the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian authorities suspected that the bird was being used by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies to carry coded messages across the border. The basis of this suspicion? A ring on the bird’s leg that bore a series of numbers. The Indian media quickly amplified the claim, presenting the pigeon as a feathered spy. However, the truth turned out to be far less dramatic. A Pakistani villager named Habibullah from Narowal claimed ownership of the bird, explaining that the numbers were merely his phone number, used to identify his pigeons, a common practice among pigeon breeders. The incident was met with widespread ridicule, especially outside India, but it also exposed a deeper paranoia and readiness to suspect Pakistan at the slightest provocation, even when the evidence bordered on the absurd.
Fast forward to 2025, when the serene town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir was rocked by a devastating attack that claimed the lives of 27 tourists. The attack shocked the nation and the international community, particularly because it occurred just hours after U.S. Vice President JD Vance had landed in New Delhi for a major diplomatic visit aimed at bolstering U.S.-India relations. As the world awaited details, India wasted no time in assigning blame. Despite no clear evidence or investigation, the government and much of the media immediately accused Pakistan of orchestrating the attack.
The Pahalgam incident, like the pigeon episode, followed a disturbingly familiar script. The rush to blame Pakistan came before any meaningful investigation had taken place. This even though Pahalgam is situated deep within Indian-controlled territory, over 400 kilometers from the border with Pakistan, in one of the most heavily militarized regions in the world. With more than 700,000 Indian troops stationed in Kashmir and round-the-clock surveillance in place, the idea that a foreign terrorist unit could sneak in undetected and carry out a large-scale attack seems implausible. It highlights the failure of the Indian military to quell the ongoing unrest.
What these two incidents share is not just a lack of credible proof implicating Pakistan, but a consistent refusal by India to consider alternative, often more plausible explanations that originate from within its own borders. This tendency reflects a deeply entrenched political strategy where blaming Pakistan serves as a convenient way to rally domestic support, deflect criticism, and portray India as a perennial victim of external aggression. While such narratives might serve short-term political purposes, they also obscure the truth and hinder any real understanding of the issues at hand.
Kashmir remains one of the most sensitive and complex regions in South Asia. Its people, caught in the middle of this geopolitical tug-of-war, bear the brunt of violence, militarization, and political neglect. Local groups have emerged from years of frustration with policies that many Kashmiris perceive as repressive or aimed at altering the region’s demographic and cultural identity. Ignoring these voices and instead pointing fingers across the border only exacerbates the disconnect between the Indian state and the Kashmiri population. Moreover, it reinforces a narrative that sees all dissent or violence in Kashmir as externally manufactured, rather than rooted in local grievances.
The international community, too, plays a subtle role in reinforcing this dynamic. India’s image as a democracy in the fight against terrorism often shields it from deeper scrutiny. Events like the Pahalgam attack, timed suspiciously close to high-level diplomatic visits, are sometimes used to underscore India’s vulnerability and need for international solidarity. In contrast, Pakistan is often viewed through the lens of its past affiliations with militant groups, making it an easy scapegoat regardless of the facts.
In both the pigeon and Pahalgam incidents, India’s fixation on blaming Pakistan reveals a deeper reluctance to confront its internal issues. Whether it is a bird innocently crossing a border or there is any attack, the immediate default to Pakistan as the villain exposes a lack of introspection and accountability. These reactions may satisfy a certain nationalist sentiment, but they do little to serve justice or promote lasting peace.
Until India chooses to abandon this obsession and commit to unbiased, evidence-based investigations, the cycle will continue. The truth will remain obscured, the real causes of violence will go unaddressed, and the people of Kashmir will continue to suffer in silence. It’s time to shift the narrative from blame to responsibility, from projection to introspection, because peace cannot be built on paranoia, and justice cannot emerge from denial.
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